The Gwili Railway thread

Hey matt,

Will there be driver experience days this year? On 1369 would be great!?

Kind regards,
Tom Boucher

 

Hi Tom

we are hoping to do some this year but no dates yet.

regards

Matt

 

Update

The tamper is at work this week, and GWR 216 is progressing nicely with the doors being fitted after many repairs.

1369 is due to arrive by next week and we are gearing up to 4 days of operations on the 22/23/24/27 February.

regards

Matt

 

Tamper working P Way magic today in typical Welsh weather. A few arrivals this week so keep watching the thread…

regards

Matt

 

1369 has arrived….

 

Have you ever thought there of using the lorry to
Put an engine at conwil as it may make it interesting for people that want to make money for the extension to here and also is there a plan to put a little bit of track as there is also a good area to get rides at conwil to raise money

 

Arrival number 2 of the week….

 

That would look interesting top and tailed with 1369! I didn't realize Gwili were looking to preserve a HST

 

Why is this THERE??

 

just a single power car for static display, kindly donated to the Welsh Railway Trust by Porterbrook..

 

As above, donated for display to the Welsh Railway Trust. It was felt important to preserve a power car in Wales.

 

I think it is a really important asset to preserve, especially since west wales saw hst become the back bone of express passenger trains. A great coup and another string to the gwilis increasingly impressive bow.

 

I do t think this is the best news the best news is about 1369. Hst engine does not fit in on the railway. Does the railway still have green coaches with red line on them ?

 

I guess there is often a toss up between something that fits in with the character of a railway or something that can possibly be used as a draw card to bring in more patrons/income to fund the overall operation. That is a decision that each individual railway has to make many times in their evolution.

I think as enthusiasts, we sometimes have blinkers on when it comes to commercial realities. We also sometimes forget that unless a railway can pay the bills it will die a death just like any other unsuccessful business. Authenticity, for want of a better word, is a wonderful aspiration and some railways are lucky enough to be able to trade on that for their bread and butter but I think you will find that no railway can afford to stagnate.

 

well there is something about no such thing as bad news! To be serious though for a minute many of our passengers will know what it is like to have travelled behind a HST. How many of those will have been able to sit inside the cab or visit the guards compartment?

The HST is clearly not compatible with the stock we have and there is no intention to acquire any for it, but as an exhibit it should be a great draw as well as ensuring that one of these iconic vehicles is preserved in Wales.

regards

Matt

 

I'm not sure that it will be much of a draw. Yes, visitors may wish to look inside the cab and even the engine room but the number of people who would make the journey especially to see it will be few. Add to this, the fact that, unless you have it under cover in a reasonable environment, it will require maintenance. That may only be an occasional clean and even more occasional repaint but it will still need some attention. The heritage movement is littered with gifts and acquisitions that seemed a good idea at the time but are now a millstone; and that even includes steam locomotives. In a museum, yes, but otherwise, no.

 

the plan is that the HST will be one of the exhibits in our proposed carriage shed which will be open to the public. We are expecting construction to start later this year.

 

I agree. I also think we often forget that steam is so popular for that initial generation behind railway preservation because of childhood memories. As my generation gets older, it'll be HSTs in Swallow livery and 142s (and 411/421/423s for me) that stir those same emotions

 

Why will this get put in the new shed when it is the new shed job to cover up the carrages that get used and also the older ones like the gwr ones. It does not seem a good idea to leave them outside when this is inside. It is a big engine to have at the gwili railway it would be nicer putting something more interesting in a shed but is is also good one is saved to look at as they will be rare soon

 

that is a very fair point. Carriage shed planned to be the equivalent of 4 x MK1’s on 2 roads so there will be just enough room for the HST, our operational MK1 carriages and the vintage carriages.