News from the Bala Lake Railway
July 2016 Update July was another busy month on the railway, and passenger numbers were up (again) by 6% on July last year, but it is of note that the start of the school holidays brought even greater numbers to Llanuwchllyn, up by a full 12% on last year. On…
June 2016 Update After all the excitement and success of May, with the launch ofDiana into service on the railway, followed by the Photo Charter, both events being blessed with perfect weather, one might suppose that June would be quiet by comparison. Not a bit of it, and it proved…
May 2016 Update What a month there has been on the railway! Leaving the brilliantly staged Bank Holiday Gala and the launch of Diana until later, we were thrilled to learn that that the Bala Lake Railway has been awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2016. We would like…
April 2016 Update Passenger numbers, by their very nature, do not always follow strict patterns. Those of April 2015 were very healthy, largely as the result of the big celebrations in the middle of the month in honour of the return to service of Winifred, our Hunslet which had been…
March 2016 Update We have already reported on the first services this year in February, but the first major passenger activities were around a particularly early Easter. The enthusiasm of visitors was as good as ever, although the Bank Holiday Monday was traditionally damp, hence the numbers were down. But…
February 2016 Update We break with tradition and start with And Firstly because of some wonderful news received at the very end of February. When we were presented with the opportunity to acquire from the MOD the rail needed for the extension into Bala, it spurred on and created greatly…
Double recognition for Bala Lake Railway at industry awards The Bala Lake Railway received two industry accolades at the annual Heritage Railway Association Awards held at Grand Station, Wolverhampton on Saturday February 6th 2016. The Steam Railway award, presented by one of the country’s leading railway magazines, was awarded…
January 2016 Update The first month of the year is an opportunity never to be missed on any railway, and the BLR team leapt into action on the onerous task of replacing all the sleepers along a quarter mile stretch of track, which we will cover later. But other activities…
December 2015 Update The railway is now closed for the festive season, and the locos are all drained, oiled and protected against the ravages of the inclement environment. But we ended the year on a real high with record attendance on the Santa Specials, held over the weekend of 12th…
November 2015 Update Much happened in November, but if ever an update merited the codicil ‘weather permitting’, it was the month just passed. However, persistent rain did little to dampen the enthusiasm of staff and volunteers. After all, they were damp enough already, so a little extra went completely unnoticed.…
