Gwili Motive Power 2011

Hi all -

Just a quick reminder that 'Peppa Pig' is coming to the Gwili Railway this weekend, in association with Sir Gar and the Welsh Pre-School Association - along with a number of side attractions and extras, all at normal fares!

Look out for the magicians on the trains, the street entertainers, face-painting and pottery-making, Welsh-themed food-stalls, as well as (of course) the chance to meet Peppa Pig and her younger brother George in person. All this and more, for normal fares! Adults are £8, and accompanied children are just £1.

Throughout the weekend, an intensive DMU service will shuttle between the Event Carpark at Cwmdwyfran (SatNav users, follow SA33 SJE) and the various shows around the railway.

In addition, on Sunday afternoon there is a steam-hauled Dining Train (1230 ex Bronwydd Arms, prebook only) worked by "Jennifer", slotting in amongst the Peppa Pig specials. Rumour that this is listed in the Working Timetable as the 'Bacon Sarnie Limited' are unfounded...

Do spread the word about this event if you can, especially to families with young children. If you go, enjoy yourself and don't forget your camera!

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Hi all -

Just a quick reminder for anyone in the area that tomorrow (Saturday 23rd July) is "A Festival of Welsh Music", at the Gwili Steam Railway.

BBC Radio Wales will be broadcasting live from the main stage at Llwyfan Cerrig, presented by ITV presenter (and railway enthusiast) Arfon Haines Davies. Plenty of local music acts will be performing here, from 1200 (lunchtime) until late. Meanwhile, cream-teas will be available over in the Acoustic Tent, where a variety of more chilled music will be on offer. On board the trains, singer/songwriters and acoustic jazz duos/trios will be performing in hourly slots on the stage in the Bar-Car. Finally, various other local musicians (solo artists and duos) will be 'wandering players' around the site throughout the day, entertaining and busking in quiet spots around the railway.

Also (if enough volunteers are available, and not on ops dutys) look out for the debut of "Shed Samba", the Gwili Railway's very own hastily-put-together parading samba band!

Trains will be departing on the hour from Bronwydd Arms, and on the xx25 from Llwyfan Cerrig, from 1100 until 1700. "Jennifer" will be on the North (uphill) end of the train, and D2178 (cl.03) will be tailing all day. The unique bar-car will also be open for business, serving a range of local Welsh ales etc, to enjoy with the live music on the trains.

There is also a steam-hauled "Jazz Train" (1930 ex BA) to Llwyfan Cerrig via Danycoed, with options for dining (prebook only, few spaces left) or non-dining (turn up on the day) passengers. The bar-car will be added to this set, to allow drinks to be purchased on the move!

Hope to see some of you there, sampling the 'festival atmosphere'. If you can't make it, listen to us live (or maybe online) on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Just a short update
Class 14 out of action awaiting some repairs, not a major fault but may not be back in service for a few weeks
The 03 and Jennifer are currently sharing the workload on services
Some good news is that repairs have commenced on Haulwen, we hope that it won't be too long before she is out again...
Meanwhile Olwen's boiler is at Llangollen for repair as well
Regards
Matt

 

Hi all -

"Jennifer" will work services Tuesday to Thursday this week (2nd - 4th Aug). D2178 will work services Friday to Monday (5th - 8th Aug). Apologies to anyone that would've been travelling to us this weekend, expecting steam traction.

As ever, services depart Bronwydd Arms daily at 1030, 1150, 1320, 1450 and 1605. An adult rover is £8, and children travel for just £1. If travelling for a specific locomotive, it is best to ring on the day (or on the afternoon beforehand), to confirm rostered traction - the booking office phone number is 01267 238 213.

If you're planning a holiday in West Wales, do call in and say 'hello'!

Cheers,

Phil.

 

D2178 is on the stock at Bronwydd Arms, and will work all services this Fri-Mon.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Hi all -

For those interested, below is the loco roster for August 2011. The general weekly pattern this month is steam operation Tues - Thurs, then diesel operation Fri - Mon.

Trains run daily, departing Bronwydd Arms at 1030, 1150, 1320, 1450 and 1605 - an adult rover is £8, and children travel for just £1.

As ever, this information is provided in good faith, so please use it as a guide only - the railway cannot be held responsible for any loss caused by change of locomotive, with or without prior notice.

If a particular loco is important to you, we advise that you ring the Booking Office (01267 238 213) on the morning of your visit, to ensure that you won't be disappointed.

August 2011
Wed 9th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Thurs 10th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Fri 11th - D2178
Sat 12th - D2178
Sun 13th - D2178
Mon 15th - D2178
Tues 16th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Wed 17th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Thurs 18th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Fri 19th - D2178
Sat 20th - D2178
Sun 21st - D2178
Mon 22nd - D2178
Tues 23rd - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Wed 24th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Thurs 25th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Fri 26th - D2178
Sat 27th - D2178
Sun 28th - D2178
Mon 29th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Tues 30th - No.1731 "Jennifer"
Wed 21st - No.1731 "Jennifer"

---------------------------------

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

A brief update on Haulwen
The boiler had now been de-tubed and inspected and the go-ahead given for reassembly. The tubes are due to be ordered and fitted shortly. No predicted date for re- entry into service other than to say it should be ASAP and in any event for Christmas.
Regards
Matt

 

Visited this railway on Saturday - D2178 but that's OK - first time I've been hauled by an 03! I'd just like to put in a word of commendation for the extremely friendly staff.

