News from the Bala Lake Railway
“February is always a dead month”. So it was blandly asserted recently, which prompted the reply, “Piffle”, (or a slightly more forthright and contemporary choice), as the following will attest. Amidst of a lot of activity during the month, some of it planned and other parts not, as we will…
The first working weekend of the year took place over the weekend of the 18th/19th and was well attended. Perennial BLR stalwart, Bob Greenhalgh, takes up the story. The first working weekend of the year was a bit chilly, so the first job of the day was to defrost and…
As the month crept inexorably to its end, the BLR can reflect on a distinctly good year, and rather than going into details, we include here the General Manager’s erudite resumé which encapsulates everything, addressed as it is to staff, volunteers and everyone who is involved in our railway. As…
After the end of the ‘running’ season, you might imagine that all goes quiet as the railway goes into hibernation but, if anything, life at the Bala Lake Railway over the winter invariably gets busier with lots of routine maintenance being scheduled along with mechanical upgrades in the loco shed.…
It has been quite a year for the BLR and regular readers will know that our monthly passenger figures have been consistently breaking records. October was a month of distinctly inclement weather but it seems that even this potentially unfavourable dose of ‘liquid sunshine’ did little to dampen the enthusiasm…
We lead unashamedly this month with a most encouraging email in the latest issue of Steam Railway magazine where the writer visited ‘a large railway in the Midlands’ and complained of the surly, unhelpful treatment he and his family received. His email then continued; By complete contrast, we are regular…
August 2019 was a month to remember for the BLR. The summer (sic) weather was no less varied than usual but for the Bank Holiday Gala at the end of the month, it was perfect as it had been for a few days prior. The trains were packed all weekend…
It was another successful month for the BLR, and a decidedly warm one as well. While the national rail network suffered the usual problems with over-heated rails and other temperature related ailments, the BLR continued on schedule and the extra vigilance and care from the loco crews avoided anything untoward.…
June was a good month for the railway and passenger numbers are described as healthy, although the strange assortment of weather patterns was hardly conducive to record-breaking numbers. Nevertheless, there were consistent flows of visitors and the mid-month Gala, again in spite of the weather, was well attended. The Gala…
The Big Bala Bash and the Bala Triathlon will be taking place over the weekend of the 29th and 30th June. This involves the closure of the A494, the main road between Bala and Llanuwchllyn in the Bala area for periods on both days. From 2pm to 7pm on Saturday…
