Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

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Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
823 The Countess and 822 The Earl - the two original W&LLR engines
Location
Place Mid-Wales
Terminus Welshpool
Commercial Operations
Name Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Preserved Operations
Operated by
Stations
Length 8.5 miles (14 km)
Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Commercial History
Opened 1903
Closed to passengers 1931
Closed 1956
Preservation History
1963 Re-opened as a heritage railway
1981 Opening of extension to Raven Square

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around 8.5 miles (14 km) long and runs between the towns of Welshpool and Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is 2 ft 6 in (762 mm).

Contents

[edit] History

The W&LLR was one of the few narrow gauge branch lines to be built under the provisions of the 1896 Light Railways Act. It was opened on 4 April 1903 to aid economic development in a remote area. It never made a profit. It was originally operated by the Cambrian Railways. The line is built through difficult country, having a great number of curves in order to reach the summit of 600ft. The original terminus at Welshpool was located alongside the main line station and trains wound their way through the town, using the locomotive bell as a warning.

In the 1923 Grouping of railway companies, Cambrian Railways, including the Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion line, was absorbed by the Great Western Railway (GWR). On 9 February 1931 the line lost its passenger service, which was replaced by a bus service, and it became a freight-only line. It was temporarily re-opened to passengers between 6 and 11 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.

A group of volunteers and enthusiasts took the line over and started raising money to restore it. On 6 April 1963 the first section of the line was re-opened as a tourist railway. The line through Welshpool however could not be reopened, so the line has a new terminus at Raven Square on the outskirts of the town, originally opened on 18 July 1981. Because of the gauge, unusual for the British Isles[citation needed], locomotives and rolling stock to supplement the originals have had to be obtained from a cosmopolitan variety of sources 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, and provision of new workshop facilities, ready for the line's centenary.

[edit] Locomotives

Locomotives of the preserved railway

WLLR No. Name Builder Year Wheels Type Status Notes
1 The Earl Beyer Peacock 1903 0-6-0T Steam In service Original W&LLR locomotive
2 The Countess Beyer Peacock 1903 0-6-0T Steam In service Original W&LLR locomotive
3 Raven * Ruston & Hornsby 1934 4wDM Diesel N/A Sold
4 Upnor Castle * F. C. Hibberd 1954 4wDM Diesel N/A Sold to Ffestiniog Railway
5 Nutty Sentinel 1929 4wVBT Steam N/A Owned by & returned to care of Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
6 Monarch W. G. Bagnall 1953 0-4-4-0T Steam Static Exhibit Sold to Ffestiniog Railway but recently re-purchased by W&LLR and being cosmetically restored for display at Welshpool.
7 Chattenden * Drewry Car Co. 1947 0-6-0DM Diesel In service
8 Dougal * Andrew Barclay 1946 0-4-0T Steam In service Originally operated at Provan Gasworks, Glasgow
9 Wynnstay * J. Fowler 1951 0-6-0DM Diesel N/A Sold
10 Sir Drefaldwyn * Franco-Belge 1944 0-8-0T Steam Awaiting overhaul Originally operated by German Army & in Austria
11 Ferret * Hunslet Engine Company 1940 0-4-0DM Diesel In service
12 Joan Kerr Stuart 1929 0-6-2T Steam Under overhaul Originally operated in Antigua
14 - Hunslet Engine Company 1954 2-6-2T Steam In service Originally operated by Sierra Leone Government Railway
(15) Orion * Tubize 1948 2-6-2T Steam N/A Returned to Jokioinen Museum Railway in Finland
16 Scooby * Hunslet Engine Company 1941 0-4-0DM Diesel In service Rebuilt by W&LLR
17 Diema * Diema 1979 6wDH Diesel In service Originally operated in Taiwan
18 764.423 Resita 1957 0-8-0T Steam Awaiting restoration Originally operated in Romania
19 764.425 Resita 1957 0-8-0T Steam In service Originally operated in Romania

* = Name added by WLLR

[edit] Coordinates

Coordinates: 52°38′43″N 3°15′01″W / 52.645342, -3.250237

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Cartwright, Ralph I. (2002). The Welshpool and Llanfair. RailRomances.  ISBN 1-900622-06-8

[edit] External links

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