CARRIAGE SHED TO FOLLOW NEW LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT AT GWILI
Spurred on by the completion of one shed, the Gwili Railway has started work on another.
A three-year, £40,000 project to build a locomotive shed at the line’s Bronwydd Arms headquarters reached its conclusion in January, when volunteers and staff laid the concrete floor.
A joint project by the Gwili Railway Company and Gwili Railway Preservation Society, the building provides the locomotive department with its first covered accommodation for overhauls and restorations.
GRPS Chairman John Gurmin said: “We are pleased to have provided funding for the new MPD facility. Recently funding was made available for the floor concreting and now the committee are working on funding for the installation of lighting and power. All this has been made possible by the hard work of our volunteers behind the scenes running the 300 Club and selling raffle tickets.”
Attention has now turned to a carriage shed at the new southern terminus of Abergwili Junction, titled ‘Dan Do’ – the Welsh translation of ‘Under a Roof’ – which will house both the railway’s BR Mk 1 fleet and the vintage ‘Welsh Train’ for National Collection Taff Vale Railway 0-6-2T No. 28.
The first stage of the project will be a two-road structure, although the ultimate aim, subject to funding, is a five-road building.
Groundwork for the shed has commenced, which entailed the construction of a temporary access road from the adjacent A485 dual carriageway, as the station is currently only accessible by rail – although the railway has planning approval for a permanent slip road off the A485.
In the longer term, other proposals for Abergwili Junction include a new-build Brunel-style wooden overall roof for the station.
The line needs to raise £50,000 to complete the first section of the shed, matchfunding a ‘pound for pound’ offer from a benefactor. Donations can be sent to the Gwili Railway, Bronwydd Arms Station, Carmarthen SA33 6HT. For more details, see Inside Track, pages 102/103.