May 2017 Update
What a month! As you will read, May was month to remember, with the 50th anniversary of Maid Marian entering preservation, the Spring Bank Holiday event breaking records plus other achievements. Bearing in mind that the BLR has only three permanent staff, one comment at the end of the month was deemed particularly apt for inclusion here; “For a small railway, there is always a heck of a lot happening”.
To look at performance overall, passenger figures were up (yet) again on May last year, this time by 3%. Indeed, on one day, about which we will comment later, every carriage was used but still there were not enough seats.
Saturday, 6th May was the 50th anniversary to the day of the purchase of Maid Marian from Dinorwic Quarry by the Maid Marian Locomotive Fund (MMLF), and to commemorate the date, a special train to recreate the event was laid on for members of the Fund, which included half a dozen of the original members present half a century ago! Rob Houghton had finished his onerous tasks of getting her ready after her 10 year overhaul (after which she was promptly sent to Bressingham for their Gala at the end of April), and she had been beautifully repainted by Roger Hine, whom, you may recall, did such a superlative job on Winifred.
The MMLF Special ran with a rake of slate wagons, exactly as 50 years ago, but this time fitted with seating planks and cushions, in deference to the age of the passengers! The train ran empty to Flag Halt for photographs and, once the members had boarded, thence to Llangower, where suitable logistics were employed to get Maid Marian on to the front of her train for the return trip. The special then returned to Llanuwchllyn, dropping its passengers off at Flag to be picked up by Holy War on the scheduled service train as it passed by. Back at Llanuwchllyn, there was the ceremonial cutting of a beautiful cake commemorating the special day, the cake having been made in the village.
To round off the day perfectly, Maid Marian was used for the third scheduled service and then ‘top and tailed’ the last with Holy War.
The Volunteers’ Day on Sunday, 14th was very encouraging, and several commented on how welcoming they had found the occasion. Some had come from quite a distance. Indeed, some of those present signed up straight away, and it was encouraging to note the interest in guard duties.
This is an area where there has traditionally been quite a shortage, but due to a surge of interest last year, with several trainees passed out (qualified), volunteer guards have been to the fore of late, and every single turn throughout the whole of April and May has been covered by a volunteer guard, thus relieving BLR staff. Despite this increase, we would welcome further interest from any budding guards.
The Spring Bank Holiday Weekend saw the BLR staging our usual trio of activities, namely increased service frequency on the railway, the huge Vintage Vehicle show in the field next to the railway and the Model Railway exhibition in Bala. Vintage buses were on hand to shuttle rail passengers from Bala station to the exhibition, and visitors back at Llanuwchllyn had only to walk a few yards to enter the vehicle showground where upwards of 200 exhibits, ranging from tractors to cars, trucks, Land Rovers etc. filled the space around the main ring. Away from the fascinating display of machinery, other attractions included axe-throwing, (like last year, remarkably skilled), local crafts and delicious locally produced foods. The whole vehicle event had been organised by the Meirionnydd NVTEC, which co-ordinated the show, as always, to a very high order.
The Model Railway Show was well attended and equally well received. It is of note that there were several repeat exhibitors, such was the success last year. We even had one exhibitor who had come all the way from Ireland and who had an exquisite model of Llangollen station. He has promised to bring another layout of a local station next year.
Saturday passenger traffic on the railway was healthy, to say the least, but Sunday broke records and provided the highest figures ever for passengers on one day. In spite of attaching every coach available, and running services to the maximum capacity of the line, there was the regrettable situation where there was no room left on a couple of trains. We can only hope that those without seats will come back another day.
After the last train on Monday, every coach was coupled together to form our traditional end-of-weekend ‘special’, in this case a triple-headed train hauled by ‘The Three Little Red Engines’, George B, Alice and Maid Marian, which went down to Llangower and back. Tim Williams has published an excellent, if a trifle wobbly at times, (they were in the back of an enthusiastically driven Land Rover) 30 minute video of the trio on YouTube. We start our journey below 25 minutes into the video but do go and view the whole 30 minutes if you have time.
This will give a taster for what we plan to repeat for the August Steam Gala, (25th to 28th), but this time with passengers on board.
All the BLR Staff would like to express heartfelt thanks to all who helped make the whole weekend such a success, exhibitors, stewards, volunteers and, particularly, visitors.
The Carriage & Wagon efforts are now, in one instance, proudly on display at the end of the platform in Llanuwchllyn. The cover for the new, raised water tower is now in place, as depicted in the photo. Particular thanks are due to Ian Whitson and Geoff Hodgkinson for their cabinet-maker skills, as well as Bob Newton and Rod Fairley for getting it in place and secured. It so looks the part, and just remains to have the roof cover completed.
The Penrhyn Coach is progressing well and David Hale’s attention has turned to the carriage doors.
“Making the doors is quite a long process because of the fact that each has 10 double 
mortices and tenons, plus the stiles, (the side members had to be profiled to the exact same curvature as the carriage sides), all having to be made before gluing together. Getting all the joints lined up when the glue has been applied was difficult, especially as the glue ‘goes off’ quickly, even in cool weather. Whilst the glue on the second frame was ‘going off’, I trimmed off the tenons on the first frame and planed everything to finish the frame to size. The second frame has now been done as well, so both frames are now ready for the external skins to be fitted. Then I can either hinge the first door, (remember that the carriage has been moved closer to the house), or get on with making the drop lights. Still a lot to do to the doors”!
We have included a photo of the first door in place which demonstrates the subtlest of curvature in the construction of the doors, again a testament to the detail and effort taken in getting this project absolutely right.
A final selection on the colour of the leather to be used for the seats, an elegant and tasteful dark blue, has now been made.
In connection with the Red Dragon Project, the BLR took delivery, during the month, of a consignment of rail and points, purchased from our friends at the Launceston Steam Railway in Cornwall.
This track will be used to extend the carriage roads at the eastern end of the carriage shed, which, in due course, is to be extended. The new track layout will provide greatly increased flexibility in not only where and how coaches can be stored, but also provide easier access.
And finally……. while we take every opportunity to thank our loyal band of volunteers who help in myriad ways on the railway, and who come from all over the British Isles, we always welcome enquiries for volunteering of any type at any time. There is no need to wait until the next Volunteer Day to be announced. Just give us a call. It is as easy as that...