 

An update to this month's loco-roster...

This weekend, the cl.117 DMU will operate all services vice D2178, from Fri 19th - Mon 22nd inclusive. Apologies to anyone who'd planned to travel for D2178 this weekend.

The rest of the loco roster (see further up in thread) remains unchanged - steam on Tues-Thurs (23rd-25th), then D2178 Fri-Sun (26th-29th), then steam until the end of the month. Pathfinder Tours will also be visiting us on 29th August, with a steam charter from Bristol.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

How come you dont have steam at weekends but do during thwe week?

Wouldn't it be better the other way around?

Cheers,

Smiler

 

The passenger figures on Tuesday-Thursdays veurses the weekends suggest otherwise. Ideally we would run steam 5-7 days a week but until Haulwen returns it isn't cost effective to do so. It has been a tough year so far; passenger numbers are down on last year's figures pro rata (we are of course open more though) but August has so far been a reasonable month.

 

Just a quick reminder that Pathfinder Tours will be visiting us this Monday, with passengers from the "Carmarthen Cavalier" tour, hauled by 71000 from Temple Meads. Will any forum members be visiting us?

Meanwhile, an updated loco-roster for September will be published on here shortly.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Hi all -

Apologies for the delay in keeping this updated. Next week's loco-roster looks like this...

Mon 5th - Jennifer (Cream Tea Special)
Tues 6th - Jennifer
Wed 7th - Jennifer
Thurs 8th - D2178
Fri 9th - DMU
Sat 10th - DMU
Sun 11th - DMU

An adult rover is £8, and children travel for just £1 - trains depart Bronwydd Arms at 1030, 1150, 1320, 1450 and 1605. We are running daily right through September, with all our usual attractions open too.

As ever, the loco roster is provided in good faith, so please use it as a guide only - the railway cannot be held responsible for any loss caused by change of motive power, with or without prior notice.

If a particular loco is important to you, we advise that you ring the Booking Office (01267 238 213) on the morning of your visit, to ensure that you won't be disappointed.

If anyone has any questions, then do please feel free to ask.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

I paid a visit to this delightful little railway on 30th August 2011, Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T S. Fox & Co LTD No:20 'Jennifer' was in operation and seemed to be performing well on the pretty steep gradients on some parts of the line. Personally, I particularly enjoyed being allowed in the signal box at Bronwydd Arms, it was most interesting to find out more about what on many lines is a 'secret world' far from the public areas. The small museum was also interesting and informative, especially the different bells and all the different bell codes for different categories of train. A most enjoyable day out, I extend my thanks to all those who give up their free time to keep the trains running.
HD video , 7minutes and 31seconds - 'Jennifer' is seen at Bronwydd Arms at Dannycoed Halt. A number of on board clips are also included to balance things up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wMm4LXVj2Q
5 photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/115609395788457768316/GwiliRailway300811#
A slightly more in depth 'report' on the visit: http://totally-transport.co.uk/gwilirailway300811.aspx.
Hope you enjoy the photos and videos. As always any feedback, positve or negative, is most welcome via the usual channels - replying to the thread, sending a PM, commenting on Youtube or Picasa or dropping us an e-mail at feeback@totally-transport.co.uk

 

Thank you for your kind comments and video and glad you enjoyed your visit. Look forward to reading your report in due course,
Regards,
Matt

 

The report has just been posted at: http://totally-transport.co.uk/gwilirailway300811.aspx. Hope you enjoy it.

 

(here is the news I hinted at on the XTn thread)

We are very pleased to announce that we have secured funding for the overhaul of Austerity 0-6-0ST Welsh Guardsman from a private sponsor. The loco will now be re-assembled and transported to Llangollen where it will be restored to traffic and returned to us as soon as possible thereafter. The overhaul will mainly focus on the boiler and may include the cosntruction of a new inner firebox, but we will have to await further tests on the boiler before this can be determined properly.

With the re-tube of Haulwen also proceeding apace the propsect of two working Austerities on the Gwili in 2012 is becoming brighter. I will hopefully keep you all abreast of the overhaul as it progressess.

Some really posative news for us after a long season!
Potted history-

The loco is actually a comination of Bagnall 2758 and Austerity 7170, with the cab, boiler and tanks of the former and the wheels and chassis of the latter. It was first restored to traffic in 1992 with a further overhaul in 2001. It was the mainstay of Gwili operations until 2007 and we look forward to seeing her barking through the Gwili valley again. It's been rather a long time since we heard the LMS style whistle!

Regards

Matt

 

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=bbVdOHeAo90

Video of Jennifer in action on a rather typically wet day, with some shots re the construction of the new turnout at Llwyfan Cerrig and the DMU at the end of the day.
In other news, Welsh Guardsman's boiler was lowered back into the frames yesterday (Fri) in anticipation of transport to Llangollen next week.
Progress on Haulwen continues, no date for return yet though
Regards
Matt

 

Hi all -

The loco-roster for next week currently looks like this...

Mon - D2178
Tues - Jennifer
Wed - Jennifer
Thurs - D2178
Fri - DMU

....a nice varied week, then!

As ever, the loco roster is provided in good faith, so please use it as a guide only - the railway cannot be held responsible for any loss caused by change of motive power, with or without prior notice.

If a particular loco is important to you, we advise that you ring the Booking Office (01267 238 213) on the morning of your visit, to ensure that you won't be disappointed.

If there are any changes, I'll do my best to keep this thread updated.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Jennifer is running Saturday aswell