DOUBLE SHOW OUTING IS A RHEIDOL ‘FIRST’

Two of the Vale of Rheidol Railway’s trio of GwR 2‑6‑2Ts will be away from the line for what is believed to be the first time. No. 9 Prince of Wales will be showing off its new livery alongside under-restoration Aberystwyth shedmate No. 7 Owain Glyndwr, at the Warley Model Railway Show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on November 26/27. Prince of Wales is being repainted in GWR livery, and will return to service with its original number - 1213 - but without nameplates. The engine was built at Swindon in 1924, reputedly a rebuild of the 2ft gauge railway’s 1902 Davies & Metcalfe 2-6-2T of the same name. It was, however, an act of accounting subterfuge, as its record card reveals that the overhaul cost was almost the same as building Nos. 7 and 8 new the previous year; the technical difference was the reuse of patterns for castings. Engineers familiar with the Rheidol locomotives have confirmed that No. 1213/9 could not be a rebuild of the 1902 locomotive. The railway’s appeal for information about the location of the locomotive’s original numberplates (it was renumbered No. 9 by British Railways in March 1949) went unanswered, so new ones have been cast. The VoR has adopted the policy of running all three engines without the names allocated by BR in 1956. Modifications are being made to the railway’s carriage fleet to improve passenger comfort. They include bogies with modified suspension and new wheelsets, following a threeyear trial on coach No. 7. So far, three carriages have received the modifications, while in the saloon cars, the seatbacks have been raised. All 14 carriages in traffic have had their GWR numbers restored.