Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway

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The Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway is a volunteer-run preserved railway, running trains between a station platform in a former colliery furnace site, up a steep but short section of railway line to a halt platform opposite the Whistle Stop public house (famed for its collection of miner's lamps) in Blaenavon.

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[edit] Visitor attraction

The railway was opened to visitors in the 1980s. It runs every weekend between spring and September. There are also a selection of special weekends through the spring and summer, as well as Santa Specials nearing Christmas.

The railway has not increased in track size since opening, but it has increased as a going concern, with a larger number of volunteers, a larger amount of operational rolling stock, and more definite plans for the railway's future.

[edit] Expansion

It is planned to first extend the railway towards the town of Blaenavon, the nearest town to the railway's headquarters by roughly a mile, to the site of the former Blaenavon High Level station (once the London and North Western Railway's station in the town). After this is hopefully achieved, the railway will turn towards extending the line northwards, under a small road bridge and along the still intact track bed.

The Pontypool Blaenavon Railway Company has been granted an Order under the Transport and Works Act to extend and operate its line from the Whistle Inn in the north to Blaenavon (High Level) some two miles to the south.

Work, which started in December 2004, was initially complicated by difficulty in determining who built the railway. The order allowing most of the initial construction was the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Act of 1866, but a short section in the south was built under the LNWR (Wales &c) Act of 1875. Once the two months spent on this research was complete matters progressed rapidly so that a formal application to the Welsh Assembly was made on 3 May 2005. By the end of June 2005 the application became public with a two month subsequent period allowed for formal objection.

By 28 November 2005, the inspector appointed by the National Assembly for Wales, Stuart B Wild, MRTPI, MCMI made his report to Parliament. Subsequently a full meeting of the planning Decision Committee of the National Assembly for Wales, chaired by Carwyn Jones, Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside, approved the application on 24 January 2006. The minister in turn wrote to Winckworth Sherwood on 31 January. The Order, called the Pontypool and Blaenavon (Phase 1) Order 2006 was finally made on 20 June 2006 and Came into Force on 21 June 2006.

The railway is now concentrating all its efforts on extending the line southwards a further 1 ¼ miles from its existing main station at Furnace Sidings to Blaenavon (High Level). The route southwards is made difficult by the need to refurbish a number of bridges en route. A substantial report which has just been issued by the Company to Torfaen County Borough Council, the successor to the Welsh Development Agency, and other interested parties, estimates the lowest for the extension and the provision of a minimal station at High Level at between £235K and £395K, with cost of the bridges lying between £162K and £323K – by far the dominant item in the total cost. The Company is now actively seeking partners to help raise funds to meet the refurbishment costs. Blaenavon (High Level) station is close to the centre of Blaenavon town, and, as a result a substantial increase in passenger numbers is confidently expected. Blaenavon is the epicentre of the World Heritage Site of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, a landscape which includes Big Pit National Coal Museum and the famous Blaenavon Ironworks. The presence of the railway there is expected to significantly add to the visitor experience and tourist potential of the town

[edit] Motive Power[1]

[edit] Steam Locomotives (Stored or under Restoration)

[edit] Diesel Locomotives (Operative)

  • BR Co-Co Class 37 no. 37216. Under restoration back into early BR green..
  • English Electric 0-6-0DH, No.104 "Llanwern". In passenger use.
  • Rolls-Royce Sentinel 0-4-0DM, No.1 "Panteg". In P WAY use.
  • Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0DH, NCB DL16. In shunting use.
  • Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0DM, Shell-BP No.14. In shunting use.
  • Ruston 48DS "Gower Princess". In shunting use.

[edit] Diesel Locomotives (Stored or under Restoration)

[edit] Diesel Multiple Units (Operative)

[edit] Diesel Multiple Units (Stored or under Restoration)

  • BR Class 108 DMBS 51942
  • BR Class 108 DTCL 56270
  • BR Class 117 DMS 51351
  • BR Class 117 DMS 51397
  • BR Class 117 TCL 59520

[edit] See also

[edit] External links & References

  1. ^ Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway - Rolling Stock
  2. ^ Alistair Grieve (2008-04-28). The PBRs new toys. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
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