Bala Lake Railway
| Bala Lake Railway Welsh: Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid | |
|
Merionethshire | |
|---|---|
 Alice at Llanuwchllyn | |
| Gauge: | 600 mm |
| Grid reference: | SH906326 |
| Location: | 52°52’48"N, 3°37’34"W |
| No. of stations: | 6 |
| Track: | 4½ miles |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid Ltd |
The Bala Lake Railway is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Merionethshire. The line is four and a half miles long, built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon to Barmouth Great Western Railway route that closed in 1965. Another section of the former permanent way is used by the Llangollen Railway. The Great Western track has been lifted and the Bala Lake Railway runs on track at 600 mm gauge.
The railway is a member of the Great Little Trains of Wales.
The railway now has the largest collection of historic narrow-gauge quarry locomotives built specifically for the slate industry by the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds.
History
Standard Gauge
The narrow-gauge Bala Lake railway uses the trackbed ("permanent way") of the former standard-gauge Great Western Ruabon–Barmouth line. This railway opened in August 1868, built by the Bala and Dolgelley Railway Company. Its original 19-mile route ran between the Corwen & Bala Railway at Bala Junction and the Cambrian Railways station at Dolgellau. In 1877 it became part of the network operated by Great Western. In 1896, Llanuwchllyn was redeveloped with the addition of a passing loop and second platform, extended building and a new signal box.
Passenger services through Bala Junction ceased on Monday 18 January 1965 when the line from Llangollen to Barmouth was closed. Although originally earmarked to become a diesel line in the early 1960s, the Ruabon to Bala–Barmouth line was included in the 1963 Beeching Report Axe. Traffic on the line was gradually reduced and facilities 'rationalised'; the last scheduled through-rail service was the mail train from Chester in December 1964. Long-distance holiday charter trains and through freight traffic were diverted on to the Cambrian main line via [Welshpool. Goods traffic finally ceased on 1 January 1968 when the branch at Pontcysyllte was closed.
Narrow gauge
By 1969 the track had been lifted. Reuse of the line as a narrow-gauge railway began when local engineer, George Barnes, saw the potential of the lakeside section for both local and tourist traffic. With the help of Tom Jones CBE, then chairman of Merioneth County Council's Finance Committee, they established Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid Ltd (believed to be the first company in Wales to be registered exclusively in the Welsh language).
The Bala Lake Railway opened on 13 August 1972. In its first season, it operated a small industrial diesel engine with two open carriages on a mile and a half of track between Llanuwchllyn and Pentrepiod. Extension work continued throughout this period with the help of local ex-British Rail employees. The line was extended to Llangower by the start of 1973. In 1975 the line reached a new temporary station at Pant-yr-hen-felin.[1] The following year the line reached Bala (Llyn Tegid), now known as Bala (Penybont). There were expansion plans to extend the line into Bala's town centre by 1981 but these plans were abandoned early in that year.[2]
The canopy at Llanuwchllyn was built in 1979 with supports which were made for the Cambrian Railways station at Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire, but were relocated to Aberdovey, Merionethshire in 1907 when Pwllheli station was moved.
The stations along the line are:
- Llanuwchllyn, includes the main buildings, café, workshops and railway offices.
- Pentrepiod Halt, an operational request stop.
- Glan Llyn Halt, a limited-use station, open only during the Halloween and Santa Special train services.
- Llangower, principal intermediate station that all trains stop at. It has a passing loop for two-train services.
- Bryn Hynod Halt, a request stop that closed in 2011 (platform demolished in February 2012).
- Bala (Penybont), terminus located near the town of Bala.
The company now has the largest collection of historic narrow-gauge quarry locomotives built by the Yorkshire Hunslet Engine Company specifically for the North Wales slate industry.
Llanuwchllyn Heritage Centre
The Llanuwchllyn Heritage Centre is a museum of Welsh narrow-gauge railway located at Llanuwchllyn railway station.[3] It won the 2020 Railway Heritage Association award for Outstanding Visitor Attraction.[4][5] Exhibits on display include Hunslet Engine Company locomotive Nesta and a replica of Lord Penrhyn's private carriage, both from the Penrhyn Quarry Railway.[3] It also houses locomotives that are not currently in use which frees up spaces in the running shed and has a variety of exhibits relating to the quarry industry.
