Driver's Eye View (Wales) - Welshpool & Llanfair Railway - Part 1 - Llanfair Caereinion to Welshpool
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2023
- The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) (Welsh: Rheilffordd y Trallwng a Llanfair Caereinion) is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around 8.5 miles long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool (Welsh: Y Trallwng) via Castle Caereinion to the village of Llanfair Caereinion.
Early proposals -
The first of these to connect Llanfair Caerinion and Welshpool by railway was the Llanfair Railway of 1864; this would have been a narrow gauge line, with a mixed gauge section where it connected to the Cambrian Railways. This proposal failed as did several subsequent proposals. In late December 1896, the mayor of Welshpool William Addie proposed a 2 ft 6 in gauge railway called the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. By March 1897, Addie contracted noted narrow gauge promoter Everard Calthrop to assist in preparing a case for the inquiry. An application for a Light Railway Order was submitted to the Board of Trade in May 1897. At the August 1897 public inquiry Calthrop appeared, along with J.R. Dix manager of the Corris Railway. The enquiry considered both the Llanfair & Meifod Light Railway and the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway proposals. The promoters of the W&LLR approached the Cambrian Railways, asking them to pay for and construct the line. After much time-consuming negotiations, the Cambrian agreed and on 8th September 1899, the Light Railway Order was granted to begin construction of the line.
It was opened on 6th April 1903 to aid economic development in the area. Originally operated by the Cambrian Railways, the line was built through difficult country, requiring many contour hugging curves to reach the summit at 600 ft. The original Welshpool terminus was located alongside the main line station requiring trains to share the road through the town, locomotives were fitted with a warning bells for used on this section.
In the 1923 Grouping, the Cambrian Railways, including the Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion line, was absorbed by the Great Western Railway. On 9th February 1931 passenger services ceased, it remained open as a freight-only line, although it was temporarily re-opened to passengers between 6th and 11th August 1945 for the Eisteddfod. The GWR itself was nationalised in 1948 and became part of British Railways.
Freight traffic lingered on until 1956, by which time British Railways decided to close the line, with services ceasing on 5 November.
Preservation -
A group of volunteers and enthusiasts took the line over and started raising money to restore it. On 6th April 1963, the western half of the line, from Llanfair Caereinion to Castle Caereinion, was reopened as a Heritage railway.
On 13th December 1964, a pier supporting the steel girder bridge over the River Banwy was seriously damaged by flood waters dislodging the bridge. During the spring and early summer of 1965 the 16th Railway Regiment of the Royal Engineers replaced the damaged masonry pier with a fabricated steel one and restored the span to its original position. Train services between Llanfair Caereinion to Castle Caereinion resumed on 14th August 1965.
In 1972, services were extended to Sylfaen. The line through Welshpool, however, could not be reopened, requiring a new terminus station to be built at Raven Square on the western outskirts of the town, it was opened on 18th July 1981.
Because of the 2 ft 6 in gauge, unusual for British narrow gauge railways, locomotives and rolling stock to supplement the originals had to be obtained from sources around the world including the Zillertalbahn in Austria. A major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund permitted restoration of both original locomotives together with several coaches and original wagons along with new workshop facilities, ready for the line's centenary.
Golfa Bank - is particularly steep with a mile long 1 in 29 gradient, the steepest passenger carrying section on the Cambrian Railways, it is still a challenging climb today. Golfa bank rises from about 350 ft above sea level at the start of the climb to 630 ft above sea level at the summit, equal to climbing 280 ft in 1.5 miles. Due to the severity of the climb, locomotives had to be specialy designed and built to cope with the gradient. There was a halt at the top called Golfa Halt, 1.75 miles from the Welshpool Raven Square, opened on 6th April 1903 it closed again on the 9th February 1931 when passenger services were withdrawn, the line closed to all traffic on 3rd November 1956. In preservation the halt reopened on 18th July 1981 only to be closed again in 2015.
For more information, please click on this link - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welshpo...
To make enquiries or to make a booking, please click on this link - wllr.org.uk/
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Class camerawork as usual! First rode here 1970 last rode 2017 and a few in between. Some changes over the years of course, a very pleasant trip. Regards to you.
Hello Peter, over the last 47 years you've seen this railway mature into the first class tourist attraction it is today, time flies, where did the years go? I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Good morning Tim. Thanks for this. We’ve got an inch or two snow this morning and and it’s too cold to get up. So this is very pleasant ASMR listening on my van pillow.👍Best wishes from Scotland.☃️☃️❄️🏔️
Hello Terry, we've got the cold weather down here on the South Coast, but no snow so far. Everything looks so pristine and fresh after a good snow fall, I don't blame you for staying in bed, it's the warmest place to be. Take care. Tim 😊.
Ok. This is my station. Thanks, Tim. Have a super weekend!
Cheers, I hope you have a good one too.
There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into producing this sort of film. The videography really was quite excellent and a real pleasure to watch. Thank you!
Thank you, I really appreciate your kind comment.
A picturesque ride today. Beautiful Wales to see. Thank you for the video. Cheers mates! 🏴🙂👍🇺🇸
A wonderful journey, many thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thank you, it's nice to know you enjoyed it 😊.
fantastic
I'm pleased you enjoyed it 😊.
10/10 for the comitment by the signaler whom only had a chair and umbreller.
