BALA LAKE RAILWAY SHED EXTENSION COMPLETED

The Bala Lake Railway’s carriage shed extension and interpretation centre was completed in January, although the track remains to be connected to the Bala end of the shed. With financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Bala Lake Railway Society, the railway can now accommodate all of its carriages under cover for the first time. Part of the building will be used to display the railway’s collection of historical items. One of its members is building a replica of the Penrhyn quarry’s directors’ saloon off-site. The original is preserved at Penrhyn Castle Museum. Along the line, a quarter of a mile of track is being relaid with new sleepers and ballast. Views have been improved following the pruning and clearance of trees on the hillside at Pentrepiod. Fund-raising for the extension to Bala town is progressing well, enabling the demolition of the asbestos-contaminated derelict building on the proposed station site and the purchase of an additional strip of land to be funded. The asbestos removal started in February. The BLR’s annual steam gala, which is normally held in August, will take place on June 16-18 this year, coinciding with the Ffestiniog Railway’s ‘Great Little Gathering’ ‘Hunslet 125’ event. On the weekend of June 19-21 and 23/24, services will be operated by as-yet unannounced visiting locomotives, as the resident Hunslet fleet will be visiting the FR. In the workshop, the Maid Marian Locomotive Society’s Hunslet 0-4-0ST Maid Marian will have its cab restored before operating in 2018. Arrangements are also being made to equip BLR stock with ‘chopper’ couplings, as used on the Ffestiniog, Welsh Highland and Statfold Barn railways.