June 2017 Update
The railway received the following announcement from Trip Advisor just before the end of the month.
“We are pleased to announce that the Bala Lake Railway has been recognised with a 2017 Certificate of Excellence, based on the consistently great reviews you have earned on Trip Advisor. Only select businesses receive a Certificate of Excellence”.
Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, and this is testimony indeed to the positive attitude of the Management, Staff and Volunteers of the BLR.
One occurrence in June, perhaps only incidental for visitors but of major importance for those involved, was a veritable blitz on the loco shed, where movement has become slightly impaired by increasing numbers of locomotives and their ancillary bits and pieces. As the photos show, this is now a location of tidiness and order. Needless to say, after the immense effort on the part of Rob Houghton and his team, the word ‘mess’ is now an anathema, and anyone undoing their good work will meet with persecution, threats and other punishments, as well as funding considerable hospitality at the Eagles Inn in the village.
We showed last month a photo of track recently acquired form our friends at the Launceston Steam Railway in Cornwall. It had already been decided how the panels would be laid out, and on one of the hottest days of the year so far, Rob and Dan got to work grading the ground at the eastern end of the carriage shed, laying ballast and fitting all the pieces together. The photo from volunteer Andrew Coward does not do justice to the heat, but as he commented; “The boys just kept on going”. The extra track will be of great benefit for the movement of rolling stock, and, eventually, it is hoped to install an extra set of points off the main line, thus giving even further flexibility.
Our Locomotive fleet has been kept busy all month and minor jobs have been carried out. George B has been a big success but a problem with one of her cranks has necessitated attention in the (now immaculate) workshop. Holy War had her roof repainted, which may sound incidental, but this is necessary because of the soot she emits. Anyway, a shiny roof makes it more difficult for the soot to get a hold. Alice had her smokebox door repainted, and she looked perfect when she was loaded on to a truck for her brief ‘holiday by the sea’ on the North Norfolk Railway. Before eyebrows are raised, the standard gauge line had installed some 2 foot gauge track so that Alice could be a major attraction at their Festival of Transport. It is not the first time Alice has visited North Norfolk, as she enjoyed some dual gauge running in the yard at Weybourne a couple of years ago. On the basis of ‘Driver for a Fiver’, her visit was deemed to have been a spectacular success. As you read this, she will have returned home and be back in service along the lake.
Our diesel ‘maid-of-all-work’ Trigger has at last emerged from works and is now back in service, showing off her new coat of paint, including the impressive ‘wasp stripes’ front and rear, thus harmonising with our other heavy diesel, Chilmark, which also benefited from Dan Laidlaw’s careful paintwork. There are still a few minor improvements to be done on Trigger, but her reappearance is timely as trusty Chilmark, which has been used daily for months, is now due for a little ‘rest and remedials’, so to speak. Like any old lady, things happen from time to time.
The Carriage & Wagon Dept. is never without something that needs attention, and it was the bogie coal wagons that came under their eagle eye. Visitors may have noted that these aged but strongly-built wagons sit at the end of the station loop near the water tower, and it was found that the metal floors have become rather weak. Dan Laidlaw moved two of them so that new metal flooring could be installed.
Dan was also busy with one of the passenger carriages. The seats were re-upholstered in smart new vinyl, and this time in a fetching shade of blue. Other seats will be redone in due course.
We have mentioned the progress of the new station seat which Rod Fairley has been painting, treating and assembling. We show a photo of the finished article.
Dates for the Diary. We list some special attractions coming up soon:
29th July – Alice Day when our locomotive, Alice, together with Winifred, will be joined by famous author Pauline Hazelwood who wrote and illustrated the delightful books about these two locomotives. She will be signing copies of the books about Alice and Winifred, as well as other books in her increasing range of true stories about narrow-gauge locomotives.
3rd, 10th and 17th August are the dates of our Barbeque Trains. Bookings are now being taken, and further details are available on our Special Events page.
A note for next month is the August Bank Holiday Gala on 25th – 28th August, always an enormous event with a wide variety of attractions. We will be celebrating the first season of George B back in service. Again, check the website soon for further details.
And finally……… volunteers come and go, but one of ours has now gained a permanent position on another Welsh railway, something sadly we were never able to do. Liz Partridge is now full-time footplate crew on the Snowdon Mountain Railway and we wish her every success. As the photo shows, it is hard work but she clearly loves it. One never achieves dizzying heights in the world of narrow gauge railways, but on that line, she does at least have a daily chance.
We close with a beautiful photo of Winifred trundling home along Lake Bala with the last train of the day. As the owner commented; “This is the finest view in Wales”.
