Weekend on the Corris

Winter may seem to be a dull time to be a working member of a line. However I had a great weekend up at Maespoeth shed on the Corris Railway as can be seen on the society website's photo albums...

http://www.corris.co.uk/images/140210mf/pages/01.htm

On March 20th & 21st we are incorporating a New Volunteers weekend into our normal Training Weekend for operational staff. If anyone on this forum is looking to become involved actively I can wholeheartedly recommend the Corris. The friendly welcome and desire to improve and extend has encouraged me to make increasingly frequent trips all the way from Kent.

If anyone is interested in joining us please let me know in the first place and I'll pass on the contact details for Paul who is co-ordinating things.

 

Thanks for sharing the photos Mike, looks like you had an enjoyable weekend on the railway.

The photo of No.7 in the shed doorway is sublime......

Cheers

Alan

 

Cheers Alan! At times I wish the loco could be the other way round so we could have pics of it emerging from the shed but pics of it from inside are just so good, and with the low sun I just knew it'd be a classic image. Of course as far as I know Corris engines always faced Corris, up the hill.

 

Good luck with the southern extension - I just popped a few squids into that worth cause.
There's donation buttons on the Corris website for many of their worthy projects - I recommend folk visit and press them liberally!!

http://www.corris.co.uk/

 

Thanks Martin! I know we were at the line on the same day last year but missed eachother. If you are coming over again this year let me know and I'll see if I am on the roster.

I was saying at the weekend that when we do start building the embankment I reckon we'll see an influx of volunteers. It was the carriage shed which got me involved so hopefully with progress this week on the boiler of the new no 10 (http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/5009410.Boiler_firm_builds_up_head_of_steam/) and the push south coming sometime soon maybe we'll be filling places on a new volunteers session.

 

I know this is a stupid question but is there any more information on the southern extension, as i can find the button to give money but not information on what my money would achieve

 

Thanks for the interest pjm. The link to donate is below the snow scene of the yard at Maespoeth, right at the bottom of the page. The link appears to be...

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=jL0qIwJaS_ylGnnD5ku7lEfzwYVkhH0XQtEyywFAkGwO5OLbUwTvM5_BK8G&dispatch=50a222a57771920b6a3d7b606239e4d529b525e0b7e69bf0224adecfb0124e9b5eb2336391e7cbed125f6c5bdaf8a1cd2bd526d80f731bcf

... which I hope works. If you look on the website under Press Realeases and find the one issued on 12th May 2009 you'll find the launch of the appeal. For the record the paragraph describing what is planned says:

'The Southern Extension Appeal is another step in the Railway’s plans to extend its running line from the present three quarters of a mile to a point where it will offer a two and a half trip between Corris station and the Forestry Commission Picnic Site and Walks at Tan-y-Coed. The CR has already acquired a large quantity of track materials for this although in the immediate future track work will go into completing the layout at Maespoeth. However May 9th saw some generous cheques handed over from well-wishers keen to support the next stage of the revival and the Corris also has a scheme in place whereby anyone who wishes to do so can make regular payments, small or large, by standing order. Details can be obtained from the Corris Railway Museum or by post from CRS, 42 Bluebell Close, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3XQ. '

My understanding is that a new embankment is to be built to the east, away from the road and old mainline, down maybe 500 metres to an area known as Pont y Goedwig where roadworks have encroached upon the trackbed. This will be built up from slate watse which si readily acailable locally. From there the trackbed is pretty much clear down to the station at Esgargeiliog, which is already being cared for by Corris members. The track available already should get us to this location.

Therefore what we need money for is to establish the embankment, clear the trackbed and lay the track. In addition we need to sort out how to cross the road leading to the village at Esgargeiliog.

I hope the above is correct, no doubt if there are inaccuracies RG Corris will put me right!

Personally I am very much looking forward to trains working hard up Maespoeth bank, and the free mobile advert which the trains will become when running aloingside the road. Plus the views are brilliant on this tight gorge-like section.

 

Mike has the broad details correct. We are hopeful that the long-delayed planning application that will enable the Pont-y-Goedwig Deviation to be built (necessitated by the road taking a bite out of the original trackbed) will shortly be resolved in the railway's favour, so that work can commence on the new formation to deviate past the gap and link back into the original trackbed heading for Esgairgeiliog and beyond.

Donations to the fund will help to pay the contractors building the formation, for ballast and sleepers to go under the rail we already have in stock, and for any other costs associated with the work to extend the railway towards its goal of Tan-y-Coed, where there is an existing car park adjacent to the main road (a primary requirement for the railway to increase its passenger numbers). Tan-y-Coed station site also needs to be developed from scratch as there was no station there on the orignal railway. The timings depend on the necessary permissions being in place (the various authorities involved can make snails look like Jenson Button) and the funding being available for each item of work. However, as Mike says, the next section south from Maespoeth is the steepest bank on the railway (around 1 in 30) and should make for some excellent photo-opportunities once built !

Richard

 

Thanks for the info makes more sense now

 

Is there somewhere we can keep track of progress?

 

www.corris.co.uk would seem a good place to start?

 

As of last weekend the area where the embankment will be built has been cleared and a reptile fence was due to be set up this week. It'll take a while to clear the area inside the fence then once the way of building the embankment has been agreed I believe it all should be go.

Please be patient re news on the website as our volunteers have been stretched to the limit this summer due to illness and so there are fewer photos and updates as a result. Passenger numbers seem to be good, and a number seem to be taking the early trains on Saturday having called into the museum on the days we don't run. A big thank you to Sara for commiting to opening on these days, both attracting extra passengers and generating extra income.

 

Am I the only one to get an image of 'Jurassic Park' here? It must be late, I need to go to bed......

Foxy

 

Well, it is to stop the lizards from attacking the trains :wink:

 

I have obviously missed the big ones when I have been in Wales, or do dragons count as lizards? :caked:

Foxy