Anglesey Central Railway

Seen on FB today .....

“It is a pleasure to announce after 6 years of detailed and vast discussions with Network Rail Infastructure Limited, we have completed formally the legal steps on April 29, 2021, and We are now in a situation to inform you that the Anglesey Central Railway has. The legal right and a lease deal about the railway path which is known as ′′ GLA Line ′′ between the junction of Gaerwen and Amlwch for the period up to, and including April 29, 2120.
We wish to convey our most appreciation to all Lein Amlwch members, as well as Anglesey communities supporters for their non-surrender support. We would also like to record and acknowledge the support received from different departments from the commercial and industrial community as well as the efforts of Anglesey representative in our Senedd, which has been extremely busy promoting the restoration of trains on this railway once again.


The board of directors of Anglesey Central Railway Ltd. are pleased to announce, after 6 years of detailed discussions and lengthy negotiations with Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, we formally completed the legal due process on the 29 April 2021, and now are in a position to convey to you and state, Anglesey Central Railway Limited have a legally mandated and contracted lease for the rail corridor, designated The GLA Line north of Gaerwen, Anglesey, between Gaerwen Junction and Amlwch, for the period up to and including the 29 April 2120.
We wish to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to all members of Lein Amlwch and also to those members of the community of Ynys Môn who have given their unstinting support during this extended period of negotiation.
We would also wish to place on record, and acknowledge, the support received from various elements of the commercial and industrial sectors of the community and couple with these the efforts of the Island’s political representative in the Senedd, who has been assiduous in advancing the case for the reinstatement of the operational railway.”

 

For those not clinically allergic to FB (public site, no sign-in):
https://m.facebook.com/pages/catego...of-Anglesey-Central-Railway-1169301053185355/

 

Very exciting news! I remember seeing the disused railway on a Geography field trip to Anglesey and thinking it had potential, the date was June 1998! There have been a number of false dawns since - let's hope this is finally the start of a return to service.

 

Just what we need, another startup, perhaps they should be bidding for all the for-sale stock at Llangollen.......

 

They already have one of our diesel locos.

Bob.

 

This is a good idea. One idea you might want is to push people along in wagons as a different thing to do than everyone else.this will be easier to set up and will only need a small engine

 

What does this actually mean in practice? The line is currently the subject of a Restoring your Railways bid to the DfT which would ultimately mean NR restoring the line and TfW operating services. Are Lein Amlwch looking at running trains on the line at all or just clearing undergrowth etc?

 

Maybe the idea is a community support group to work with NR and TfW to help maintain and run the line? Or maybe they just wanted a railway back and the bid to the DfT was one option which will now be withdrawn in favour of running it as a more heritage operation?

 

This what happened at Ffestiniog on the big line but it turned up to be a disaster as the people got shut down as they crashed a digger for something. They cut all the bushes off but it was a waste of time and now I think they have give up as it’s never in the news.

 

Exciting news, a 17.5 mile route. I think Amlwch could be a more appealling destinations for the North Wales specials than Holyhead, and you might even get services running through to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. If in the fullness of time you wanted a bigger train set could also rebuild the Red Wharf Bay branch.

 

Red Bay? Oh ye of little imagination ...... there's a much better WIBN to be had.

Why not bridge the gap between Caergybi and Dún Loaghaire instead? OK, so it's a wee bit longer than Boris's putative bridge, but a far shorter run from London, Midlands/Potteries, Manchester, Liverpool, plus the sea's shallower and there aren't any deep trenches full of WWI nasties to worry about, a much better bet. There's just that same pesky difference in gauge to overlook.

Wibble wibble!

 

Yes, maybe. The press release doesn’t say much as to what they hope to achieve so presumably there will be more on that to come.

 

If you can overcome the challenge of getting over the Irish sea, the change of gauge would present little in the way of problems. The Edwardians managed to run trams from Leeds (4'-8½") to Bradford (4'-0") without problem.

 

Back in the 70's Railway Modeller mentioned a taper-gauge tunnel ... ... ...
Pat

 

Latest version of TALGO changes gauge without stopping.

 

How is that made possible? How do you add variable gauging into a vehicle, least of all a powered one, in a way that allows it to change gauge when you want it to, but doesn't allow it when you don't want it?

 

Deleted. Prefer @5944's answer to mine!

 

Witchcraft!

Honestly, very clever but quite simple in practice.



From the link...

Each wheel is sitting on a stub axle with two bearings, which can be moved sideways. The bearings are hold in position with spring locking pins. The gauge change facility consist of various guide rails, which have the function to pull the locking pins, move the wheel bearings and release the locking pins so that they can settle with spring force in their position.

 

Quite a few videos online, e.g.

Edit: Beaten to it ...

 

To continue this. There is a good video from Talgo about the system and the history of it. I hadn't realised it had been in use since the 1960s. They show the step by step process.