Garw Valley Railway

I just thought I would take a few minutes of your time and give you a bit of an update as to progress on the GVR.

We are regularly achieving work parties of 20+ each Saturday and last weekend managed to shunt the entire shed at Pontycymer to allow a vehicle to be loaded for departure. The resident Planet shunters took a rare trip into the daylight to assist in the shunt.

We are currently focussing on a shed extension, then will be addressing a track renewal issue. Most of the line is flat bottomed rail on concrete sleepers, but a mile is bullhead on wooden sleepers and needs replacement prior to seeking HMRI approval to operate.

At the Garw Carnival, we ran our 10 1/4" miniature line and held a display which attracted much attention and support from the locals. As you may know, a Class 108 DMU is available for traffic and a small team are currently re-upholstering the seating.

A website is also under construction http://www.garw-railway.co.uk/ but this is still being adjusted to suit!

The RSH 0-4-0ST 7705 is under restoration by its owner group, with the boiler currently being readied for retubing and the saddle tank is ready for re-welding. A Shark brakevan is being restored by the ARC group (Assisted Recovery in the Community) and the woodwork is close to completion.

In terms of starting to run, we are looking hopefully towards 2010, if only as a rail centre initially but supported by the 10 1/4 " and 5" gauge lines. The line is integral to the Regional Development Plan and is regarded as having a pivotal role in the regeneration of the valley.

I've (hopefully) attached a few photos to show off the valley and the 4.5 mile line! The miniature is shown in action at Parc Calon Lan. The second photo shows the station site at Pont yr hyl, a mile or so south of Pontycymer. An all important pub is the cream building on the left....!

Thanks for taking time to read the post,

Regards,

Nick.

 

Lots seems to have happened in my absence anyway.

Sorry Guys, I'll try and make my way along when I get the chance.

Still proudly were the badge (with a GWR one) on my jacket at all times.

Gareth W

 

Thanks for the information. A couple of questions - what sort of gradients are there on the line? Also, sorry to be thick, but how is 'Garw' pronounced?

Cheers
Lordy

 

Not sure I know how to pronounce it either so its not a daft question at all

 

It's pronounced "Gar-oo". Gradients are fairly steep along the route, 1 in 69 seems to ring a bell. Driving loaded MGR's downhill must have been a bit of a challenge!

The line levels out further down the route, when the valley widens out.

Hope this helps?

 

Thanks for the info.

Cheers
Lordy

 

Can you tell me the background of the miniature railway please?

Many thanks
Anthony

 

Not sure where to start really, but I'll have a go. The "trucks" were formerly used at the Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum (WIMM) at Cardiff Docks (closed and sadly missed). It then moved to the Barry Island Railway and was used there for many years. When the BIR were evicted by the VoG council, railway assets were moved to Pontycymer.

The miniature setup is currently sitting in a container and awaits relaying but we are fairly used to moving the track to a temporary location to attend shows etc.

The loco is a Class 52 replica, powered by a small diesel engine. It was built by a former director.

We also have a 5" gauge track and a few members have steam and battery electric locos to run.

Hope this helps?

 

Thanks Nick, was interested as miniature stuff is one of my weaknesses and that 52 looked like a Curwen/Severn Lamb product - looks a good and useful set up.

Cheers
Anthony

 

The line looks very interesting - typical Welsh Valley line. Will try to pop in at some point. Thanks for the gen.

 

A quick further note: The stress is on the first syllable (GAR-oo), and it means "rugged": the river is Afon Garw = rugged river.

 

And rugged it is! Thanks for the tip!

 

Please do. There are people there every Saturday between around 0930 and 1600. There are smaller working parties midweek and on Sunday but Saturday is your best bet. Head for Pontycymer and then follow signs for the leisure centre, we are the other side of the car park. I think our website gives travel directions.

It's worth going all the way up to Blaengarw too as the scenery is stunning. (Unless its misty, cloudy or raining........ah that's most days then!)

 

I have no connection to the SVR but I am aware that they have moved to the Gwili railway, stock has either been moved, sold or disposed of as scrap. Track has been lifted and moved to the Gwili.

As for moving "that bridge"....Im speechless.

 

I have no idea what this has to do with the GVR, but it was something I posted on another thread somewhere! Answers on a postcard etc..

Anyway, an update;

RSH 0-4-0ST 7705 of 1952 is receiving attention to the smokebox where both the left and right hand sides of plate have been removed due to wasting around the saddle tank brackets. New plate will be riveted into place.

The "Shark" brakevan is being restored as a joint project by the GVR and the local Assisted Recovery in the Community (ARC) group. Wooden timbers on the van have been replaced and painted. Attention has now moved to the roof where the old felt is being removed and the roof timbers beneath rubbed back and prepared for paint, caulking and re-roofing. Attention is also being given to the underframes and plough equipment.... Read more

The Class 108 DMU is having the seating renovated and re-upholstered. In a rolling programme, the flooring in the DMBS vehicle is also being replaced.

