NEWS UPDATE No. 121
The season continues apace, though without any notable events to report on scheduled in May and June. Passenger numbers continue to be positive recording a 9% increase in May but a 6% decrease in June with the numbers for the year so far to the end of June show a healthy 4% increase on 2022. This year the late spring bank holiday returned to its usual place at the end of May, having been moved into early June last year for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which will go some way to explaining the relative disparities between May and June.
The dearth of events over the last two months will be more than made up for in the next couple of months, starting with the annual day with “Alice the Little Welsh Engine” on the 29th of July. Having missed her special day over the last few years Alice will be back this year to welcome her friends, old and new. Pauline Hazelwood, the author of the ever-growing range of beautifully illustrated children’s books telling the true stories of various narrow-gauge engines that started off with Alice’s story, will again be present with her colourful stand to meet and greet her fans and show how she produces her fantastic illustrations. If you’re missing any of the books from your collection, the full range will we available from our shop. Alice will be giving rides in the platform at Llanuwchllyn station in-between trains, and she and the other engines will be wearing their faces, exactly as in the books.
On the first three Thursday evenings in August we will be running our popular barbecue trains, stopping off on the way back by the lake at Llangower to enjoy a BBQ provided by the local butcher, and watching the sun as it gently sets over the lake.
At the end of August we look forward to our annual steam gala, with a visiting engine and all five of our own fleet available this year. More on this next time. Barely three weeks later our Model Railway show in Bala will be taking place.
There’s plenty to look forward to. Take a look at our events page at https://bala-lake-railway.co.uk/events/ for further details.
Regular volunteers Christine and Roger Kent visited in May to tend to the flower displays and the result is a very colourful display on the second platform at Llanuwchllyn.
John Andrews, another of our regular volunteers has been busy applying paint to various surfaces around Llanuwchllyn. Amongst other things he was responsible for repainting the white line on the edge of the platform.
There has also been tangible progress on the Avonside, and we hope to get a fuller report from John Moorhouse in the next edition. As well as steady progress on making the new boiler, the big news is that the overhauled chassis returned to Llanuwchllyn at the end of June.
Also, the various parts of Dorothy have recently been temporarily reassembled together and she is currently back on display in the Heritage centre. Further progress on her restoration will continue once our boiler inspector has assessed the boiler.
Visitors arriving at Llanuwchllyn may have noticed a new addition near the water tower as they approach the station. The old lamp hut from Bontnewydd Station, further down the original line towards Dolgellau, and the subject of an appeal a few years ago, has now been restored and is in use to cover the newly installed water softening plant. The lamp hut was for some time used as the signal hut at Llangower before the new box was installed there. Whilst the water in our part of North Wales is quite soft, over the years the firm that tests our water and provides the treatment chemicals for our loco boilers has been reporting that the water has been getting harder. This is the result of Welsh Water adding elements to it that may improve human health but does more harm to the ‘digestion system’ of a steam locomotive. The chemicals bind onto the boiler tubes making them less thermally efficient and also eats into the metal. Chemicals are added by the driver each morning to counter the effect of the unwanted elements, the new treatment plant which will treat the water before it goes into the water tower will hopefully remove more of the elements that are added by Welsh Water and reduce the amount of treatment needed.
Bala extension Progress
Since the disappointment in April of the refusal of our planning application for extending the line into Bala, work is under way on revising the plans so the planning application can be re-submitted at the earliest opportunity. Some very positive meetings have taken place, the first of these with the Snowdonia National Park’s Chief Planning Officer. It has been confirmed to us that the scope of work for the revised application is limited to the seven issues identified as reasons for refusal. In addition, some surveys and reports will need to be redone as the originals are now somewhat dated, but provided the new surveys do not raise any additional issues, we now know the extent of the task ahead of us.
Significantly, with the Park Officers now closely engaged we believe that there is a far more positive outlook is in front of us.
Other meetings have taken place with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Welsh Water and there appears to be more than a glimmer of hope to resolve the phosphate issue. NRW have confirmed that analysis and modelling of the river Dee has enabled them to identify limits for acceptable levels of phosphate that can be allowed from each Waste Water Treatment Works (WwTW) within the Dee catchment area, whilst still maintaining the environmental health of the river and its designated aquatic species. Each WwTW will be allocated a Phosphate permit, and if the current output is below this limit, then Welsh Water would be able to accept further applications to connect developments to its sewer system. We also understand, following a meeting between our MP, Liz Saville-Roberts, and Welsh Water that plans for adding phosphate stripping capability to the Bala WwTW are being prioritised. This and the issuing of the permits are both potentially good news that could be the key to unlocking the primary reason for the refusal of our original application.
Meanwhile, our Planning and Engineering Consultants are steadily working their way through the other issues and engaging specialist consultants where required. All of this is costing money. For example, a revised traffic assessment for the level crossing needed just outside the current Bala (PenyBont) station will cost us in excess of £4,000. Once again, we appeal to you for your support. We know that planning isn’t very exciting or as satisfying as laying track but without the planning permission we can go no further. Your response to our appeal has been encouraging and we are so very grateful to everyone who has already donated, but we are still a long way from hitting our target of £100,000. So please, if you are in a position to help, and can spare us any amount, make a donation via the Bala Lake Railway Trust.
https://www.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/donate.html
The sooner we can raise these funds, the sooner we can get all the necessary paperwork together and get our revised application back in front of the National Park Planning Committee.
Thank you!