If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Trawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by WickhamofWare, Aug 21, 2009.

  1. Bean-counter

    Bean-counter Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2007
    Messages:
    5,844
    Likes Received:
    7,688
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Former NP Member
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Somebody have beaten me to it below but here goes anyway 'I could imagine certain national Preseidents writing that way, limited, of course, to 140 characters!' :cool:;)

    Steven
     
    Forestpines likes this.
  2. Woodster21

    Woodster21 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2007
    Messages:
    461
    Likes Received:
    50
    Location:
    Derbyshire
    Well the NR letter is pretty damning, it looks like they were actually stopped from doing anything in August 2017
     
  3. Fish Plate

    Fish Plate New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    144
    Likes Received:
    813
    Location:
    The Northern Hemisphere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    As Woodster21 has said, the termination letter sent to Trawsfynydd Railway Company (TRC) by Network Rail (NR) in August 2017 has been published on Facebook. I would not want to reproduce the letter here without permission of the moderators but the post in which it appears is on the Railway's public Facebook group:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bla...k/857094367804600/?comment_id=857630617750975

    As a number of people have speculated, TRC have made several breaches of their licence but despite it being revoked in August, continued work and raise funds; this is shocking in my opinion. However, NR say that they are reserving the right to make a claim against TRC in respect of damage caused to a third party, so it is by no means over yet and Colin Dale could find himself in hot water. Further, certain individuals are saying they have performed an investigation into the finances (not clear if that's into the Company and/or Society), so there could be further bad news to come.

    All in all, this is a disgraceful situation that tarnishes the whole preservation movement, when it had such promise. Had the TRC worked within the terms of their licence and worked with NR, then we could be having a very different conversation.

    As a final insult, it would appear the original "management" (a wholly inappropriate term but there is nothing else I can think of!) are still living in denial and, unbelievably, have setup yet another Facebook group (link here if you're interested) claiming the current group is "fake"...! Spin worthy of Trump himself.
     
    Bluenosejohn and Woodster21 like this.
  4. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    I see that page asks if anyone is willing to help the railway to be saved and Colin Dale has said "beware if you Do"
     
  5. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    4,138
    Likes Received:
    5,417
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    That Facebook page was actually setup by Stuart Reeder as a (perhaps mistimed/misguided) attempt to relaunch/refresh the setup.

    In addition to the damage to the bridge, the unauthorised use of diggers, the unauthorised fires, the trolley crash, the lack of H&S and environmental procedures, the termination of the license, the continued work on the line despite the lack of license, the missing money from the 08 and 2HAP appeals, there are now accusations of money being used for driving lessons and unaccounted cash withdrawals.

    What a total disaster and who knows how this may affect other projects trying to reopen a NR line.


    Keith
     
    Rosedale and Reading General like this.
  6. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2005
    Messages:
    9,930
    Likes Received:
    8,986
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Alderan !
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    upload_2018-1-6_22-57-59.png
     
    Rosedale likes this.
  7. Paul.Uni

    Paul.Uni Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2008
    Messages:
    1,358
    Likes Received:
    614
    The posts on the Facebook group have been deleted. An "admin" of the group claims it was 'a Genuin Mistake'. The one reply before comments were locked was 'Find that hard to believe'.

    The same admin was also the one who shared the new page to that group.
     
  8. Woodster21

    Woodster21 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2007
    Messages:
    461
    Likes Received:
    50
    Location:
    Derbyshire
    I think that the word "Meltdown" is good to describe what has happened. From what has been posted about the income / expenditure I don't think we are at the end of this sorry story
     
  9. MarkinDurham

    MarkinDurham Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 4, 2007
    Messages:
    2,212
    Likes Received:
    980
    Location:
    Durham
    :Saywhat: Those last few posts above are, well, gobsmacking...
     
  10. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2005
    Messages:
    9,930
    Likes Received:
    8,986
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Alderan !
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    upload_2018-1-7_8-12-56.png
     
    Rosedale likes this.
  11. RA & FC

    RA & FC Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2007
    Messages:
    1,126
    Likes Received:
    411
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Gogledd Cymru
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    It was an interesting night on the Facebook pages! I'd thought all along that the people in charge didn't have a clue, and were just bumbling along. Its very sorry to hear, as people have donated their hard earned cash to the project, that has then gone in to the pockets of a couple of directors!

    As said above, I can't see this being the end of the story.
     
  12. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,496
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    A word of caution peeps. There's a big difference between what can be submitted as legal evidence and what, after due process, can reasonably accepted as a true and accurate record of events.

    There's clearly a wordy firefight developing over the 'whys and wherefores' of what has or hasn't transpired concerning the Trawsfynydd line ...... and this 'ere forum of ours is not a court of law, but is subject to the laws on which courts adjudicate.

    At this point, I'd be extremely careful about accepting partisan postings on social media as evidence of what may or may not have happened. Several posts echo the concern that events surrounding the T&BF risk tarnishing the wider heritage movement and I would urge any considering wading in to consider sources being cited as opinion forming.

    There's a well known acronym in computing circles ... SISO ... which identifies the likely value of output (the "O" in SISO) based on dodgy input (the "I" in SISO and you should be able to guess what the "S" stands for!).

    I don't think we're at the thread locking stage quite yet, but please folks, consider your words carefully before hitting "Reply to Thread".
     
    Herald, Steve B, Corbs and 8 others like this.
  13. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Messages:
    35,966
    Likes Received:
    9,473
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired-ish, Part time rail tour steward.
    Location:
    Northwich
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I thought the acronym was GIGO, G as in garbage.
     
  14. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2009
    Messages:
    8,563
    Likes Received:
    5,560
    Is it safe to comment that the FB posting shown in #430 appears to be libellous?
     
  15. black5

    black5 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    1,994
    Likes Received:
    2,730
    Occupation:
    Theatre
    Location:
    Merseyside>Bury
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Potentially, but they seemed to be cleverly worded never to name who the accusation was at from how I read them...
     
  16. Thompson1706

    Thompson1706 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2007
    Messages:
    2,489
    Likes Received:
    1,868
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Rhiwabon
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I would think that the best resolution for this would be Network Rail taking up the trackwork & offering it to legitimate Welsh preserved lines.

    Bob.
     
    Bluenosejohn and paulhitch like this.
  17. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2009
    Messages:
    1,681
    Likes Received:
    2,438
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Somewhere in the UK
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    But surely they already have enough on their plates?

    As the area is not exactly short on preserved railways, maybe something that offers an alternative attraction, like the velorail idea, would be a better way forward for this particular route.
     
    johnofwessex likes this.
  18. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    7,817
    Likes Received:
    2,767
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired Engineer & Heritage Volunteer
    Location:
    N Warks
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Sadly I'm not surprised at this turn of events, given the history and the often incoherent babbling on the FB pages. However, now that Mr Reeder has tossed his hat in the ring, the new plan to reopen a further seven miles of track to Arenig must be a nailed-on certainty surely?
     
  19. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,581
    Likes Received:
    18,392
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    All we need is Alf Roberts to supply the (regauged) rolling stock and we've got a full house!
     
    M59137, Woodster21 and Forestpines like this.
  20. williamfj2

    williamfj2 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2007
    Messages:
    637
    Likes Received:
    56
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    50A
    45015 for the reopening special?
     

Share This Page