Llangollen Railway

I'm incredibly sad to read this, but full marks to whoever wrote it for the combination of honesty, clarity and tone.

 

Very sad news regarding the line, what is likely to happen next to the railway and its assets ? Could they recover by going to an all volunteer operation then at least no staff costs. Does the railway own the land ?

 

Fair enough and thanks for the clarity - more of a coincidence that I'd first realised then. I had considered that 3814 was a relocation to the Llangollen Railway for completion of restoration and operation rather than a contracted-in overhaul as with other locos. Am I right in thinking that the Collet tender from 3814 was moved to Llangollen ahead of the loco so that it could be first used for 6880 Betton Grange? I'm not sure whether this tender has already moved.

 

The tender from 3814 is still at Llangollen, I think, waiting for some work to complete it.

The most interesting thing to see will be what, if any, locos and rolling stock are actually owned by the Plc and might be at risk being sold off. Now is probably not a great time for a distress sale and there may be bargains to be had by those with funds but it might also work in favour of the Trust being able to buy back assets they wish to retain.

 

So sad to hear this. I hope that these issues can be sorted and the railway can move forward in some form.

Regards

Matt

 

In the last accounts (to 31st December 2019) there was “Track and Rolling Stock” worth £1.25m at historical cost with a NBV of £200k so they must have owned a fair amount of bits and bobs.

 

There's at least a handful of wagons that the VCT wagon survey claim are owned by the Plc, although the ownership records on there can be a bit dodgy.

 

Announced on St. David’s Day.

 

So sorry to learn about this. I've always enjoyed my visits to the railway (usually over a three-day event) and hope to experience it again. I echo the thoughts expressed for the volunteers ... it must be heart-breaking to be caught up in this from such close quarters.

 

Very sad news, I just hope its not followed by other railways having to also call in the receivers, but somehow, I'm expecting the Llangollen won't be the only line having to take this step. It looks like the fall out from the engineering business , and resulting claims from it, has been what pushed the company over the edge.
Hopefully something can be saved and the line can continue, possibly in a much reduced form , for a short while, but it must be completely gut wrenching for those people who devoted their lives to the railway to see it go like this .

 

Additional to the Llangollen is the railway at Elsecar. Any more to add to the tally?

 

I expect that it will be best to avoid hyperbole, at least for now – the railway as an asset surely has most value as a 'going concern', with limited scope for asset stripping.

Presuming that there's broad local support for the railway as an attraction, (ie the council aren't trying to flog it off to build housing on the trackbed, which seems unlikely) it seems a bit unlikely that the railways is going to 'go' anywhere, or significantly reduce its offering. They need to bridge the gap until it's possible to re-start revenue generating business, and see where they are then.

I'm obviously not close to the Llangollen, so maybe wide of the mark, but I do think it's probably unhelpful to start talking about any suggestion of flogging off the movable bits, partly because there's likely not much they can afford to lose, but also because not many people / places will be in a good position to buy.

Fingers crossed this is a blip rather than a disaster.

Simon

 

I can't see the Bank taking that view, once the administrator is appointed, they have to by law obtain the best settlement for the creditors, If ones the bank, they will want they money back, so that means selling off what can be, the creditors have the first call on the assets before anyone else unfortunately.

 

Obviously a traumatic event that no-one would welcome. However its not all doom either. The trackbed is unlikely ever now to be considered suitable by planners for other purposes - as an attraction its far too valuable to an otherwise struggling area. Hopefully a good share of the assets have been correctly acquired by the Trust rather than the trading plc and so should be protected to be used if/when a new trading company is set up. The real losers here will be the banks and other creditors that now have very little chance of getting paid - that will include the owners apparently owed steaming fees (which may lead to those locos being moved elsewhere).

In terms of the plc itself, the liquidators may well find it advantageous to take sensible offers from a "Newco" backed by the trust for assets bearing in mind the not insignificant cost of moving large items out of Llangollen if they are sold to third parties.

Sad as it maybe, the point of UK bankruptcy law is to try to enable viable parts of businesses to continue. Had the situation not quite been bad enough for liquidation, the plc would have had to struggle on, trying to find money for interest on loans etc. If this collapse can be the catalyst for a realisation that things need to be done differently, the railway could emerge significantly stronger in the long term.

 

Perhaps a diesel future is the best hope ?

 

No.