SINGLE LINES More stock developments at Welshpool
W&LLR evaluates receives upgraded carriage and sends to Sittingbourne on loan.
THE Talyllyn Railway plans to launch perhaps its largest ever appeal on March 22.
‘The 75 Appeal’ will aim to raise at least £500,000 over a five-year period towards its ‘Preserving our Past, Building Our Future’ project which aims to redevelop the railway’s Tywyn Wharf station and Tywyn Pendre sites.
THE boiler from Hollycombe’s Andrew
Barclay 0-4-0WT 1995/1931
Caledonia returned to the museum immediately prior to Christmas following reconstruction at the Severn Valley Railway’s boiler works.
THE new boiler constructed for James Evans’ ex-Dinorwic Hunslet 0-4-0ST
Velinheli passed a hydraulic test on January 4 at Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge works.
TALYLLYN Railway’s
Kerr, Stuart ‘Tattoo’ class 0-4-2ST 4047/1921 No. 4
Edward Thomas, currently undergoing 10-year overhaul at the Vale of Rheidol
Railway’s Aberystwyth works, will return to service in a Kerr, Stuart lined grey livery.
THE Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is planning a 100th birthday party for its Kerr, Stuart
Brazil class 0-4-2ST Melior (4219/1924) for May 12, shortly before its boiler ticket expires.
THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s (W&LLR) Andrew Barclay 0-4-0T 2207/1946 Dougal is to go to the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway (SKLR) under a four-year loan agreement.
Dougal last ran on the mid Welsh line in 2013 after being withdrawn in need of significant boiler work. It has subsequently been a static exhibit at Welshpool Raven Square, other than a six-month visit to Taiwan in the winter of 2018-2019 during which it was steamed at reduced pressure.
The loan agreement, described as ‘initial’, envisages SKLR undertaking the required boiler work and other repairs at its Kemsley Down workshops during the first two years, followed by two years of operation at the Kent line with occasional visits back to W&LLR to participate in special events.
Dougal was originally built for the extensive Provan Gasworks system in Glasgow, its design enabling it to work under the restricted confines of the retort houses. It arrived on the W&LLR in 1969 and following restoration first steamed in 1975. The name derives from a character in the children’s TV series Magic Roundabout.
W&LLR and SKLR share the same 2ft 6in gauge and have naturally cooperated over the years with SKLR locomotives periodically visiting W&LLR gala events.
Meanwhile, the W&LLR’s Beyer Peacock 0-6-0T No. 823 Countess entered the works at Llanfair over the weekend December 9-10 to undergo a condition assessment. This included removal of the cab, tanks and boiler from the chassis to allow detailed inspection as a first step towards determining
Dougal the likely extent of work, cost and time required to return the loco to operation.
A detailed plan for overhaul will be presented to the W&LLR board for consideration. Countess has been in storage since withdrawal during the winter of 2020/21.
On the carriage front, exSierra Leone Railway third class coach No. 1066, sent to Statfold Engineering for refurbishment and conversion into a secondclass vehicle in 2022, returned to W&LLR on December 15.
Originally an open coach with wooden benches on either side, the carriage now has a dining area with custom-made seating and removable oak tables. A new electrical system has been installed in the original toilet compartment, later the ‘brake room’, which has been rebuilt to become a servery with refrigerators and a storage cabinet. The carriage has also been repainted and lettered to accurately represent its appearance when operated in Sierra Leone.