Future developments and expansion
In 2010, the company revived plans to complete the final three-quarters of a mile of the railway to Bala town centre. The Red Dragon Project, under the auspices of the Bala Lake Railway Trust, has been established to build the £2.5 million extension.[6]
The plans also include: a new engine shed, a visitor centre as well as rebuilding of the carriage shed, which was completed in 2019, and a new set of carriages.
In March 2017, the Trust announced that it had acquired land required in Bala for the new railway terminus.[7]
In October 2019, the Trust purchased land from Bala Rugby Club for the extension of the line.[8]
Rolling stock
Steam locomotives currently in use or stored on the line are:
- 'Maid Marian: arrived on the line 1975; owned by the Maid Marian Locomotive Fund.[9]
- Holy War: arrived on the line 1975, serviceable 1979.
- Alice]]': bought initially for spares for Holy War, restored to its own right in 1994.
- Winifred: brought back to the United Kingdom from a warehouse at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the US in April 2012.[10] It was restored to working condition in 2015.[11]
- George B: entered service in April 2017.[12]
- Avonside, works number 1909 (pending restoration): arrived from Queensland in Oct 2020
- Dorothy: arrived July 2021
Most of the locos were built by the Hunslet Engine Company for the Dinorwic and Penrhyn Quarries in Caernarfonshire. The numerous Hunslet slate quarry steam locomotives have led the railway to market itself as the home of the Hunslet.
Until late 2011, ex Southam Cement Works Peckett 'Triassic' was stored on the Bala Lake Railway, was relocated to the Statfold Barn Railway during the overhauls of Winifred and George B due to storage space issues, but returned in Summer 2016.
The four main diesel locomotives are:
- Meirionydd, a Bo-Bo diesel-hydrostatic locomotive built by Severn Lamb of Stratford-upon-Avon in 1973.
- Trigger ('Bob Davies'), a Baguley Drewery, works no. 780, which is the railway's main standby diesel, used to haul out of season trains, yard shunting etc, built as 2 ft 6in gauge for the Royal Navy at Fishguard.
- Chilmark: the oldest of the railway's diesels (a 40DL diesel mechanical 3-speed built in 1939 for the Air Ministry), used by the Royal Air Force for hauling explosives and ammunition at RAF Chilmark in Wiltshire.
- 'Lady Madcap,, a Ruston & Hornsby 20DL, which sees only occasional use for light shunting and ballast ploughing.
A new addition to the fleet is a track maintenance trolley in the style of a standard-gauge Wickham trolley.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bala Lake Railway) |
References
- ↑ Steam '82 directory, edited by Roger Crombleholme and Terry Kirtland, published 1981 by Allen & Unwin (London), ISBN 0-04-385091-X, entry 304.
- ↑ Statement of G H Barnes (General Manager) in Steam '81 directory, edited by Roger Crombleholme and Terry Kirtland, published 1981 by Allen & Unwin (London), ISBN 978-0-04-385082-4, entry 304.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Destination Bala!". The Railway Magazine: p. 35. December 2020.
- ↑ "2020 HRA Awards". https://www.hra.uk.com/2020-hra-awards.
- ↑ "An array of winners celebrated at heritage awards dinner". The Railway Magazine: p. 12. March 2020.
- ↑ "Proposed Route for the Bala Town Extension". Bala Lake Railway Trust. http://www.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/route.html.
- ↑ "Railway station plan takes next step". Cambrian News. 3 March 2017. http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=113272&headline=Railway%20station%20plan%20takes%20next%20step§ionIs=news&searchyear=2017.
- ↑ "Bala Lake Railway Trust unveils extension plans after purchase of land". 30 October 2019. https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/18000624.bala-lake-railway-trust-unveils-extension-plans-purchasing-new-land/.
- ↑ The Maid Marian Locomotive Fund
- ↑ "Winifred Returns to Wales From Across the Atlantic Ocean". Rail.co.uk. 18 May 2012. http://www.rail.co.uk/rail-news/2012/winifred-returns-to-wales/.
- ↑ "Welcome to the Bala Lake Railway". Bala-lake-railway.co.uk. http://www.bala-lake-railway.co.uk/.
- ↑ "All aboard for steam engine's first journey for 50 years". BBC News. 22 April 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-39680009/all-aboard-for-steam-engine-s-first-journey-for-50-years.