Maintenance work has been carried out on the coal shovel as well as on one of the diesel mechanical "Planet" shunters.

On the exterior front, the main shed doors and the entrance door have been de-rusted and given a new coat of blue paint. (We would like to thank everyone who contributed paint to the project.)

The concrete floor of the shed is also being painted once work has finished each week. We extend a warm welcome to anyone who wishes to call into the shed any Saturday to see what is going on. Work parties take place from around 0930 until 1600 each Saturday.

 

This looks like a very interesting project, with a lot of potential. How long has the line been disused for, and what was it's purpose immediately prior to closure?

I've surveyed the entire route on Google Maps and can see that in most cases the track remains largley in-tact. Will you be able to reuse the existing track, or will it have to be lifted and replaced?

Pontycymer looks like an interesting layout, and a good sized population centre. There appears to be a basketball court obstructing the trackbed northwards, and then there is a big water course with no trace of the trackbed remaining. I presume that this was destroyed by the excavation of he watercourse?
Going south, there appears to be the formation of a railway junction just North of Brynmenyn. Is the track for the junction still in place and does it leed anywhere?

Then, as we get into the heart of Brynmenyn the track appears to briefly go double track before joining up with Network Rail North-East of Tondu station. Is this part of the line still in use? It looks remarkably in tact, and I'm amazed that NR haven't sethered the connection. Are you intending on maintaining the connection to NR? It would be an excellent way of getting locos to and from the line, aswell as a potential railtour destination.

Sorry for all the questions, it's just that this looks like a ready made opportunity to have something rather good!

 

Wow! Lots of questions!

From the start then...

...the line closed in 1997 and in its latter years was used to run coal trains as part of the tip reclamations in the Blaengarw/Pontycymer areas. Most of the track is intact, with two gaps that happened when the Community Route was constructed along the adjacent formation (the line was double track initially).

Most of the line is concrete sleepers/flat bottom but the last mile (the north end) is wooden sleepered and does need relaying.

Pontycymer is effectively the northern terminus as the reclamation and landscaping has turned the former line into a park and lakes. The basketball court marks the northern end of the station site.

The Brynmenyn/Tondu area was a mass of junctions leading to the Ogmore Valley, the Llynfi Valley, the line to Werntarw and the line to Gilfach Goch (I think). The Ogmore line is now a cyclepath. The Llynfi is the NR Maesteg branch. The former shed at Tondu was in the triangle to the north of Tondu signalbox.

The line does go double as the line crosses Brynmenyn LC. The GVR has the lease to a point towards Ynysawdre bridge; NR has the remainder. The line is used weekly for a train running up from Margam Yard and is also used for run rounds of freight when the mainline between Margam and Bridgend is closed - hence the mainline connnection. HST's use the spur to allow reversals at Tondu to head down the Ogmore Vale Extension (the OVE) that runs past Parc Slip opencast (recently closed).

As for keeping it open, we would like it to stay but it's a long term vision to get down that far. The first phase is to reopen Pontycymer - Pontyrhyl. Then down to Llangeinor and then down to Brynmenyn.

The last railtour to visit Pontycymer was the Garw Guru on 05/04/1997, but the Cwm and Go(ne) railtour visited the lower end of the branch on 28/03/2009.

The line is really attractive with some dramatic scenery, steep gradients and stunning views!


Hope this helps?

 

Thanks very much for the detailed reply. I'm sure that with good PR and posts on forums like this, you will have no problem in drumming up a good fanbase for the line.

On a side note, it seems a bizarre choice for Network Rail (or Railtrack as it was back then), to have allowed the line to be severed at Pontycymer. If this hadn't happened there would have probably been some scope for reuse either as a passenger line, or for any new freight flows. I'm sure that further north (after the lakes), I can see a short length of track stil in existence.

 

I stand to be corrected of course, but I don't think there are any remnants of track left north of Pontycymer. The road marked Commercial Place off Oxford St was actually a road overbridge... http://scenicrail.fotopic.net/p54077220.html

Beyond that in later days was the loading pad for the tip reclamation.... http://dave-higson.fotopic.net/p26057353.html and http://whitemasksnaps.fotopic.net/p28050853.html

The land north of this point has changed significantly since the landscaping and it's hard to work out where the trackbed was!

 

Just to advise folk that we are opening Pontycymer Loco Shed to the public on Sat 12th December between 1300hrs and 1530hrs. This is a low-key affair but we hope that the 10.25" gauge miniature will be running as well as allowing visitors to have a look around, view the stock and chat to the members.

We intend to do the same on Sat 19th December if you are interested.

Thanks,