Llangollen Railway

He was told no before and after purchase.

 

I would like to think that in time and given some stability, other groups will bring their locomotives to Llangollen. There is a constant churn of this anyway - the LR may look a better bet than wherever they are now, especially if their loco is required for service.

 

I wouldn't be able to help in hands on way living in South Wales but would definitely be interested in membership or share info.

 

Llangollen's railcar collection remains the number one in the UK so I for one would like to see the reborn railway continue making the best of them.

To repeat a hypothetical example I've used before: Say it takes 20 tickets to pay for a railcar service, and 60 tickets to pay for a steam service. If on a given Wednesday 25 people would buy a ticket to ride the railcar, and 50 would come if it were steam, one can see how despite doubling the passengers carried, the steam has run at loss and the railcar at profit.

Several other lines have run steam unprofitably on a number of days due to there being a strong sense that they must be provided as that's what the public wants. Llangollen were one of the lines who weren't afraid to have a railcar only timetable on days they (presumably) knew would likely be quiet. Let's hope the reborn railway continues to select the service requirements based on hard business and not a more principled approach where desirability of traction overrides the business.

Returning to the idea of "status" - the railway's annual Railcar galas have been of national interest in the DMU enthusiast world, so fingers crossed they can continue to hold these in future years, as they are a treat!

Sent from my moto g(8) power using Tapatalk

 

Perhaps he has realised he has overpaid and would have made a loss on it, and sees this as the best way to try and recoup his money?

Good news though.

 

Just so long as the LR (and others with 1st gen DMMUs) remember to solidly plug their panoramic qualities, for all they're worth. If there was one single feature which stood out, for me, especially in units with the low density 2+2 seating, it was the unparalleled view fore and aft. If that ain't a 'USP', I don't know what is!

Great news re: the crane. Let's hope it marks the point when the tide turned and the LR can now look forward to what they do best.

 

"including offsetting the value raised from supplying day-to-day scrap materials to SCD."
If you've got an old car, don't park it in the llangollen car park...
Good to see some thing moving in the right direction. Dai Woodham would approve.

 

Or perhaps more to the point.
If you have an old car you want to get rid of, perhaps the LR could make use of it as part of the offset for the crane.

 

It has been known over the years! The very early days of the railway funds were raised through collecting and recycling paper. And it was only recently that the Foxcote manor society stopped collecting aluminium cans for recycling. Every little helps!

 

Indeed, I was being serious.
Scrapping a car would net someone what, £150 maybe?
A few donated to the LR and weighed in against the crane would be a good start, surely

 

Any rumours yet of where the sold coaches and Davy are headed to? I think a condition of sale was that they had to be removed by the end of May, so shouldn’t be long until low loaders start turning up

 

Don't forget, enthusiasts may be keen (and often very vocal in what they want) but they usually only make up a small proportion of the ticket income. Jo Public make up the great majority of that income and they don't need galas etc to entice them in.

 

Might I suggest that it may be more practical to dispose of the car to a local scrappie and donate the proceeds to the LR Trust.
Ray.

 

Things may have changed but I was advised many years ago by some LR volunteers that they were very reliant on Thomas & Santa Events to get sufficient numbers. The extension could, if marketed well, see a good uplift in travel. To me in seems ideal for coach traffic who are dropped in Llangollen and have a one way trip along the line. Very much the sort of sort of coach party traffic the FR gets. Down side is when will coach party holidays start again and they want very good party rates. I am sure there is also a market for those who want to spend some time in Llangollen without the problems of parking. If I still lived in the area, parking in Corwen, train ride into Llangollen, leisurely lunch at the Corn Mill & return seems attractive

 

The extension to Corwen has been the aim for a long time. Whilst it is a small town it is very much larger than Carrog and a more worthwhile destination. There is a museum, a couple of old churches and a glass gallery. I would think that it won’t be long before the coming of the railway leads to the opening of further tourist orientated shops which will gradually increase the attractiveness of the town to visitors. Corwen and the railway will be good for each other.

 

Actually they do - it's just that those galas have names like "Santa special" and "Steam lights" rather than "Glory days of the Cambrian Coast" or "S&D Spectacular". But they are events every bit as much as a traditional gala, with significant advance financial outlay in the hope of drawing in large passenger numbers.

Tom

 

Scrapping cars is fraught with legislative issues. If said scrappie isn't a licenced dismantler he shouldn't touch them. Likewise the unfortunate connection between scrappies and stolen materials means they should be careful about provenance. That being said, asking Ll if they want it might be a goer.

I wonder if some kind of hire-purchase deal could be struck? Ll pay to use the crane for a set period, and at the end of it, the either make the lump-sum payment or get their money back and the scrappie takes the crane?

 

Who was the second highest bidder for the crane? Is it worth seeing if they still want it, as the buyer has clearly realised his mistake? That way the crane could be saved without a financial burden being placed on the re-emerging Llangollen railway to pay for it.