Cambrian Railways Trust


	”ISABEL” Arrives on site


	15th. Dec. 2007

Arriving a couple of days previously, Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0 saddle tank, No.3437 of 1919 sits in Llynclys South Station, while the boiler builds up pressure, on a dismal Saturday morning, 15th December 2007.

Once up to pressure “Isabel” was tested with a few runs up and down the line. Here we see two pictures of her sitting at Pen-y-Garreg Lane waiting to return to Llynclys South.

Below we see the previous owner of “Isabel”, Nigel Smart (r), shaking hands with Trust chairman, Ken Ryder, on the footplate following a successful handover of the engine.

With light fading in the late afternoon, “Isabel” returns to Llynclys South at the end of a successful (and enjoyable) day. This now means we will be able to offer steam rides along the line from next Easter. See here for next years timetable.


	See here for a clip of “Isabel” on a return journey along the line in the mounting gloom !




			xxxxXXXXxxxx

	Steam Locomotive acquired for Trust

Following negotiations with the current owner, Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0T “Isabel” (no. 3437 of 1919) has been acquired by the Trust and is due to arrive onsite at Llynclys this week. This will enable us to operate more steam days on next years service trains.

In the accompanying picture you can see “Isabel” operating in September 1974 in the abortive preservation attempt on the former Somerset & Dorset line at Radstock.

“Isabel” has recently been overhauled and is in full working order.

More photos when the loco arrives onsite.


	© G.A.Cryer www.geoffspages.co.uk

				xxxxXXXXxxxx

	First movement of W51187


	3rd. Nov. 2007

Following over a year of rebuilding the engines and refurbishing many other seized and missing (!) parts, Richard Boughton, and the team in his department, finally managed to get W51187 to move under its own power, for the first time since at least 2000. A few successful return journeys were made to Pen-Y-Garreg Lane during the day. Although there are still many small jobs still to do, it is hoped to swap this unit with W51205, enabling that one to be overhauled. This will finally reconnect the units together in the order they were originally paired.


	xxxxXXXXxxxx


	Work Started on Stream Diversion


	30th. Oct. 2007

To enable us to fully utilise the land available for our new Carriage shed, we have had official permission by the authorities (and the landowner !), to move the stream running alongside our site at Llynclys South. This will enable us to have double track leading up from Haystack Siding for longer than originally planned. Here we see the new ditch running towards Llynclys South station, Haystack Siding can be seen in the trees to the right.


	Looking back towards Ty-Coch Farm you can see the new ditch curving towards the current stream, which runs along the line of trees seen in both these pictures. The main line can be seen in the background. As well as providing us with more space, it is hoped to improve the drainage for the farmer, in an area that is usually very boggy.


	xxxxXXXXxxxx


	Return to Steam on the Cambrian - Report


	15th. Sep. 2007

Over two weekends during August/September, Friday 24th. August to Monday 27th. August inclusive, and Friday 31st August to Sunday 2nd. September inclusive we ran the first steam trains to run on this bit of the Cambrian network since 1965.

Over the two weekends we ran steam trains and diesel-hauled brake van rides over the line, attracting around a 1000 passengers in the process.


	Driver, Martin Boland, brings the train to a standstill at Pen-Y-Garreg Lane during the recent Steam Galas.


© Alun Evans

		D2094 awaits the return of the steam shuttle, before getting the right-away to propel the restored Toad Brake Van along the line.




	Peckett 1738 of 1928, returns back to Llynclys South Station, following a successful return journey to Pen-Y-Garreg lane.



			© Alun Evans


	As well as our standard gauge stock providing services during the event, the Oswestry Model Engineering Society provided miniature steam rides along the length of Llynclys Stations platform. Although unable to be present on every day of the gala weekends, the Model Engineers provided a successful and popular attraction to enthusiasts both old and young.



		© Alun Evans


	During the events, our closer ties with our friends from the Cambrian Railways Society was shown with the provision of a vintage bus service to Oswestry Railway Station, which allowed visitors to visit the Society’s excellent Cambrian Railways Museum, as well as see our future target !

Here we see Glyn and Ann Evans (parents of the photographer) manning a stall providing information about the Society, and raising funds for their part of the Cambrian Heritage Railways Project.

This may look like we were running the normal DMU service, but in fact we ran one car from our operational set, attached to the Peckett. With the absence of run-round facilities at Pen-Y-Garreg Lane, we were able to get permission from HMRI to provide braking facilities from the cab of the unit when traveling towards Pant, and from the Peckett on the return journey.

A London Transport Routemaster bus awaits passengers before setting off for Oswestry town center. The site of this bus certainly caused a few heads to turn on its arrival !

Another local preservation group that provided a stall over the events, was the Duchess Countess Trust, which is in the process of creating a replica of a canal packet boat of this name. Based at nearby Llanymynech, here we see John Martin manning their stall.

Finally I can’t finish without thanking all the volunteers who helped with the administration of the whole event. Here we see Helen at the gate taking the entrance fee from all our visitors, although I hasten to add that she wasn’t here for all 7 days !!


	This was our first attempt at an event this large, and despite a few hiccoughs it all went extremely well, plans are now afoot to even better it all next year. As they say, watch this space !

xxxxXXXXxxxx