Community’s ‘coming together’ for return of Welshpool’s annual gala
THE Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway held its first gala in three years over September 2-4.
With visiting Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST No. 886 Premier from the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway in charge of shuttle services, the WLLR brought most of its fleet out for display across the railway, with resident steam locomotives Beyer Peacock 2-4-0T No. 1 The Earl and Austrian-built U Class 0-6-2T No. 2 Zillertal also in service on passenger trains alongside the visitor.
Being of 2ft 6in gauge, options for visiting locomotives are limitedm, with only the Sittingbourne, Great Whipsnade Zoo, and Statfold Barn railways running on the same gauge.
Nevertheless, Premier flew the flag well for its home base during its visit. Upon arrival in the days prior to the gala it had to undergo a coupling swap to enable it to run with the WLLR’s rolling stock, a task that had to be reversed before returning to Kent.
Busy summer
Amid the displays of other locomotives was the rolling chassis with boiler of French-built 0-8-0T No. 10 Sir Drefaldwyn, which is undergoing overhaul. The tanks, cabs and bunker had been collected and taken offsite for sandblasting and the first coats of primer under contract.
General manager James Brett said: “After a three-year hiatus, it was great to have our traditional steam gala weekend back to round off the busy summer holiday period.
“This year our team focused on a wider transport theme, incorporating our own intensive timetable alongside visiting road steam vehicles, classic cars, vintage buses and bicycles.
“There was also an expanded model railway exhibition situated in the recently extended display sheds at our Welshpool station.
“Undoubtedly the star of the event was visiting locomotive Premier, which only returned to steam earlier this year after a £150,000 overhaul conducted by SKLR volunteers.”
During the event, Premier operated shuttles from Llanfair Caereinion to Cyfronydd and Castle Caereinion stations. It also ran the last full round trip of the line each day and hauled a demonstration goods train with the railway’s restored wagon fleet each morning.
“We welcomed more than 800 visitors during the course of the event, with much of our railway community coming together for the first time after a difficult couple of years,” James added.
“It created a busy but enjoyable atmosphere. Our team are already looking forward to planning for this event in 2023.”