Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

It’s funny, there was discussion around a possible exchange in the late 90’s I think it was, as we were doing the rebuilds for the centenary, with the option of a Bayer heading to Aus as well - sadly I suspect more flight of fancy than anything concrete - but never say never I guess.

Can’t imagine that being a cheap excursion however….

The thought of the converted NGG16 or the G storming up the 1:29 is quite appealing too….

 

I always thought the Welshpool was more plodding than storming.

 

I’ve had some good thrash up the banks. Not much plodding involved.

 

Ascending Golfa can often be a bit of a plod but Dolarddyn and Sylfaen banks on the way to Welshpool are usually good for a bit of thrash.

 

It would be nice but they would be pretty large for the W&L. In fact they are both longer and heavier than Orion, which was sold for being too big!

https://puffingbilly.com.au/about/rolling-stock/locomotive-fleet/

https://jokioistenmuseorautatie.fi/...comotives/884-steam-locomotive-number-5-orion

 

They're pretty similar in size and weight to Orion, 1 ton lighter and and the same overall length but admittedly are rather too big for regular use on the W&L.

 

Quite apart from the financial costs, I think we should also be very conscious of the carbon costs of moving locos over long distances. In current circumstances, scrutiny of heritage railways for our use of fossil fuels is only going to increase; we need to show that we are being responsible and not burning more than we have to. It's one thing to ship a loco like Zillertal, which was sent to fulfil a genuine motive power need over a period of several years; but to ship a loco overseas just for a jolly is, I think, becoming hard to justify.

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But it's ok for the PM and entourage to jet around the world every five minutes?

 

Blimey. That’s ‘whataboutery’ of the highest standard.

 

I think what would be a more relevant issue is that I don’t think that either line could actually spare any motive power at present!
I understand from a couple of their drivers that the Puffing Billy is currently suffering from a lack of motive power availability and the W&L really wouldn’t want to lose half of its active steam fleet. Mind you, they could always send them that big red diesel as it doesn’t appear to have done much useful work on the W&L since it arrived a few years ago.
If the W&L is better suited to a “plodder” an Alishan shay would be a far better “what if” bet (and they were used on passenger trains in Taiwan)

 

They should follow the lead of the Royals ?

 

Ah, but you're forgetting politicians' logic regarding transport:

Cars/planes = essential use of public funds
Trains = waste of taxpayers' money...



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An appeal for the overhaul of Countess has just been launched, aiming to have her and The Earl in steam together for their 125th birthday in 2027. Details below.

https://wllr.org.uk/support/donations-appeals/

 

Readers of The Earl newsletter will now regard you as clairvoyant….

 

Ha ha, I just read the Earl and thought "get in!".
Unlikely to run anytime soon I would imagine.

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According to comments on Facebook, Conqueror was offered to the SKLR but they had to decline as they had no space and it is too heavy to run on the Sittingbourne viaduct anyway. I never realised it was so big, this article on Bowaters locos states its weight as 27 tons, tractive effort 12,442lbs.

https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/LocomotivesAtSittingbournePaperMills.pdf

 

Limited space on site at Kemsley Down has seen the thinning out of the number of wagons during my lifetime as well, not to mention how little space there is undercover. As nice as Conqueror returning to part of it's old stomping ground would be, space, time & usefulness work against it. Hopefully the WLLR proves a fruitful home for it.

Conqueror, Chevalier & Unique were all too heavy for the viaduct, though perhaps surprisingly Monarch wasn't, at least on one occasion anyway.

 

Such things are only hard to justify when a minority of people take it upon themselves to make it a problem! A loco carried on a freighter that’s already making the sailing adds a fraction of a fraction to an already small carbon impact. I agree that the risk of some people making a fuss about heritage attractions using fossil fuels is likely to increase over time though.

 

If the WLLR is that short of steam locos, there are still places about that have 2ft 6in gauge locos in store, be it in scrapyard condition, while they may not be running at the same rate as they used to, Java still has a few Mills left with steam locos.

 

They already own more than enough locos for their needs--especially now that Conqueror has been donated. I think the main challenge is finding enough money/ workshop capacity to overhaul them.

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