Vale of Rheidol Railway Steam Festival Weekend 26-27 September 2015 "The Forgotten Engines..."

Join us for what will be a celebration of small engines working on one of the most iconic narrow gauge railways in Britain.

EXCLUSIVE first opportunity to ride behind recently restored locomotives “Margaret”(Hunslet Small Quarry Class No 605 of 1894) and “Diana” (Kerr Stuart Sirdar Class No 1158 of 1917). “Diana” is the only example of the Kerr Stuart Sirdar Class in operation.

Both will be hauling their first trains in over 65 years after restoration in the new Vale of Rheidol workshops at Aberystwyth.

Also fresh from restoration is “Winifred” (Hunslet Port Class No 364 of 1885) making its first in steam appearance away from its home at the Bala Lake Railway. Shipped to America in 1965, Winifred was purchased by Julian Birley and bought back to the UK in 2012. This will be one of Winifred's last appearances in its original quarry paintwork prior to repainting.

“Sybil Mary” (Hunslet Large Quarry Class No 921of 1906) from the Statfold Barn Railway. Withdrawn from service in 1955, Sybil Mary returned to steam in 2013 after a 58 year absence.

This is the first time these locomotives have been together in preservation providing a unique spectacle.

They will be supplemented by the resident Rheidol Tanks No 8 “Llywelyn” and No 9“Prince of Wales” which will be operating services to Devil's Bridge.

All locomotives are subject to availability.

• Margaret 's first ever passenger trains. It was withdrawn from Penrhyn Quarry in 1950.
• Diana's first ever passenger trains. It was withdrawn from service in 1950.
• One of Winifred's last appearances with original quarry paintwork, prior to repainting and first visit to another railway since restoration.
• Quarry wagon shunting at Aberystwyth
• Footplate rides at Aberystwyth (donations welcome)
• Double headed quarry engines hauling passenger trains
• Loco Line-up photo opportunities showing the Small Quarry, Large Quarry and Port Class locomotives together.
• Exclusive guided tours of the new restoration and conservation workshops at Aberystwyth. See the progress on the overhaul of VoR No 7 Owain Glynd w r which has been out of traffic since 1998. (Donations Welcome)
• Exclusive opportunity to see never seen before locomotives in the workshops.
• Become and Engine Driver with “Driver for a Fiver” & Footplate rides at Devil's Bridge with Kerr Stuart Wren 3114

Full timetable to follow.

Diana appears courtesy of Phil Mason, Winifred appears courtesy of Julian Birley and Sybil Mary appears courtesy of Graham Lee.

Whilst every care will be taken to ensure the trains run as advertised, the railway reserves the right to vary the published timetables and locomotive allocations with or without notice. All locomotives subject to availability.

 

Margaret is getting ready for the party . . .

See https://www.facebook.com/margaret60...411646543880/1009223862462658/?type=1&theater

 

The Steam Festival Timetable is on our website! : http://www.rheidolrailway.co.uk/Steam Fest Timetable - V2.pdf

 

Yesterday, "Margaret" moved under it's own steam, for the first time in 65 Years. After spending the past few years under restoration here at the Vale of Rheidol Railway.

The Vale of Rheidol Railway would like to dedicate this event, as "Margaret" pulls out of the shed, to Mr Alastair Lamberton, who passed away in 1999. As one of Margaret previous owners, he would have been delighted to see this locomotive running again. Mr Lamberton spent a lot of time restoring the locomotive, creating patterns and casting and restoring the frames before he passed away.

Here is a short video of Margaret's first movements...

 

SURPRISE . . .

Two extra "Forgotten Engines" have been added to the bill . . .

Avonside locomotives MARCHLYN & OGWEN both ran at Penrhyn Quarry until they were shipped to America in 1965 . . .

They will be re-united with WINIFRED for the first time in 50 years . . .

 

What a Fantastic weekend it was, thanks to all those that came along. We hope you enjoyed it!

 

A well run gala, thankfully supported by a large number of paying passengers and the weather. The 10.00 off Aber' on the first day has to qualify as being about the 'biggest' steam passenger working this year as it featured two locos that had never worked a passenger train.

Access to the workshops was very interesting and undertaken by someone who was clearly interested and knowledgeable in what they were doing. All the staff I encountered were friendly.

My only suggestions for future events would be;

• Can the shed doors at Capel be opened to see the stored engines inside?
• On the Saturday two engines worked in the morning, with a swap over so that a different engine worked in the afternoon. This made it difficult to do both sets of locos and get to Devils Bridge without missing out on the workshop tours and cab rides on Winifred. Better to my mind would have been to run two different sets of locos on the two morning trains and repeat this in the afternoon.
• Cab rides on the diesel might be interesting if they could be fitted in between all the other movements.
• There was a bit of a gap in the timetable around lunchtime at Aber' if you had flagged the second shuttle and first train to Devils Bridge in order to ride on Winifred and do the works tour. I presume however that the constraints of what can be done with two sets of coaches and limited passing points were showing at that point.

Very much looking forward to a similar event next year. If by any chance you could borrow one or more of the three small engines recently restored at Brecon to be the visitors that would be even better!

Regards

JP