CASH FOR CORWEN COMES FROM WELSH GOVERNMENT
A £128,000 grant from the Welsh Government towards the Llangollen Railway’s Corwen Central station has been confirmed. It provides the lion’s share of the £161,000 needed to complete the island platform at the terminus of the 2½-mile extension from Carrog, replacing the existing temporary halt of Dwyrain Corwen East. As detailed in SR466, 2018 is the target for completion of the station, together with the reconstruction of a section of embankment, allowing the re-laying of 150 yards of track to connect with the current railhead. The grant is specifically for the platform, and the remaining work is to be funded by the proceeds of the LR’s £375,000 ‘Big Push’ share issue, launched on April 7 (SR466). There are also separate appeals of ‘A Tenner for a Tonne’ to infill the platform, and for the GWR-design water tower. At the end of the first month, £43,600 of shares had been purchased and a further £3,000 received in donations. Volunteers are currently adding the top layer of blocks to the Down side platform wall, and have begun laying the run-round loop. With the delivery of 40 lengths of rail, sufficient material is now on site to complete the trackwork.