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Brecon Mountain Railway - extension?

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by 50044 Exeter, Nov 13, 2009.

  1. david1984

    david1984 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Bloody hell that brings back chilhood TV memories, well remembered Anthony, probably explains why those Baldwin 2-6-2T's fascinate me so.
     
  2. Nexuas

    Nexuas Well-Known Member

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    "come midnight monday" was the only thing which would get me out of bed early as a child, vaguely recall it being on at something like 7.30am on a saturday morning back in the days when you had to be in front of the TV at the required time to watch it. IIRC it was in the days before we had a VCR. No continuous repeats or 'on demand' streaming... ah The good old days...
     
  3. narrowgauge

    narrowgauge New Member

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    If you'd phrased that differently I would bring the story up to date but as you seem to thing that there's a good chance the story is fabricated I won't.
    Peter Johnson
     
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  4. jamesd

    jamesd Member

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    It's fine, it's meant to open in April according to the report so I haven't got too long to wait to find out if it's true.
     
  5. Unlikely

    Unlikely New Member

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    Pretty sad sign if there's a default assumption that media in the railway preservation industry can't be trusted. I'm a reader of railway mags (although only Railways Illustrated on an every-month-without-fail basis) rather than actively involved in preservation so I can only guess from outside , but I'm a managing editor in another field entirely, and it would infuriate me hugely if any of our articles prompted an "is there any truth in this?" comment on a forum. If we weren't certain it was true, we wouldn't publish it! OK it's a bit of an optimistic generalisation to apply that to all media, but I know that's how my own newsdesk works. It's not like the subjects of our journalism don't also read it/aren't litigious, and if we were regularly publishing lies we wouldn't still be around to start our 64th year of publication in 2014. Surely the same must go for the longer-lasting railway mags?

    Back on topic, I've paid a couple of visits to Brecon in the last two years and love the scenery and journey (and the food in the cafe). I'd already pencilled in an Easter weekend visit to the BMR and Pontypool, so if the extension's a possibility by then too, even better.
     
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  6. Buddrail

    Buddrail New Member

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    The BMR's 2014 leaflet has the words "Extension to Torpantau opening 1st April" emblazoned on the front cover; sounds pretty genuine to me! The website doesn't appear to have been updated yet.
     
  7. jamesd

    jamesd Member

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    Thanks Andrew. I haven't seen a leaflet yet, I was just going by the website but I agree that sounds pretty real to me too!
     
  8. MuzTrem

    MuzTrem Member

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    I've already set out my thoughts on the current state of the railway magazines at length in the Scotsman overhaul thread in March last year, so for what it's worth, here they are again:

    I hasten to add that the above comments are not in any way directed at Peter Johnson, whose column has always been a reliable source as far as I can remember!
     
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  9. narrowgauge

    narrowgauge New Member

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    You won't give up, will you? If you are that desperate to know why not ring the railway, like I did.
     
  10. narrowgauge

    narrowgauge New Member

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    In 23 years there's bound to be some mistakes but I've only had to run corrections probably less than five times and apologise once, due to a misunderstanding. There have been a number of occasions where I said that something was going to happen, based on information received, that didn't happen but no-one's ever had grounds for accusing me of making things up.
    Regarding the BMR, the information came from the website, where it says
    You have to ferret about to find it though. I was able to get 'April' just before the last issue went to press. There will be more information in the next issue.
    Peter Johnson
     
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  11. jamesd

    jamesd Member

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    Peter, don't take it personally, my original comment was based on a number of things, as Muztrem says thst have appeared in the railway press that are just not true or based on rumour. Clearly this wasn't.

    I'm not desperate to know when, or previously if, the extension is due to open, just interested. I go up there quite regularly and have walked in the area and seen the extension tracks just sitting there unused and it always seemed odd to lay the track and then just leave it. The last time I was up there, late last year, one of the staff said that they needed two powerful locos to haul trains on the extension, presumably the Pacific and another. He also said that he didn't expect it to open "anytime soon", hence my surprise at your report.

    As a bit of idle speculation, could the extra motive power be those three Bagnalls that are available?
     
  12. Rbridge100

    Rbridge100 New Member

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    This is excellent news. I live fairly close to the line and have watched progress at Torpantau whilst visiting Talybont Reservoir (which the BMR should hopefully reach eventually) over the years.
    I'd love to see one of those blasting its way up to 1300ft!
    I wonder if this means that Baldwin No.1 is complete? When I visited in July it didn't look near that, but then given what Statfold can do (and the facilities at Pant) I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

    Jon
     
  13. 61624

    61624 Part of the furniture

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    If they are the three Bagnalls I'm thinking of I doubt if they would have the power.
     
  14. Anthony Coulls

    Anthony Coulls Well-Known Member

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    Having seen said Bagnalls less than two weeks ago, very handsome engines but I'd have to agree with you.
     
  15. Felix Holt

    Felix Holt Guest

    Triple-headed Bagnalls, maybe ;)
     
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  16. crantock

    crantock Member

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  17. SpudUk

    SpudUk Well-Known Member

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    ...gee there's a lot of negativity on here!
     
  18. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

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    The extension opened today. I travelled on the second train in the front seat of the coach behind the loco. There has been some recent tree clearance but more is required. I will post more including some photos when back home later in the week.
     
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  19. DRJCorris

    DRJCorris New Member

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    Some photos from the first train:
    DSCN5030.JPG DSCN5031.JPG DSCN5033.JPG DSCN5036.JPG DSCN5037.JPG DSCN5040.JPG
     
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  20. 48DL

    48DL Member

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    By the look of it, there is no room for errors in the head shunt ;)
     
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