FR & WHR & WHHR News

Now that is a really lovely image .... I'm rather fond of "Palmerston", the little boxer is a million miles from the pile of scrap I saw 45 years ago.

 

Now that's what I call a short wheelbase! Might be a bit lively ...

 

Lovely video. A couple of points, if you'll forgive me!
1) Nice clean exhausts... I get ratty when photographic types insist on open dampers.
2) Unless fashions in Gwynedd are out of step, do all those Hi-Vis jackets on "Lyd's" train indicate a photographic charter?
3) A lid on the 'Flying Bench'? ..... Lightweights!
4) Are gravity slate wagons more, or much more uncomfortable to ride loaded or empty?
5) Perhaps there'd be mileage in involving local schools in the event on the Friday? The line is a big part of local history.
6) Loadings on the service train looked pretty good this late in the season.
7) I know the original reason for the 'Curly Roofed' van was for guards to keep a lookout, but it'd still be all too easy to brain oneself in Garnedd Tunnel on occasions when it runs above T-y-B!

Roll on "Welsh Pony" I'm really looking forward to seeing it in steam!

 

1) One of the advantages of the Ffos-y-fran coal - it burns very cleanly.
2) Phase 5 appeal supporters train.
3) The Flying Bench is positively luxurious compared to a slate waggon!
4) Depends on the waggon. Those fitted with the water tanks (to simulate being loaded) are probably the most comfortable, and provided you have a cushion (usually old carriage seats are used) the ones filled with real slate are the next comfortable. The unladen ones are 'lively' to say the least.... Of course none of them have any suspension to speak of, and all are loose coupled - theres a lot of crashing and banging from the couplings as the slack is taken up.
5) The FRCo have a good relationship with local schools, there was a young choir singing traditional songs at Harbour Station.
6) Yes, on both parts of the railway.
7) The CRV or do you mean the sentry box brake? Either way the only stock that gives plenty of clearance through Garnedd is a slate waggon!

 

1) The railway burns Welsh coal which is virtually smokeless anyway. Locos will be running with dampers open most of the time.
2) Lyd's train was a phase 5 subscribers special. It tours the railway showing people who have donated where their money is going, giving them behind the scenes access. Hence the hiviz.
3) the tent on the bench is a replica of what it originally carried.
4) About the same although the ones with slate in move about in a strange way under your bum.
5) The FR is very involved with local schools i think a choir from one was singing on the platform Friday morning.
6) Trains were pretty full all weekend. The event is really popular for all kinds of people.
7) There is plenty of head room. It is width that is the real danger. Locos like Upnor castle, the alco and lyd are more of an issue due to the footplate height.

Tim

 

My Gallery from Saturday: http://preservedrailway.weebly.com/ffestiniog…

 

There's been previous posts questioning why the railway hadn't taken on the NG15 (no. 134) project, as if they had it would almost certainly be running by now.
The answer is always that the railway is concentrating on the NGG16 fleet and doesn't want to mix classes, thus 134 is purely a volunteer effort.
Well, we've seen in the last few days no 87 failing, then no 138, and no diesel powerful enough to take the train to Caernarfon and thus the return was also cancelled. According to Barrie Hughes, no 87 may be out of service for some time, and thus the wisdom of the current locomotive strategy is surely called into question.

 

Easy to forget the Garratts are knocking on themselves. On the bright side, there's breathing space before the heaviest high season traffic resumes and if any heritage workshop can be relied on pull rabbits out of hats, it's Blodge.

You've got to wonder whether rebuilding the other Funkey "Castell Caernarfon" to match "Vale of Ffestiniog" wouldn't make sense. Is the third one still doing nowt in South Africa? And can the Funkey's be run in multiple?

 

But if the NG15 had been completed by now there might have been one of the Garratts which hadn’t been. Any loco strategy will be tested to the limit by unforeseen failures. Maybe what is needed ideally is a ‘hot swappable’ spare Garratt bogie. There are enough components available but, like the NG15, I guess it’s a question of priorities.

 

I'd take anything you read on that site with a pinch of salt.

87 was back together and on test this week thanks to the heroic efforts of the staff at Dinas.

The FR decided to prioritise 130, mostly because they aren't paying for it and it is a known quantity. Makes sense to me. They have also sent two boilers off for overhaul to minimise the time locos are out of traffic.

There are a lot of unknowns around 134 and a lot of work to be done on it. That's before you even get to the question of funding.

One of the rescue diesels is missing a final drive gearbox at the moment. The other would have been off on a line inspection following the storm. Hence the lack of suitable loco.

Tim

 

@meeee any idea about the Funkey back in S.Africa? Festipedia mentions it for potential use if there's no gainful employment for it there. It also mentions the loco suffered from vandalism.

 

I'd agree 100% with that!

Just as well there is no comments facility!

 

There was a 3rd Funkey which was at the Shurugwi Peak Railway in Zimbabwe last I heard.

You might be thinking of the Hunslet Taylor 0-6-0 which the FR purchased at the same time. It was sold on within a week to Apple Express. Sadly it seems to have gone downhill from there.

Tim

 

Must be the one. If the Festhighland go shopping for a new thunderbird, let's hope they don't have the same experience as the Isle of Man Rly!

 

What about the Romanian diesels at the Whr (64)?

Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk

 

I think that site has a particular axe to grind

 

They are less than ideal from what I hear. Low top speed and poor riding despite being powerful. Only really designed for shunting work. I think only one of the three actually works.

Tim

 

As they have not run at top speed over here, that is an unknown factor and again riding qualities are also unknown to me as I have only seen video of them hammering along Polish 'big dipper' track but seemed to cope well.