Llangollen Railway

With the benefit of hindsight, it might perhaps have been sensible to have included the phrase "Not for Publication" on the letter that was sent out. Indeed, it might be better not to have mentioned the CVA at all if it had not already been entered into by the PLC. Once you issue letters such as this, it is extremely difficult to prevent the news spreading like wildfire. It then becomes impossible to 'put the genie back in the bottle'. This situation would not have helped the PLC's ability to manage their finances during the winter shutdown period if suppliers were suddenly to become jittery about allowing them the normal credit terms.

 

Might be the tip of the iceberg for some other railways, I don't wish it on anyone but with rising costs of materials and regulation changes with the environment its a worrying time for the railways.

 

Chickens coming home to roost perchance as some railways fail to appreciate / accept the need to change mindset from "playing trains" to "being a commercial entity" with all the strictures that such status demands.

 

So which of our railways do you consider having a mindset of "playing trains" ?

 

Why would they give away something for £50 that they charge £90 for?

 

I dare say that there will a railway or 2 that even though they have moved on from "playing trains" will still have some chickens come home to roost

 

I would hope they can manage to do both. Few people would volunteer if there wasn't a chance to help with 'playing trains'. I would however, hope that those volunteers would also see the necessity for the compromises that are often required for commercial success.

 

I was under the impression that it was part of the "commercial entity" which does not depend on free labour that has caused the initial problem i.e. the contract work.

 

Agreed BUT there should be a commercially-minded framework that encompasses both paid and volunteer staff; commercial rules need to be in place and applied but in some cases they are not. IIRC the WSR problems earlier this year were partly due to things (e.g. documentation) being allowed to lapse.

 

It would help no end if the contract engineering business was seperate from that of the plc and their by offered protection from the associated liabilities

I feel strongly about llan and its current position however it is neither the time or place to air my views which may be considered somewhat strong.

 

6880 progress is continuing well and still requires financial support.

 

Hello,
Two wagon chassis have been delivered to the railway from Boness Scotland.
One is for a GWR/ WR cattle wagon. This is a GWR 813 Fund vehicle.
The Fund would be very grateful for some photographs of these two wagon chassis!

Many thanks

Nick
GWR 813 Fund.

 

Hi Nick,
Delighted to read of your acquisition - cattle wagons are a much under-represented species. If it is the one numbered 50 at Bo'ness I suspect that it is a B.R. built one to dia 352 or 353 although it has had replacement open front axleboxes and 3 hole disc wheels. These were a development of the GWR's dia W12 with RCH axleboxes/W irons but a 3" shorter wheelbase (11' against 11'3''). Swindon drawing office even referred to the B.R. ones as W15/16! I presume that a full restoration is planned and look forward to reading about it. I take it that you are aware of the 2 semi-derelict dia 352 bodies which survive?
Sorry I can't help with photos of the chassis.
Cheers,
Ray.

 

Thank you Ray for the interest.
Both chassis 50 and I think 78 have both been moved. The Fund has a GWR body on The WSR. This came from Herefordshire Rowden Mill. I wrote over 50 letters to various farms etc seeking cattle wagon bodies or similar. I received a reply from two!
I will post some info on this project during the week.

Nick
GWR 813 Fund.

 

This coming Saturday (7th) sees a rare trip out for Kitson 5459 'Austin 1' pulling two suburban coaches. Loco is running bunker first heading West.
It's also a good opportunity for any prospective hirers to have a look.
'Foxcote Manor' is also running , including two evening return trips to Carrog with an eight coach train.

Bob.

 

Hi Nick, I've just been reading about the cattle van project on the Llan Facebook page. RHRP described your Y10 body as ex W18? but I believe the 130 Y10 fruit vans were actually converted from W10 cattle vans - the W18's were a B.R. build. Chassis wise the main differences between the W10 and the B.R. vans, apart from the axleboxes and w irons, was the wheelbase 11'6" against 11'. Have you looked at Embsay's B.R. van body? ISTR someone was going to lengthen a 10' w.b. B.R. chassis for it but that was some years ago. This is what it looked like last year.

Ray.

 

@nick813 . I don't know if its of any interest to you but there is one wagon body here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0...NQZR2qPg!2e0!5s20081201T000000!7i13312!8i6656

That's a 2008 shot as it was the only winter one I could find without the undergrowth masking it. Not sure if it is the type you might be looking for but I know it was still there up to February last year...

Any use?

 

Thanks, Looks BR to me.



Here is the Funds wagon body:

GWR Cattle Wagon body is no 106557 built in Swindon in 1927 to Lot L980 Dia W8.
The number series was 106551 to 106650.
There is a booklet produced by the person who original purchased the body from The GWR I will try and copy the contents and upload when I can.


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