FR & WHR & WHHR News

When they went to the hourly timetable and started passing at TyB rather than Dduallt and RG.

Yes, anything that could run was run and run hard in the past.

To go back to the discussion about authenticity. Authentic to me is waiting at Dduallt on the down train to see what was pulling the up train and then it blasting under the bridge and and round the loop. If it was something that you hadn’t seen or ridden behind for a while then piling out and TyB was catch it on the way back down. Did that the first time I saw Prince and also Linda after overhaul.

That and dropping off the signalman at RG and Dduallt in the morning.

 

Presumably if you are looking at a pre-1968 photo TyB was being used as the terminus, so - assuming no platform swaps - every train would appear to either arrive or depart "wrong line"

 

Yep trains would have used both lines when it was a terminus. I think at one point the up line was in a bad state and was only used for running round. Would have to dig out some heritage group journals to find out though.

Tim

 

TyB was left hand running until they did all the alterations for passing. If the passing loop at dduallt was taken out in 1989 then it would be around that time that TyB reverted to right hand running.

 

I recall right hand running at T-y-B en-route to Dduallt was in force during my first visit, when the old Earl (the once and future LT) was still in harness.

 

Maybe in the late 70s when TyG opened and TyB was less used for passing.

 

My first visit was '71, so this was well before any public service had ventured beyond Dduallt ... even the Gelliwiog shuttle. RG wasn't so much as an obvious location at the time .... deffo plain track (and a lot of bracken). Trains were crossing regularly at T-yB and Penrhyn (quite something to experience!). The loop at Minffordd was available as needed back when, it has to be said, the down platform was no more than an unkempt shrubbery and showed no sign of the flowerbeds which look so fantastic this year (kudos to the gardeners on the FfR btw). T-y-G was still rotting quietly to itself at the time and no-one AFAIK had even begun to think about where the station at BF was eventually going to go ..... or even if the Conwy Valley line was going to stay open to passengers.

It's entirely possible arrangements weren't yet set in stone at T-y-B, but it'd be nice to hear the definitive version.

 

Festipedia has a signalling notice from 1970 which implies that right-hand running was usual at Tan y Bwlch at that point, with the lines referred to as "Through (water tank)" and "Down (station house)". The layout of the trap points on the diagram also implies right-hand running.

See https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Yellow_Signalling_Opening_Notices

 

Likewise, and here's a picture from 1969 with the old Earl on the right hand track. Given the location of the water tank I would have thought that right hand running was the norm then.



Steve B

 

I have it on good authority from an ex-signalman that before the automatic signalling came in. If the blockpost was unmanned all trains ran through the up line in both directions. Signals would be extinguished and "u" board visible on the home signal. The blockpost would only be manned if trains were crossing .

The colour light home signals installed in 1970 could admit trains to either side of the loop if needs be. The loop line was the left hand road and you'd get a yellow if you were going that way. Prior to that fixed flag boards were used.

The water tank at t-y-b was notoriously unreliable during this period, which is one of the reasons for building The Square the way they did. So sometimes locos would water at Minffordd and Dduallt instead.

Tim

 

At about 45 seconds shows a train leaving on the left hand line.

from 1986 it seems to be the other way round.

 

That will probably have been with the blockpost unmanned, as per post 1129, so all trains will have been using that line.

 

Love those old clips! There can't be any argument that Merddin Emrys's appearance was greatly improved by the 1988 rebuild. I'd almost forgotten how fugly the old beastie was as first restored and it's no wonder so many were up in arms at the idea of LT being similarly 'improved' .... so three cheers for the 'Active 40'!

As running when I first knew the line, the Alco still sported it's sloping cab, but the new design (as seen in the 86 shot) suits the loco far better, although either version was an improvement over the hideous lash up it sported during it's days in France!

The 1970 photo of T-y-B suggests the picket fence (tank side) must've gone in during winter 70/71 as I'm pretty certain it was there during my first visit. Thanks to that clip from 85 though, evidence for what went where at T-y-B (and when) still seems contradictory. Dammit! [EDIT: Having just read the post above from @Forestpines, I now believe the 1970 date!]

The 'Red Star' logo visible on the 85 clip jogged my memory. Wasn't that during one of the Conwy Valley line's more serious storm washouts? I seem to recall it being mentioned on the national evening news at the time. FfR management must've been cock-a-hoop with the publicity that brought and definitely a case of 'every cloud having a silver lining'.

I'd never seen that signal at the top end of Dduallt. Presumably, it served during the period when the shuttle was running. Had Dduallt ever been so important? I recall a comment that, in the old days, statiomasters there either became superb exponents of the bardic arts, or just went barking mad. All too believable, as even in high summer, with many dozens of passengers milling about when it was the upper terminus, it had an air of isolation which must've been even more evident in deepest winter, long before the spiral was constructed.

I've read through Festipedia regarding crossing points, as I was trying to recall just how the hell trains ever managed to pass at Penrhyn! It'd make for a very interesting and different subject for an 009 model, though not one I'd particularly want to operate under exhibition conditions. RG seems to have been a somewhat expensive indulgence .... even if it's somewhere useful to park PW kit up (all it seems to be these days). I asume it saw more use during the short period when T-y-G was the upper terminus.

One thing I occasionally wonder about: When (let's be optimistic) the Heritage Group succeed in recreating a 100 waggon gravity train, will any thought be given to lengthening the lower end of the loop at T-y-B back to it's former extent?

 

Rhiw Goch is actually in use as a crossing point on the red and yellow day timetables and has been for a few years now. So it's not just for locking p-way trains in.

There was talk of moving the bottom points at t-y-b so they weren't on the curve but it has all gone quiet. You can only fit 53 slate waggons in the loop but we have run trains longer than that in the past. So it's not necessary to extend the loop to run 100 waggon trains.

The target isn't actually that far away. We have 60 odd working slate waggons and the goods train has come greatly in the past few years. Another vehicle, a 3ton iorn coal waggons should make its debut this weekend. We also have several vehicles being restored at Beamish too. With the shed nearing completion work will re-start on waggons in the near future.

Tim

 

The debacle that was the signalling for TyG still makes me sad, and I do miss the crossing of trains at Dduallt.

Does the second platform at Blaenau ever get used?

 

Killjoy! We'll just have to think of another excuse then.

 

Well if you wanted to run *two* 100-waggon trains...

Or any two that don't fit in the loop, I suppose. One train that doesn't fit inside a loop is not a problem (well, I suppose at TyB and Minffordd you might have to make sure the right train strikes in at the home berth first)

 

I'm not sure that even happened during the height of commercial slate operations!

I suspect resurrecting trains too long for the loop would be too reminiscent of all the JGF experienced by staff at Penrhyn back in the day. Can't see too much support for the idea somehow.

 

Hunslet 125

Heads up folks! ..... According to thr FfR/WHR website, an additional (temporary) webcam will be available, situated in the yard at Minffordd, for the duration of the "Hunslet 125" event.

 

Some iPhone shots from early this morning.