Bala lake Railway.

On this appeal (ie for the £50k), an update was posted on Facebook four days ago saying they’d passed £30k.

 

Now passed £41k apparently!

 

Some good column inches on the BBC website. Having a piece of my heart in Oswestry it will be interesting to see the plans once they are released.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-57455413

 

Really excited about this - a great project

 

According to thishttps://www.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/news.html the initial £50k appeal was met and surpassed to a total of £71,000.00 which I think is an indication of everyone's affection confidence.
There's a bit of a way to go though, as described in the article, so further contributions can be made here https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/charity/3218420

 

More land purchased.
https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2022/0...Zibd2hZ8n_9X6w8Z45NYV5j2rIJNAbrxeLT-8sZRGYIjs

 

Excellent news and particularly good to see the quote "They [the railway] have been proactive in involving the local community throughout the development phase of its proposals and it’s encouraging to hear that people and businesses in Bala are looking forward to seeing the plans finally take shape." It's all so much easier with the local community onside.

Does RhLT yet own the entire route? On the photo in the link, to judge by where the arrows are pointing it looks as if the curve from Pen-y-Bont Station to gain the bridge may still be missing from the 'secured section' of the future trackbed.

 

The BLR statement says that "This latest acquisition means that the Bala Lake Railway Trust now has all the route required save a very small plot of 500 sq metres."

Whether the 500 sq metres plot is critical or not, is not mentioned.

 

I will be firing on Sunday 15th and the following Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so please say hello if you drop in!

 

Thanks, good to see the two Bristol Pecketts. I see NHY 581 was there too !

Edit; completely forgot, that's a Bristol reg, how fitting.

 

Sorry it is a Facebook link but here are some pictures of the latest work on the formation.

https://m.facebook.com/julian.birle...tn__=EH-R&cached_data=false&ftid=&mdp=1&mdf=1

 

Had my first visit to Bala Lake on the last day of the operational season, what a great little line! They were trialling 'bio coal' made from olives on Maid Marian, which seemed reasonably successful - though loadings were light. Staff were friendly, and the cakes and food from the Llanuwchllyn cafe were delicious. Non-enthusiast partner enjoyed the ride and views of the lake, we even got a unique view of the train from our paddleboards on the lake in the morning. Will definitely try and make it back for future events.

 

And for those who do not wish to use Facebook the news page has been updated with the pictures.

https://www.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/news.html

 

It's some impressive civil engineering, going at a fair old lick too. Do we have any idea of the overall timescale envisaged?

 

I think that, like most heritage projects, the timescale depends on the availability of funds.

 

Any idea if what we're looking at on the released photos is the flood defence work i.e. not at the directly BLR funded stage yet? The comment about an upcoming dedicated appeal fund made me wonder.

 

The BLR raised enough to fund trackbed over the flood defences, which is about a third of the extension overall. The main appeal will be launched when the railway has planning consent - lots of track to lay, a station, earthworks and bridge to build and additional coaches for increased passenger numbers (please!). That will take a lot of cash!

 

You need to plan your fund raising I suggest you start by looking here https://www.dsc.org.uk/publications/

 

I think the person who is the driving force behind the extension has pretty good experience already!