Teifi Valley Railway

Maybe those who dismissed Michael Draper's thoughts in the early 1980's should think again. Maybe the chickens are coming home to roost.

 

Anyone who visits many of the smaller heritage railways and centres will have noticed the chickens roosting for some years now. The number will soon be sufficient for Michael to say "I told you so!"

 

But in a lot of cases not the lines he was on about that were going to fail such as the WSR, NYMR and the GC are going very strong. Also there have been some new ones sense then what are doing well such as the G&WR. South Wales doesn't seam to be a strong base for heritage railways, even though this line is near the Pembrokeshire coast which is a tourist area.

 

More of a case "look at my line", and you other lines will never be as good as the SVR.

 

Would there be an option to amalgamate with one of the other railways in the area? e.g. the BMR or VoRR?

 

I wonder if the TVR stock would be suitable for either of those? Maybe some of the locos...?

 

I think these two lines are under the same ownership.

 

They were but, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale_of_Rheidol_Railway, in 1996 the Brecon Mountain and the VOR were split as the business partners decided to go their separate ways.

 

VOR and BMR have been separate for many years now, I think. Don't think any Teifi stuff would be of interest to either at present. Locos too small for a start.
If Teifi stuff leaves Henllan, somewhere in England would look a better bet.

 

That always struck me as more of a wishlist than anything else. Mind you, at around the same time David Shepherd was also predicting the closure of at least one fairly major line, although he didn't name names.

 

Not even Sgt. Murphy?

 

Defineately no good or powerful enough for the Brecon Beacons Railway.
Shame that in North Wales there are over a dozen successful narrow gauge and a standard gauge railway with most having access to large Volunteer base, but in South Wales not so much interest, or numbers for some unknown reason.
It's not because of location, as most travel many miles to volunteer, most not even living in Wales.

 

Would I be right in saying that most of the North Wales' railways are run by English? and South Wales' railways are run by Welsh?
If not I'll come up with another theory but South Wales' industrial glories were bulldozed away reflecting the apathy to preserve the memories of 200 years of strugle, toil and death. Maybe this has replicated itself in preservation movement within South Wales which has never really had the desire to remember those awful days.

 

Sorry to ask but what exactly did Michael Draper say? Ive heard various conflicting interpretations?

Plus when sites merge it usually results in lost volunteers loyalty is often to one railway - in my experience.

 

Yes, there are always people who rejoice in the troubles of others. It would be nice if the preservation movement could say the Teifi Valley is worth saving, and got behind the efforts of those who are trying to rebuild it.

I know that South Wales has not had the success of the northern Great Little Trains, but the existing lines do show a spirit of determination in difficult circumstances; I visit as many as I can when returning to see friends from younger days in Cardiff. I recall going to Henllan, after visiting the nearby Museum of the wool industry with a non-enthusiast friend, to find the last train of the day had been cancelled so that bit of track remains to be done!

Where's that pioneering spirit of old?

John

 

Also the WSR supporters should stop putting money in and let it die. So yes it was a bit like showing the red rag to the bull and the supporters of their line did the V sign to him and made their line a success.

 

"Yes, there are always people who rejoice in the troubles of others. It would be nice if the preservation movement could say the Teifi Valley is worth saving, and got behind the efforts of those who are trying to rebuild it."

Wasn't there a thread on here (or a previous version of this forum), about which railways would ride the recession? Did any of it REALLY ring true??? Will

 

Interesting that railways like the DFR and GWSR played a part in helping the SVR get back on its feet after the floods then...the point being that sometimes there is strength in numbers.

I think Draper has been proved wrong up to this point, that's not to say in 50 years time the movement might be slimmer, but for the moment lots of railways are enjoying reasonable times such as the GWSR and DFR despite the recent economic downturn.

Running a preserved railway is not easy and too often it falls on the few with great difficulty in terms of succession planning in contrast to other businesses. However that's not to say we shouldn't enjoy the moment.

In my view neither should it be assumed that only the big players are good for the movement; on the smaller lines for example there might be ample time for a family to talk to the engine driver and have a close look at the engine whereas this is a lot more difficult on (say) the SVR with a stricter timetable etc.