Gwilli railway extension.

Does anyone have any up to date news on or pictures of the Gwilli railway's extension toward Carmarthen? The latest pictures I have seen are on Fickr and date from June last year. Is there any intention to try and extend the line in the oposite direction as well?

If I have repeated a previous post Mod's please feel free to merge them.

 

There's a couple of existing topics I think. As I recall they own the trackbed as far as Llanpumsaint but extending in that direction means the costly replacement of several bridges over the river.

 

Always good to see interest in the extension, there have been a couple of previous threads, one here

http://railways.national-preservation.com/showthread.php/21368-Gwili-Railway-Southern-Extension

The latest is as follows

Physical work is limited at the moment to S and T remodelling of Bronwydd Arms station, which is necessary for the extension and must be completed by October to avoid the ROGS Regs. Linked to this is the good news that we have been sucessful for an application for a grant to replace the present 4 crossing gates at Bronwydd with a pair of long gates, in GWR style, this again is necessary for the operation of the extension.

Behind the scenes there is a lot going on, and linked to this we have plans for a website to publicise all the work going on re the extension and future plans in this direction.

As for northward extensions, they are planned but we do not have the resources to undertake more than one extension at a time. We are fortunate however in that we hold a Light Railway Order for the entire extent of the land we own, so that is one crucial bit of paper that we don't need to get. Finance to do the work is another story however...

Regards

Matt

 

Excuse my ignorance on this, but is the extension eastwards or westwards? Also, what are ROGS Regs? I'm presuming as S&T has been mentioned they are to with HMRI?

 

Neither - it's southwards, towards Carmarthen!

 

ROGS = Railway and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/category.1511

These are new regulations covering safety of railways in GB developed in response to the 2004 European Railway Safety Directive . It requires railway operators to maintain a safety management system (SMS) which must be certificated by the Office of Rail Regulation. All new vehicle or infrastructure systems must be risk assessed by the operator with the assistance of an Independent Competent Person, and appropriate procedures developed for managing the risks. This replaces the old system where an Inspector from HMRI approved the works, and transfers the resonsibility for verifying safety to the operator. For heritage railways the old system ceases on 1 October 2010. A guide to safety verification for heritage railways is here: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/381.pdf

 

Ah right, thanks for that - very interesting.

 

Is there any New News on the push to Carmarthen North?

 

The main "new" news is that the railway is due to take delivery of the two brand new long crossing gates this Friday, as part of the S and T improvements to allow us to operate the extension. The gates have been made to order using Douglas Fir timber. They will be stored initially and painted before serious work to install them gets underway. The new signaling scheme is also being progressed.

It is likely that there will be a further track bash this autumn, with around 10 panels to be laid. So although matters have been on the back burner in the last few months, we are hopeful that more physical progress will be evident shortly. Hopefully I can post a photo or two once things are underway.

 

Having just returned from a short holiday in Wales, my Wife and I visited the Gwili last Monday.

What a lovely Railway, the staff and volunteers were most helpful and friendly, the place is buzzing with young and vibrant people , and the cream tea trains that they have just started are a joy to behold.

It was a pleasure to meet Matt Bowen who kindle gave us both a quick tour of the carriage shed, and if ever matt and his helpers ever get to Hampshire , that warm welcome will be returned.


My very best wishes to all those at the Gwili and hope you liked the photographs Matt.

Chris Willis:

 

Thanks Matt78.

 

what a great ad for the gwlii! you couldnt buy publicity like that!

 

I'll second Chris's comments - my wife and I also visited about 4 weeks ago, partly to get out of the Welsh drizzle, but hey, any excuse eh! The staff were very helpful and I a long chat with a guy at the top end about the extension plans, and then with the fireman at the half-way halt. There are some pretty stiff gradients that get the austerity barking nicely, but get there early for the cream teas - they were all gone when we got back to Brodwyn around 4 pm. Good luck to them, they deserve to succeed. Iain

 

Thank you Chris, glad you and the Wife enjoyed the visit. Got the photos and will pass them on. Maybe I will make it to to Hampshire someday!
Regards,
Matt

 

The extension now has it's very own website, which is still being developed but there is now a news page showing the construction of our brand new crossing gates - just got to fit them now!

http://www.grcarmex.co.uk/

 

Thanks for the link Matt, its good to see that the railway means business and that the project is now on the move again. The new gates under construction look most impressive.

 

Are the plans for the new station at Carmarthen North still floating about? I seem to recall seeing them somewhere online and was wondering whether there had been any significant changes?

 

Here is the link

http://www.ukplanning.com/carmarthe...how&appType=planning folder&appNumber=W/19935

The plans are under review. Bear in mind they were originally draw up around 10 yrs ago so as a consequence may need revising. The theme of how the new station will fit in the local community is very much at the heart of this.


Regards
Matt

 

A Map on the website would be most helpful, as would more photos of the route. Trying to read the route description without photos or a map is not easy!

 

Many thanks!