| Latest news. regular updates of what's been happening on and around the railway.
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Thursday 7th August 2008 Not strictly railway related, but the railways 'official photographer' was on his way home from the pub the other night and nearly got knocked off his bike by a lightning bolt. Luckily foor us he's OK and managed to secure some lovely shots of the sheet lightning during one of the biggest thunderstorms we've had in a long time. |
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July 29th 2008 Porthcoed station improvements. The rather rotten wooden fence at the south end of the station has been dismantled (it literally fell apart when the signalman leant on it last week) and been replaced with a rather simpler fence made from corrugated iron. The phone box has also received a repaint as this too was looking very shabby. One of the benches has been moved from inside the station tgo allow passengers somewhere to sit in the sunshine. The overall effect looks much tidier. Hopefully the new fence should also prevent the undergrowth from encroaching onto the platform again. |
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July 28th 2008 No3 outshopped from Maesffordd works after major overhaul. |
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July 14th 2008 Arrival of ex-penrhyn loco' OGWEN. Looking quite at home here, hauling slate. |
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May 2008 Services at the new Maesffordd methodist chapel commence. sundays. 11AM |
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Tuesday 15th April 2008. New Coaches at long last!!!!! The management having finally listened to the pleas of it's long suffering passengers, has finally comissioned Maesffordd works to construct three new bogie coaches based on the Vale Of Rheidol Swindon built coaches. The completed rake was outshopped today and after trial runs will enter service just in time for summer. Loco no6 was put in charge of the first test run and the coaches trundled along obediently behind, their steel wheels clickety clacking nicely over the rail joints, just like the full size ones!! |
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Sunday 31st March New loco bought in for Nant-Gorris quarry. This is a 10Hp Ruston diesel built from an IP engineering white-metal kit, suitably "distressed" to give it that industrial look. It runs on two AAA batteries and will look very much at home trundling round with a couple of skips or slate wagons behind. The other new addition is a brake van for the goods wagons. this is a newdigate models item, resin bodied and picked up for a very sensible price at the National Garden Railway show at Stoneleigh. |
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Sunday 23rd March 2008 Overnight snows meant that we woke up to this scene on Easter Sunday morning. It's all very pretty but we need to get the snowplough out to re-open the line to traffic. |
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Below: After the snowplough has cleared the line, no5 brings the freight through Nant-Gorris. |
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21st March 2008 Loco' no5 overhaul is complete, the loco' is now back in revenue earning service. |
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12th to 17th Feb 2008. Loco's 5 and 6 are "on tour". seen here, shunting slate wagons on the 16mm layout at the National Slate Museum, Llanberis, Wales. |
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Saturday 2nd Feb Our intrepid photographer got on his moped again, and was successful in capturing these shots of no21 actually in steam and working for a living at Nant-Gorris quarry siding. so the rumours surrounding this loco' are true. The future of no4 is still uncertain at the moment, having been officially withdrawn just after Christmas. Will it suddenly appear at the quarry? |
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Tuesday 29th January 2008 Rumour has it that former MNGR loco' no21 has been seen out and about around Nant-Gorris quarry, eager to find out our photographer set out on his moped to try and catch the loco' in action. with dusk soon approaching he managed to capture this shot of her quietly cooling down after a day's activities (and looking a little different to how she did in MNGR days). Apparently the Nant-Gorris slate company is looking to take on no4 which is currently stored out of use at a secret location. |
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Sunday 27th January Arrival of a Bressingham 'Summer coach', more to follow. |
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Sunday 25th November Arrival of yet more new stock for the railway. Below can be seen the new hudson bolster wagons being put to good use already. Taking a consignment of timber up to the quarry for use as pit-props. |
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Below. A special commemorative rake of liveried wagons built at BWS works' to commemorate the general managers birthday. each one numbered to mark the occasion. Many thanks to my uncle for building these, they are far too good for every day running. |
