FR & WHR & WHHR News

Absolutely fantastic to see via YouTube Welsh Pony hauling passenger trains once again after 80 years.

And a good bit of PR and wonderful work of Boston Lodge to achieve this.

 

Having watched that clip, worth noting that (a) WP's train isn't unduly taxing and (b) the 'shunt' commenced from well midway along the 'up' platform, giving the loco a decent run-up to that notorious location adjacent to the water tank.

No.5 does indeed look like a very useful asset to the railway. That extra 6" of wheelbase, compared with the 'Small Englands', makes a very visible difference to the 'motion in motion' (if you get what I mean!).

 

I noticed that Rhiw Goch was open in the video, I assume that was just for testing and it won't be open during the regular service?

What is happening with crewing the services? I am assuming that the hostels aren't open so it isn't easy for volunteers etc.

With the Hunslets, an England and Upnor Castle running the service it back to the early 80s.

And despite lockdown.

 

Not sure if all trains are running today, Blanche went up with three coaches (116, ? And 14) where the 1315 should of been and just returned past Rhiw Goch light engine, presumably took the carriages up to Glanypwll for storage?

We hace had an enjoyable day walking in the woods between Penrhyn and Tanybwlch, loadings of the first three trains have looked OK. Look forward to returning for a ride behind Welsh Pony in August.

 

Just seen a video on YouTube and it looks like 122 is the second carriage.


Sent from my SM-J610FN using Tapatalk

 

I watched a bit on the webcams and was a bit surprised when later in the afternoon there seemed to be a train set missing from TyB and then the 15:25 not running. I was a bit concerned for a while that on her first day of paid* running for a very long time Welsh Pony had disgraced herself. Fortunately that does not appear to be the case.

*I'm presuming Saturday's trains where for members/volunteers and non revenue earning

 

That would be this working then. I have to say I didn't notice there weren't any passengers on board when it passed me.

Steam on the Cob by David Chandler, on Flickr

 

The loadings didn't look too bad today. Whether that is first day back buzz I don't know.

Looking at the videos a fair range of customers in terms of age groups etc.

 

Welsh Pony on her first revenue earning train in preservation

Welsh Pony's second run of the day
Video to follow tomorrow

 

Two trains didn't run. Apparently they weren't sure how busy the first day would be so not all the trains were open to booking. Blanche worked some stock to G-y-p for storage. Linda moved some stuff to Minffordd, including fetching the PW mess coach to use as crew welfare at Port.

I believe all the trains will run today.

Saturday's trains were for society members so the system could be tested with passengers.

Rhiw Goch doesn't have to be open but it does make things easier. To complete the run round, the T-y-b to Minffordd section needs to clear. This means the up train will have to wait at Minffordd for this to be complete if Rhiw Goch isn't open.

Tim

 

My full gallery for yesterday can be found here: https://preservedrailway.wixsite.com/preservedrailway/welsh-pony-debut

Very interesting, what is the situation with shunt tokens on the Ffestiniog, is it more of a Welsh Highland innovation. I'm guessing the downhill side of Tan-y-bwlch wouldn't be an ideal place to restart a train if stopped at a home signal.

 

There aren't any shunt tokens on the FR.

At Minffordd and TyB you can run round within the limit of shunt at the Blaenau end without the token. At the Port end of both stations you require the token to operate the ground frame. So a TyB you either have to occupy the long section to Minffordd, or the short section to Rhiw Goch if that is open.

TyG and Rhiw Goch require you to occupy both sections to run round.

Tim

 

Looking at the festrail website, not all trains are bookable on all days, Sunday for example just has four trains available. Does this mean the others are fully booked or they aren’t running?

 

Prince was out today instead of Welsh Pony. Seen on the 1210 at Cei Mawr and the 1525 on the Cob.

 

How did the first week go? Were the loadings worth it?

 

Britomart has done a round trip with 2 coaches this afternoon. No idea about loadings, but it looks as if they've been having fun getting the toys out of the box again!

Steve

 

There was a private charter booked which ran in place of the last train. I think it was probably the first passenger train to Tan-y-grisiau this year.

From what I've heard things are positive so far. More trains have been opened up for booking in August. Friday to Sunday is usually slower and they are keeping things pretty tight at the moment. If there isn't enough demand then some trains might not run.

I'm led to believe there will be a further relaxation of restrictions in Wales next week which should mean campsites can open. At least some places may be able to salvage something from the main holiday season.

Welsh Pony is out Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday next week subject to the usual. For those who want to know.
Tim

 

Looking at the Webcams most compartments appear to have been in use for all but the last train most train. At 20+ compartments a train at a minimum of £50 a compartment they must be taking upwards of £6k a day which is a useful level of income. OK it might not be what they would normally take but with no coach traffic on discounted fairs and having upped the prices to what would normally be the cost of a full round trip I expect fare wise the FR are doing better than most in terms what they are taking against normal fares. Where they are probably being very heavily hit is the lack of secondary spend, the WHR and the FR travel business.

Just for a bit of comparison in 2018 the FR reported fare income of just under £1.8m and the WHR just over £1.8M. Catering was £1.465m with a third of that on trains. Shop sales were £400k and the profit on the travel business was just over £400k. It just shows how important non operating income is.

 

Yes yearly income is normally around £6million a year, and they are about £2m down on where they normally would be now. From what i understand train services are normally self sustaining and the non operating profit pays for the nice to haves.

These trains will provide much needed income but it will be nowhere near a normal July or August. You are possibly right in that there is a bigger profit margin per passenger with these trains. The problem is that you are shifting a fraction of the people even if every train is full. There are tricky times ahead, the furlough scheme is winding down and there isn't much of the main season left. The government seems to think things will magically go back to normal, but a lot of places including my employer are making redundancies despite being busy. I think at this point you are hoping just to make enough to get you through the winter without having to lay anyone off.

Tim