A day at Boston Lodge

I spent a day at Boston Lodge on the Ffestiniog Railway last week. I was mainly there to help out with the laser scanning of the four George England locos, but also got time to wander around and take some photos of the various interesting corners and goings on. Enjoy.

Boston Lodge, February 2013 - a set on Flickr

 

A lot of thank you for your nice and very interesting pics
I hope that one day(not to far away) the FR will connect to the wonderful Portmeirion Gardens
kindest regards
Noel

 

Thanks for the kind words, Noel. I should point out that the Portmerion extension is probably never going to happen. The idea of extending the Glan y Mor yard round the headland is more of an in-joke amongst FfR folks than a serious proposal. It would be wonderful to arrive there hauled by a Double Fairlie though, wouldn't it?

Best,

Dan

 

Nice photos Dan, good to have a sneak behind the scenes

 

Never say never. Clough Williams-Ellis always wanted a station at Portmeirion...

 

I'd love to see it happen. It seems like an obvious combination of two of the best tourist attractions in North Wales. My understanding was the geology of the route round the headland might be a bit challenging. But, as you say, never say never.

 

For those wondering what a railway station in Portmeirion might look like, you could do worse than starting with Jools Holland's Portmeirion-esque studios in London. Part of it is station-styled; glimpsed here in this accompanying shot:

'Feelings - I have no time for those' - Telegraph

Into the land of whimsy now but a short branch around/through the headland utilising bits of "fallen railways" to fit with the ethos of Portmeirion's "home for fallen buildings", with a railcar incorporating parts of recycled "fallen trains" would be rather appropriate (maybe Launceston-style...).

Given the protected outstanding natural and cultivated beauty of that headland and the insane costs of earthworks that's one firmly consigned to the "what if" pile. But -what- a what-if.

 

Is the old locomotive turntable still in existence under the garage at the top end of Boston Lodge Halt?

 

Yes it is. We're looking at ways it could be used, either where it is now or at another location.

 

Please explain - is there a plan to produce a batch of new England locos using a 3D printer?

 

Just in case you haven't caught it elsewhere, we're planning to produce models in a variety of scales. You can join in the fun by contributing to our Kickstarter project:

3D printed kits of the Ffestiniog Englands from laser scans. by Chris Thorpe from The Flexiscale Company — Kickstarter

We've discussed the possibility of producing 1:1 scale models of locos for museum display. It wouldn't be cheap and they wouldn't run, but you could reproduce historical locos very accurately. Maybe one day...

 

Hi can some one tell me who or what is Reynolds Castle and what was it called before?

 

It's Bill, late of Corus Shotton. Hunslet 9248 - Festipedia

 

Thanks Andrew, looks like a great job in progress. So does Ben have a new name as well?

Regards

Colin

 

No, neither does Bill...

'Reynolds Castle' is a typical piece of Ffesty humour. Some of the work on Bill is being carried out by a group of volunteers known as the 'Reynolds Gang' - so the loco has been given an unofficial name which continues the use of Castle or Castell in the name of FR diesels.

 

Plus "It's so ugly it hurts my eyes castle" wouldn't fit on the radiator.

 

What's the situation of repair for both the 105hp narrow gauge hunslet locomotives, as I am able to access some spares for these, with serial numbers -LD 9248 and LD 9262.