Trawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway

Perhaps better suited to a French style Velo operation? Might attract the high wire and bunge crowd from Blaenau?

 

Well you have the cwm prysor viaduct which is very scenic, as is that area in general , though there is an access road of some kind laid on the trackbed before cwm presor, also they are only planning to go as far as traws lake halt for now, as there is a bungalow built on the bed between there and traws station proper. Personally I think it's rather scenic around manod and Blaenau as the railway winds up through the town.

 

That sounds like a really good idea. It's properly the activities centre of the UK around there these days, so something a little gentler, but still requiring a bit of oomph, would be just the ticket (though I wonder how appealing huffing up a hill with the power of half a shanks's pony will be on one of the wetter weekends in Wales…).

Simon

 

Personally I think any modicum of success hinges on the continued tourism/leisure development of the lake. And that depends on what the situation is with the power station.

 

The velorail scheme didn't really get off the ground. Largely because it's a single track standard gauge line built on a narrow gauge formation. So there are some steep drops in places. Not ideal for taking your velorail off to let someone past. I believe network rail wanted some robust fences putting in. The cost of doing so was prohibitive so they scheme died a death.

Tim

 

I think velorail is an utterly daft concept on single lines. Pedal-pedal-pedal-stop-get off-take bike off track-wait for other people to pass-put bike back on track-get on-pedal-pedal-pedal-stop-get off-take bike off track... etc

How many times do you have to stop and take the thing off the track before it gets incredibly tedious? I think most people in their right mind would rather do away with the track entirely and just have a cycleway, which would also have far greater capacity, people could bring their own bikes and there not need to be the outlay for special vehicles.

Never. Gonna. Happen. In. A. Million. Years.

 

Perhaps they could move the rails inwards & extend the Festiniog. At least they could find some stock to run on it without having to look too far.

Bob.

 

End on connection with the Bala Lake?

 

Ah, the fabled Bangor, Blaenau and Bala railway. I remember seeing the Bo-Bo-Bo designs way back when.

John

 

At the other end they could relay the Bangor line from Caernarfon to the point where it crosses the Padarn Railway, turn sharp right, and form an end on junction with the Llanberis Lake.

I'm kidding.

 

Certainly think NG would be more feasible and tie in better with the whole Welsh narrow gauge thing than a tatty 2HAP and 08 or velodaftness.

 

You would need to resurrect the deviationists to get back to Bala. Theres a bit of water on the trackbed.

Bob.

 

I thought the 08 funding appeal had failed? Did they manage to acquire one from elsewhere?

3rd rail is nonsense and would only appeal to a very tiny proportion of enthusiasts and an even tinier proportion of Joe Public. It certainly would not give the group an 'edge' unless you're talking about a financial edge for them to drop off....


Keith

 

I get my info from the facebook page, in answer to a question about the 2HAP the fb page moderator said they would be operating push/pull services with an 08, sorry I should've made it clear any info I shared was from the official fb page, I'm more the horses arse than the mouth!
I would have thought that narrow gauge is a non starter too, there's too much competition and who would do it when you could ride the FR or WHR instead.

 

But if that were to happen, none of those involved would get their own train set to play with...

 

The Velo Rail idea strikes me as a bit odd. What happens when two meet from opposite directions?...... or, if that's not going to be an issue, how would the economics work with so little traffic?

 

See post 166 in this thread. Basically one user has to take their vehicle off the track and allow the other user to pass.


Keith

 

and onward to the Llangollen!

 

i was under the impression that they'd bought an 08 that no one else wanted as it has shifted cranks (whatever that means)