The Gwili Railway thread

It appears to have already been shutdown (as it comes up 'not found'). A redirection to the new site is always recommended in such circumstances, but that means paying for both sites for a while.

 

We have a couple of post Christmas days this year incorporating “Lights of the Valley”. Both 5526 and Moorbarrow will be in use and the bar will be open. Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th December, trains at 4pm end 6pm.

to book visit the link below

https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/...5753/calendar/2021/12/?flow=no&full-items=yes

regards

Matt

 

sadly we have now cancelled these trains because of the Welsh restrictions in force from 26th December limiting the number of persons at events to either 30 or 50.

regards

Matt

 

Update

like many railways we enjoyed a fruitful Santa season, tempered slightly by having to cancel the post Christmas trains.

thoughts are turning now to the full winter programme which includes track renewals, the overhaul of both Haulwen and the 03 diesel and the final repairs to the vintage carriages.

5526 is returning to the SDR next week with grateful thanks and class 03 D2069 is also due to arrive for an extended stay shortly.
There are lots of exciting plans in the pipeline for 2022 so keep watching the thread.

happy new year to all on NatPres,

regards

Matt

 

I was recently informed that the Class 117 DMU had been transferred to the Welsh Railway Trust. Can anyone close to the railway advise whether the unit has been out of service of late? Also whether any work has been done on it recently?

Sent from my moto g(8) power using Tapatalk

 

The DMU power cars been out of service sine 2019 because of engine trouble. The centre car has however been in service as part of the hauled set.
The DMU has taken a back seat for various reasons so no repair work has been undertaken yet.

Regards

Matt

 

Thank you very much for the update - you don't happen to know which car suffered the engine failure?

Sent from my moto g(8) power using Tapatalk

 

there is at least one fault on all 4 of the engines so I am told.

Matt

 

One of my first jobs on the railway was assisting Rob James in changing the head gasket on the northern unit, road side engine, where it was found that a certain mechanical 'engineer' who had 'dismantled' the engine had removed the studs by using a mole grip on the upper threads... Kneeling on the ballast (just south of the crossing) while trying to lift a head back in place and trying to get the head nuts to thread is not one of my most favourite memories.

I do have to ask the question though; Faults on all four engines? It's hard to believe they happened all at the same time. What happened to routine maintenance?

 

hi Alan

sorry I’ve checked my notes and have to correct things a little. The north end power car needs work on the gearbox, rather than the engine(s).The south power car has one engine out of action and another which was repaired some time ago but not tested.

the mechanical work to return the unit to service isn’t that significant but the interior of the south car in particular is rather tired and really needs an overhaul before being returned to use.

to be honest the DMU hasn’t featured highly on the priory list for a number of reasons up until now but with a change of ownership it is hoped that the unit may feature again at some point.

regards

Matt

 

Ah, Thanks. That makes a lot of difference. I know the previous owners had troubles keeping it on top line during my time there - with a shortage of funds and manpower it was usually a case of just keeping it running...

Any news on the carriage shed appeal? Dewi's plans to also do maintenance in the new shed wound give a lot of extra room for work under cover. Hopefully there are people there that won't mind too much about working on one of those diesel things.

 

The carriage shed appeal is going reasonably well and subject to a few things we hope to make some good forward strides this year. The new shed and car park are inter linked as getting materials to site is best done via the proposed access road. A fair bit going on in the background at present with hopefully more news later in the year.

regards,

Matt

 

Work is ongoing on the vintage carriages, GWR 216 is having the scumbling (wood grain effect) completed and much exterior painting. Doors are almost ready to be trial fitted with the last one on the bench receiving repairs. Then it’s onto the beading, door locks…

Back inside the compartments the picture frames are going up and the gas lights are not far behind.

on Taff Vale Railway 220 more door repairs and interior and exterior painting. The spring hanger bolts are awaited before the springs can be refitted.

Regards

Matt

 

More progress, the doors on Taff Vale 220 going back on and the roof on GWR 216 being painted. Next up, fitting the gas lamps and roof furniture. Also new spring hanger bolts almost finished.

Regards

Matt

 

They have updated Google maps satellite images from around the railway, and really shows how much of a beautiful extension winding through the valley the trackbed to llanpumsaint would make, hugging the river gwili throughout. One day!

 

Just a thought, but when I volunteered in llwyfan corrig, I noticed the damp almost seemed to never lift because of the hemmed in nature of the Valley, which can't be great for keeping rolling stock, hence the plan for Dan do. Say the railway does make it to conwil elfed, with presumably abergwili up and running by this point would the railway consider moving the station building, signal box etc to conwil almost like a flat pack station, and removing the run round loop to allow a smoother section through llwyfan?

Obviously that would be so far away, but its always great imagining the future of the railway!

Tom

 

Update

Lots ongoing, GWR 216 coming together, the photo shows a compartment with varnished scumble, picture frames going in plus alarm chain components and draught excluders visible. On the roof the pipe run is underway to the gas lamps. We aren’t installing a gas system but there will be a wire run to power the gas lamps with LED lights.

meanwhile Haulwen’s chassis was steam cleaned today ready to start stripping. Work on the boiler is ongoing at Flour Mill.

P Way are also busy replacing sleepers ahead of a visit from the tamper.

there will be a visiting loco announcement soon so keep watching!

regards

Matt

 

LOCO ANNOUNCEMENT

We are very pleased to confirm that GWR 1369 will be joining us for the 2022 season (from February until January 2023 in fact) and will be used regularly during the year. Many thanks to the South Devon Railway for their continued assistance and in making 1369 available.

We are hoping to pair up 1369 with our GWR carriage no.216 during the year (subject to completion of the carriage).

The photo shows a previous visit in December 2000 and we are all looking toward to seeing this wonderful engine in action in the railway again alongside “Moorbarrow”.

photo credit - John Bagshaw

regards

Matt

 

More goings on

1. track panel replacement at Bronwydd

2. GWR 216, roof being painted, picture frames, gas system being installed

3. Haulwen chassis being stripped

4. Moorbarrow gets numbers

regards

Matt

 

More goings on, the tamper has arrived ahead of further work and we have started to refit the doors on GWR 216. Next steps are to test they fit and then onto the door locks. An item of interest, we have some GWR “match striker” plates which we have fitted to one compartment.