Tributes to heritage railway firm’s founder and president
TRIBUTES have been paid to the founder of a Llanelli heritage railway company who has passed away.
Des Thomas founded the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway in the late 1990s along with fellow directors Richard Roper and Martin Doe.
As well as being a director, Mr Thomas was chairman and passionately involved in the railway up until 2019, when he stood down due to health reasons.
Last August he was named president of the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway.
He passed away on March 26, aged 81, at Llanelli’s Prince Philip Hospital.
Mr Thomas was born in the Morfa area of the town, living in Penyfon Street and went to Llanelli Boys Grammar School.
The son of a Tumble miner he always had a love of trains despite never working with them during his career. Instead, he was an engineer at the Glanmor Foundry in Llanelli, which was near the town’s train station.
The success of Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway is a testament to Mr Thomas’s determination and celebrates more than 220 years of railborne transport in the Gwendraeth Valley – the rail line was a major coalcarrying artery.
Its history goes back to the very beginning of the railways, encompassing the eras of coal and the super coal mining pits.
As a tourist attraction it was opened to the public in September 2017 with a handful of carriages run over 100m of track before being extended to half a mile and now, hopefully, to one mile in coming years.
Mr Thomas’s son Mark, who is the current chairman of the railway, said: “My father was a big personality and those who met him never forgot him.
“He was determined to see the railway saved in some way and he started the work back in 1987 as secretary of the Llanelli and District Railway Society, two years before Cynheidre Colliery closed.
“They started buying train engines from Cynheidre and stored them at Coedbach Washery in Kidwelly into the 1990s.
“Sadly, they didn’t manage to save the Cynheidre line back then, but my father decided to go it alone and that’s when he started to try and reopen parts of the line.
“People would know him for his love of the project or they were being nagged by him to get funding and other things towards it. He always went after what he wanted.
“I saw it all unfold every step of the way over the years and now I’m chairman.
“Dad always wanted to see more of the line open and one of things he used to say was the possibility of not only going north but also south towards Swiss Valley which would now be great a celebration of his work and legacy if we can do that in the years to come.”
Paying tribute to Mr Thomas, Martin Doe, who is now a volunteer at the railway said: “Des was the instigator of the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway project.
“I knew him since 1998 when he made a public appeal for interested parties to come and discuss his vision for the site in Cynheidre and that’s how I met him.
“Des’s passion was railways, you couldn’t meet anyone with more knowledge or enthusiasm about it all.
“His legacy will be of course his family but also the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway. He made it what it is today.”
Llanelli MP Nia Griffith, who also paid tribute, said: “I am very sorry indeed to hear that Des Thomas has passed away, and my deepest condolences go to his family.
“Des had such enthusiasm for railways and immense passion and dedication to the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway project.
“You could not fail to be impressed by his sheer perseverance over many many years in order to enable the project to go from strength to strength, and become the successful visitor attraction that it is today.”
Mr Thomas’s funeral takes place on Friday, April 8, with the cortege starting its journey from the railway bridge in Cynheidre at 11am.
It will then make its way to Silcox Family Funeral Directors Ltd in New Road, where a short service will be held, followed at noon by burial at Llanelli District Cemetery.
A wake will be held at EJ’S Cafe, Bar and Restaurant in Vauxhall Road, which starts from noon.
Mr Thomas is survived by his wife Diana, sons Mark and Noel, daughters Helen and Melanie and grandchildren Rachel and Nerys, and daughter-in-law Kirsty.