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 to convey sincere thanks to all who travelled on the line over the last year, and who rated us so highly. It is so gratifying to know our efforts are truly appreciated.
The launch of Diana, Phil Mason’s beautifully restored Kerr Stuart locomotive, took place on the 14th May in perfect conditions, with blue skies and Lake Bala as still as a millpond. Phil takes up the story.
“A most enjoyable day was had by all at the Diana launch and re-dedication on Saturday, 14th May. The weather was glorious, the food was superb and the speeches brief. Diana performed effortlessly and with style, unlike her owner who spent the entire day grinning contentedly. (Justified. – Ed.)
The celebrations started with an introduction from the footplate, made by BLR Chairman, David Gwyn, followed by my own small contribution on the history of the locomotive. Finally, the re-dedication was carried out by my father, Peter Kent Mason, who poured a little champagne over the buffer-beam, but carefully ensured that there was plenty left for his lunch later!
Diana pulled her first solo train away from Llanuwchllyn at precisely 11.00, with Rob Houghton, myself and my father on the footplate. The crews changed around throughout the day, selected from myself, Rob Houghton, Dan Laidlaw and Dave Evans. The photographers were out in force, and some excellent photos were taken to record the memorable event, many of which can be seen on theDiana Facebook page.
After the excitement and success of Saturday,Diana had Sunday off, but on Monday, 16th, she was out again on a David Williams photo charter. Again, the weather was perfect, and the day was spent in glorious sunshine, running past men on stepladders, then setting back and doing it again, and again, and again. It was one huge success, apart from one altercation with a particularly well-spoken tractor driver, who had swapped his Bentley for his tractor, in a scene straight from that famous Ealing comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt. The photographs seen so far have been truly fantastic, capturing the whole atmosphere to perfection”.
The Bank Holiday Weekend at the end of the month saw a most ambitious programme laid on, with several notable ‘firsts’ for the railway. Linked to the first two-train running on the BLR for 25 years, an excellent model railway show was organised at the Bala School, with free link to the railway by red London bus.
At the same time, the Meirionnydd Tractor & Vintage Machinery Club organised a Festival of Transport and joined us in the campsite next to Llanuwchllyn station with a wonderful display ranging from vintage tractors to beautifully restored trucks, plus an appealing array of classic cars. Other stands featured local crafts, including a group of hounds and one man throwing an axe at a target with gratifying accuracy and skill.
The fact that all three locations were linked together proved to be an enormous success. BLR volunteers came from far and wide to help with whatever tasks needed doing, which just added to the success.
BLR General Manager David Jones posted the following on the 30th May, which sums up the event perfectly.
“Building the second guard’s brake coach, and running a two-train service was definitely worthwhile. Today, we carried very nearly twice the number of passengers to last year’s equivalent Bank Holiday Monday, and beating the best day from last August’s gala.
A huge thank you to Rob, Geoff, Dan, Mark and everyone else involved in building the brake coach, as well as all the crews and others who operated the services this weekend. Thanks also to those who stepped up to help run the model railway exhibition. What an achievement it was, and we are proud of you all.
Bala and Llanuwchllyn were really buzzing today. The trains were full, the connecting bus was well loaded all day, the Festival of Transport was a great success and the Model Railway Show, whilst not packed (weather too good), was well enough patronised to be repeated again next year. It was definitely the best weekend in 25 years”.
And finally…… to accompany this beautiful photo of Diana, we close with owner Phil Mason’s riposte to a witticism about the shape of her cab.
“A few people have commented that Diana’s style of cab won’t give you any protection against the Welsh weather. I don’t know what they mean, as it is just the thing to stop you getting too sunburnt on the BLR”.