SINGLE LINES

■ TIMETABLED Douglas Bay Horse Tramway operations for the 2023 season were stopped on October 18, earlier than planned, due to concerns over the condition of Tramway Terrace, although pre-booked tour group operations were fulfilled up to October 29. The terrace, in front of the stables, incorporates an arch through which staff and horses normally gain access to the stables. The building is now surrounded by scaffolding and awaiting demolition.

■ REPAINTING of Vale of Rheidol Railway’s 2-6-2T No. 8 into BR black livery (RM, November) has been completed with ‘lion over wheel’ emblems and reinstatement of Llywelyn nameplates, believed not to have been carried on the loco since the early 1990s. No. 8 had been GWR green since 1996.

■ THE 15in gauge Clevedon Miniature Railway in North Somerset, a 900 yard circuit worked by a steam-outline 4-6-0 tender battery-electric loco, is currently closed.

Amid an apparently sensitive situation the future of the railway is currently unclear.

■ HAVING completed reconstruction of its two first class carriages, Vale of Rheidol Railway has commenced a programme of rebuilding five open carriages. The first to enter the works is No. 4, the body of which has been lifted off the chassis and the frames sandblasted. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 will be similarly treated in due course.

These rebuilds will be the most comprehensive the vehicles have received since construction in 1938.

■ EX-Matheran Light

Railway 0-6-0T No. 740 (OK2343/1907) purchased by Maddie Dolby in July (RM,

September) has been largely stripped down in a private storage unit. The boiler has been removed and sent away for inspection while the cab, tanks and various other parts are now stacked around the unit waiting to be stored on shelving. Where restoration to operation will be undertaken has not been confirmed.