December 2016 Update
The Santa Specials reflected what the Bala Lake Railway has achieved throughout 2016. Over the two days of Santa activity, the trains were filled to capacity, even the extra service which was organised for the Saturday afternoon. The weather did nothing to dissuade visitors and, even though it was a bit damp and overcast, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, even the operating crews who were using both our open-cab locomotives, Alice and Winifred. General Manager David Jones described the event as ‘the best ever’.
On top of that, he also declared that the final passenger figures for the year made 2016 the best operating season since computer records began in 1987, possibly the best ever.
Our FIRST date for the 2017 diary for the enthuiast is the 22nd April. The railway’s plans for the coming year are already on our website, but that important date is for the return to service of George B. Previous reports have shown what great progress has been made with this locomotive, and while ‘she’ will be in use from time to time for testing and fine-tuning over the winter months, that date will be another memorable locomotive re-launch at Llanuwchllyn.
The Red Dragon Project, our ambitious plan to extend the line into down-town Bala, took another step forward this month with a positive announcement about the vexed question of how to cross the River Dee. Numerous ideas have been put forward about how to get round, or over, this problem, and the favoured option now is to run the line down the roadway, in exactly the same manner as in Porthmadog, which would also introduce a considerable savings in costs.
The railway commissioned a professional agency to prepare a report, (the £6500 cost being funded by a most generous BLR supporter), and following positive results, negotiations are now under way with the Highways Department. BLR Director, Julian Birley, who is masterminding the project said; “The tramway option offers a number of advantages. There will be no need to encroach on to a Special Site of Scientific Interest, and it will add a novelty factor to the route which has met with great support by local residents. By having the railway cross the bridge as a tramway, it will also serve to slow down traffic on a notorious corner on the approach to the town”.
As always, progress and details of this ambitious project can be seen atwww.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk
We are often asked about where the names of our locomotives came from. We therefore thought that a brief history of each would be welcomed, thus we start with a trio of those seen frequently on duty at Llanuwchllyn, and each tells an interesting story.
Alice was originally Dinorwic Quarry Hunslet loco number 4, but soon after arrival, she was named Alice after Louisa Alice Duff Ashton-Smith, one of the quarry owner’s daughters. Louisa Alice herself went on to become Field Marshall Douglas Haig’s mother-in law. This particular lady was unusual, or perhaps fortunate, in that she had two locomotives named after her, for it was the earlier smaller Hunslet locomotive Louisa, built in 1877 and weighing only 3.5 tons, that carried her name too. This loco was found to be too small and light, and was sold, but continued to give good service at her new home for another 20 or so years before, sadly, being scrapped.
Winifred was built as Hunslet loco 364 in 1885 for the Penrhyn Quarry and was named after Winifred Douglas-Pennant, the daughter of Lord Penrhyn, the owner of the quarry. Winifred herself was born in 1880 and died unmarried in 1968, although she distinguished herself in WW1 as a nurse.
The diesel, Bob Davies, is something of a conundrum, name-wise, in that the name is never used! This trusty maid-of-all-work is always referred to by the sobriquet, Trigger, the reasons being as follows. Bob Davies was a railwayman all his life, and a signalman for a large part. When he retired, he worked part-time at the BLR doing guard duty, as well as signalling on some gala days at Llangower, the lake-side half-way halt. His retirement was about the same time that the railway was acquiring the locomotive, and Pete Briddon, who owned the Yorkshire Engine Company and the loco, decided that Bob Davies would be a fitting name. The manager of the Bala lake Railway at the time was Roy Hardiman, and equally involved in the purchase was Roger Hine, who became General Manager shortly after. While the loco was still at the YEC works and, as yet, had no name, it became universally known as Roy and Roger’s engine, hence Trigger, after the horse belonging to the famous television singing cowboy. The name just stuck!
We will continue our naming history next month.
Our SECOND date for the 2017 diary is Sunday, 14th May. Russell Prince reports; “As a result of the successful volunteer recruitment event that was held earlier in 2016, the above date has been set aside to repeat the event in 2017. More details will be made available after the beginning of the new year, but if you have ever thought about seeing what is involved when it comes to volunteering on a Heritage Railway, mark that date now!”
And finally….. we featured last month a closing piece on Sam, Chief Engineer Rob Houghton’s adorable pooch and very much the railway’s mascot. In the cruellest twist of fate, Sam passed away in his sleep in December. Rob’s great friend and colleague, Dan Laidlaw, posted on Facebook a short but movingly eloquent announcement, which produced a huge number of messages of condolence from friends, colleagues, volunteers and even numerous visitors, all of whom had been touched by Sam’s character and friendliness. The hearts of everyone go out to Rob.