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November 24th 2007. services continue on the Maesffordd Railway, this time of year it is mostly freight. Below can be seen most of the railway's freight stock awaiting collection at Porthcoed. No 6 raising steam at Maesffordd, as 3 and 5 head off to Porthcoed together. |
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Saturday November 17th 2007. No5 drifts into Porthcoed with a short train from the quarry. |
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Sunday October 21st LATEST ADDITION TO THE MAESFFORDD ROSTER..... Loco' no 6, "Green Earl" The railway wasn't exactly looking for a bigger loco'', we had in mind something small and in keeping with the rest of the fleet but this Fowler came up at the right time, at the right price and even had the right running number. How could we resist? the loco' is a second-hand bargain and was immediately put through Maesffordd works to check that everything was in order. a few running checks later and the loco' has been declared "a good 'un". the only jobs required being some bogie adjustment on the tender, a lick of paint round the cylinder casings, suitable embellishments and a dash of red across the front bufferbeam. hopefully we can persuade our PR department to include it in their next video. |
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We also played host to some visitors from the Eaves Green Tramway, below we can see a meths fired roundhouse 'lady anne' hauling it's train past Maesffordd village. |
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Below The EGT Caradoc loco' hauls the return trip back up the valley. |
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Saturday August 25th 2007 Bank holiday weekend and the trains are running an intensive timetable. New loco' no5 was doing much of the work, whilst 3 and 4 split some of the later afternoon trains between them. |
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Whilst 3, 4, and 5 were busy handling the passenger services, the railway's industrial diesel fleet were lined up together for the very first time. here we seeRuston loco's 7 and 12, loco' 1, 8, simplex 9 and lister no11. |
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Sunday 18th August 2007 arrival of another steam loco' to the fleet. Purchased from the nearby RSLR after it became surplus to requirements due to a change in gauge., this loco'will become no5 in the fleet, (at the moment it still carries the old RSLR no3). Built by Roundhouse engineering of Doncaster, this "bertie" class loco' is a gas fired 0-4-0 with slip eccentric valve gear and will make a very useful addition to the fleet. |
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Sunday 22nd July
ANNUAL STEAM GALA 2007. A very well attended event this year, with a wide variety of steam locomotion chuffing it's way round the line. Below is Evan Williams' saddle tank hauling some quarry waste wagons. |
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Below, some of todays line up on show at Porthcoed. L-R,David Marshall's 'Lady Anne', Richard Copperhweat's NG11 'Africarns' Garratt,, Ian Stock's 'Russell' and Gerry Balding's 'Katie'. |
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Sunday June 24th The lineside fencing gang were out in force this weekend putting in new fencing along some of the line. This is genuine Talyllyn fencing, made from genuine Talyllyn slate wired toigether in the prototypical fashion. Thanks go to Laurie Wright for showing me how to do it. |
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Sunday June 17th MNGR Visits the Lower Bryandale Railway. Yet another excuse for a run on different metals, the transporter was dragged out again to cart no3 and rolling stock to Coggeshall in Essex to run on Ian Stock's (yes, he of railway channel fame!) line. another beautiful line, below we see no3 in the distinguished company of WHR Russell. |
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Saturday 9th June 2007 MNGR visits the Cwmcoediog Railway. The MNGR accepted an invitation to run it's loco's and stock on yet another railway, we went to great expense transporting No3 and the Corris coach along with four goods wagons to Aberystwyth. As you can see, Laurie Wright's line is superb. Built on a very steep slope, the railway weaves back and forth to reach it's destination, looping over itself and through tunnels cut in rock it is truly one of the best lines we have run on. |
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Friday 18th May 2007 Completion of passing loop at Nant-Gorris, This scheme was to allow for more operational flexibility and now means that the line no longer has to run to the "one engine only" rule. The PW gang have moved on to another section of the line to replace a few sections of missing ballast, hopefully the line is due to re-open this weekend. |
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