He's a real man, not some kind of fair weather signaller.
Wunderschönes Video..Danke
Vielen Dank, ich freue mich, dass es Ihnen gefallen hat.
Great video. Shame it can no longer run to Welshpool Town.
Thank you, I'm pleased you enjoyed it. I love looking at nostalgic old photographs showing trains running through the towns streets, sadly that is in the past. On the bright side the railway still exists and it is a real pleasure to visit thanks to the dedication of the guys and gals who keep this wonderful little railway running for us all to enjoy.
Hi Tim! At the beginn of the video, best regards to Abi and Oti👍. Today a have send you a Mail with pictures from the winter in the Mühlviertel. 25 cm or 10 inches of snow. Best regards from Hans and Cheers 🍻🇦🇹.
Hello Hans, you did well to spot Abi and Oti. Thanks for the photos, Christmas has arrived early in Mühlviertel, it looks so beautiful. 🍺Tim.
You need to do some drivers eye views on the trains at Statfold Barn Railway especially on the gala day when they have all the different lines and the tram running.
Thanks for the heads up, I'll see what I can do.
I've already had a ride along this railway in 1997. Of course, the carriages were different then. Daddy and I were riding behind The Countess. The Earl was painted black at the time. I did have a cassette about the railway, but I lost interest and gave it to a friend of mine. Not that I wouldn't want to ride the rails again, I would. It's getting there that's a tad difficult. Doing anything special for Christmas?
No doubt Wales is stunningly beautiful! 😍👍🤩
Hello Larissa, the scenery isn't spectacular with towering peaks and deep canyons, it's just relaxing and pretty, I love it, even in the rain 😍.
@@Timsvideochannel1 Well, judging by your recent videos, I stand by my conviction that Wales is stunningly beautiful and that the scenery is definitely spectacular. So there! 😉
@@OmniaInNumerisSitaSunt "Yes" I've got to admit, it is stunningly beautiful 😍.
@@Timsvideochannel1 Admit it Tim: Stunningly beautiful is just another synonym of the word spectacular. 😊
@@OmniaInNumerisSitaSunt You've got me there 😊.
Greetings I was quite fortunate back in 2000 I was able to get a cab ride on the Earl on theWelshpool Railway because it’s 2 foot six gauge. If I ever got back over there again, I would like to become a volunteer for week so yours Jeff
Hello Jeff, you were lucky to get a cab ride and I'm sure the railway could always use another volunteer, there's always plenty to do. Cheers. Tim.
Nice videos
I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
@@Timsvideochannel1 thanks
Mega video
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
0:53 This loco's called "The Earl", ay? Okay, all together now, and a 1 and a 2 and a 1,2,3..... Duke duke duke duke of Earl, duke duke.... LOL
@neil forbes416 Gene Chandler and The Dukes of Earl
@@Mediawatcher2023 Just Gene Chandler. The remake in 1988 was Australian, Armando Hurley & The Dukes Of Earlwood.
@@neilforbes416 i forgot put the word in Also lol
A good ride. Liked the multi views. What is strange, I have never seen before is the air supported rail sleepers at water channels. Obviously the two rails can support the load over the gap and the sleepers are there to maintain track gauge. Any thing below the track would cause obstruction at high water flow. But why are there no between running rails safety rails like there are on the bigger bridges? Also the speed limited sections would be better served by using A or W pattern sleepers rather than parallel as they give more stability to curved track in poor ground conditions (As Swiss MOB and RhB)
Hello Brian, it's nice to know you enjoyed the occasional side view. I've seen railway lines laid over small water courses as you described, but never given it much thought, I just thought it was the way it was because the line was laid using complete track panels, but I could well be wrong. I've never seen continental style "Y" rail ties in the UK although on my last trip to Switzerland's Brienz Rothorn Railway they were placed next to the track ready to be placed under the rails.
@@Timsvideochannel1 There is a section of standard gauge main line between Singen (DB) and Schaffhausen (SBB) that has the A / W pattern rail sleepers.
@@briancooper562 They appear to be gaining popularity in Mainland Europe, I've seen them in a number of locations on the route of the Glacier Express and they are used on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways although I have yet to see them on a standard gauge railway. Assuming they do the job in some locations better than convention sleepers/rail-ties I guess we might even see them in the UK one day.
I would echo all that has been said below . . .plus . . . what scenery !
What's the guage of the rail here ?
I hope the railway people see all the positive comments, they deserve the praise. The track gauge is 2 ft 6 ins (762 mm)
Notice that the tray of tea things on the buffers at Welshpool has obviouSly been attacked between edits!
Railways run on tea!
Well spotted, I'm sure the footplate crew appreciated the refreshments.
👍
😊
The Earl made his job well ??? LOL😁
The GWR chose the name well, not a King, Castle or Hall, but to my ears "the Earl" sounds just right for a handsome narrow gauge engine puffing through the beautiful Welsh countryside.
It’s a perfect name but the locomotive was named The Earl before the GWR had anything to do with it, the original company chose the names
what is the max speed going this way?
The maximum permitted speed is 30 km/h (19 mph).
Great journey thanks Tim, When do we get to see the bus on rails 😁 (gulf lander) cheers Bob.
Hello Robert, I'll do my best to post it before Christmas, I'm glad you enjoyed the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. All the best. Tim.