July 2017 Update
On the very last day of the month, we received exciting news from the Bala Lake Railway Trust about more progress with the extension into Bala Town.
After months of hard work, the Trust is delighted to announce that further land for the new Bala Town Station has been secured with the exchange of contracts for the derelict Plassey Garage, adjacent to Heol Aran (Aran Street). Together with the first purchase completed in February this year, it gives the Trust a substantial piece of land which will eventually be the site of the new station building.
Julian Birley, chairman of the Bala Lake Railway Trust, said
“Acquiring this second piece of land is a huge step towards the Trust’s ambition of extending the railway, as it means that we have now secured the site for the new station building which, crucially, is next to a large public car park. The purchase has been made possible thanks to the incredibly generous donation from a supporter who sees the tremendous potential and value in the project.
On a separate note, we are, once again, indebted to Lisa Williams for the immense amount of conveyancing and legal work she has undertaken on behalf of the Trust”.
For further details of this exciting development, please go to:http://balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/news.html
Bearing in mind the perennial flukiness of summer weather, the month of July showed that the railway enjoyed most respectable passenger numbers, although some weeks were better than others. Nevertheless, compared to the same period last year, our visitor numbers were up by a healthy 12%.
Within these figures are the upwards of 300 who came on the Alice Day on the 29th. Winifred was busy with the passenger trains, but Alice spent an enjoyable day (albeit under grey skies) attached to the yellow Royal Wagon, and shuttled delighted visitors up and down the track in front of the station, as the photographs show. But what really made the day was having the acclaimed artist and author, Pauline Hazelwood, in attendance. Pauline’s delightful books about the true stories of Alice,Winifred, plus her latest editions, Polar Bear andPeter Pan, proved a great success, with 50 being sold to children of all ages. One photograph shows Pauline reading to a couple of children who were totally absorbed in the story. As is known, Pauline not only does the beautiful and descriptive illustrations but also writes the stories as well. It is a testimony to her skill that these books are now sold widely and through a variety of outlets.
Locomotive News this month contains some news of engineering expertise and quick-witted sensitivity. The first concerned Winifred when a boiler tube developed a leak, which sounds like a lengthy problem. But Rob Houghton and his team leaped into action and replaced the faulty tube in just over a day, so that she was available for service without causing any scheduling headaches, a remarkable achievement.
The second occurrence could have developed into a major issue, but for the quick thinking and mechanical sympathy of the loco crew. General Manager David Jones takes up the tale.
“We had five operational quarry Hunslets in service for a couple of months, but that was until the crew on George B noticed a ‘knock’ which became more pronounced as they returned during the last trip of the day on the 20th. Rob Houghton and Chilmark were dispatched to assess the problem on the now stationary train, and found that the firemen’s side crank on the driving axle was floating loose. Fortunately, the crank is also ‘keyed’ on, which meant the rotational forces were still being taken, otherwise the damage might have been much more extensive. Chilmark brought George Band the train back to Llanuwchllyn at very slow speed.
Once dismantled, it could be seen that the crank had been a very poor fit on the axle, and it was probably damaged when the axle was renewed in the 1970s, with the crank being refitted on to the axle without any remedial work. The firm which had carried out the work for owner Alan White is no longer in business, hence we somehow suspect that any warranty might have expired! The axle has been sent to the Festiniog Railway at Boston Lodge, where the other crank will be removed, just in case it had suffered the same fate. Boston Lodge should be able to build up, re-machine and refit the cranks in time for George B to star in our August Bank Holiday Steam Gala."
While on the subject of locomotives, Diana and owner Phil Mason have been enjoying their nationwide tour of narrow-gauge railways so much, and together with changing personal circumstances, it has been agreed by mutual consent that Diana will not be returning to Llanuwchllyn for the time being. However, Phil’s Wickham Trolley, together with its unique single axle trailer, redolent of French metre-gauge practice, will remain at the BLR, thus we look forward to seeing Phil again in this part of Wales again soon.
We are delighted to announce that the Bala Lake Railway Trust has become the recipient of two replica quarrymen’s open coaches, donated by Barry Fitzpatrick. This hugely generous donation will join the other two similar coaches and, with the arrival next year of the replica of Lord Penrhyn’s Saloon, the Bala Lake Railway will be able to demonstrate an authentic Penrhyn passenger train behind Winifred. On special occasions, visitors will be able to experience a unique form of travel as these vehicles were bespoke to Penrhyn.
Work on the Penrhyn Saloon Coach progresses, but even greater care is being taken to avoid unnecessary mistakes, particularly in view of the restricted space available.
David Hale reports; “The floor is now in place although I will need to remove temporarily one of the end panels to provide a cut-out for the brake operating mechanism – the ‘Ship’s Wheel’ – and we show a photograph of this fitted to the original coach in the Penrhyn Museum.
One of the doors has been hinged, and I am making adjustments to allow it to close properly. Although made, hanging the other door will have to wait until I move the carriage away from the house. I still need to make the drop-light windows, and hope to be ordering the timber shortly”.
Again, photographs do not do justice to what is being achieved in such a minimal space.
We commented last month about the refurbishment of our bogie coal wagons. This month, we show where the expertise went, as a delivery of 12 tons of coal was unloaded from a truck into three bogie wagons in a way that would make the Drax system look crude.
Having a truck driver familiar with the location helped, but the combination of Rob deftly directing operations together with Julian Birley gently inching Trigger and her wagons along was a delight for all to watch.
Spectator speculation was that the contents of the truck would be far too much for the wagons, but by carefully placing coal in parts of the three wagons, then repeating the task to fill other areas, followed by further skilled placement to balance it all, meant the whole delivery was evenly deposited into the wagons, and with very little coal, only a few of handfuls, dropped on the platform. Again, the photos cannot do justice to a remarkably slick operation.
And finally…….. details of our August Bank Holiday Steam Gala (25th to 28th) are now on this website, with tickets available for what will be a festival of fun and steam along the lake, widely regarded as one of the most scenic stretches of railway in Wales. Further details can be found on our Special Events pagehere
We always welcome volunteers to the railway, and they are invariably keen to attack whatever needs doing, in whatever the weather. For our Alice Day, Judge Peter Heywood leaped into action, firstly doing the tedious task of shovelling ash from pits, followed by edging the grass on the far platform. By way of some levity, he also tested the railway’s latest creation, a hand trolley built by Dan Laidlaw and team on the chassis of an old tip wagon. Having a short throw crank means one’s hands are not flailing about, and it proved a popular mode of transport. With the fitment of floorboards and a brake, who knows where they will venture.
Lastly, visitors to the railway may have noticed that there is a small group of classic tractors sometimes in the yard, and regular readers will recall that they are pressed into service as well, particularly when track needs relaying. Recently, the heritage magazine, Tractor & Farming Heritage, published an article about the tractors and their owners who are all staff/volunteers. What struck all who read the piece was the final paragraph, closing as it did with the line; ‘The Bala Lake Railway is a gem of a place to work’. Enough said.