European Railroad Discussion > More from the Vale of Rheidol

Bizarrely the hottest place in the UK on Tuesday was Aberystwyth in West Wales, the temperature peaking at 30C / 86F. Aberystwyth is also the home of the 2' gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway which was running a four train, two loco service yesterday. The locos in service were nos.7 and 8 two of the three 2-6-2T built for the railway by the Great Western at Swindon in 1923.

1: no.7 approaching Nantyronen
2: At Aberffrwd, one of two passing points on the railway.
3: no.7 at Devil's Bridge, journey's end.

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4: no.7 on the 12:10 from Aberystwyth approaching Capel Bangor.
5: Pulling in to Devil's Bridge
6: You really can see your reflection



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/21 03:03 by 86235.

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7: no.8 again, this time on the 14:00 from Aber, taken from the hillside above the Rheidol Valley, the railway climbs at 2%.
8: A shot video clip of no.7 in the headshunt.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/21 03:04 by 86235.

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Very nice, what amazing weather we'e having right now...  I assume you're probably rounding up but isn't the gauge 1' 11 3/4"? Wonder why that was quite a common gauge for narrow gauge, rather than exactly 2"...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/21 13:48 by exhaustED.

86235 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bizarrely the hottest place in the UK on Tuesday
> was Aberystwyth in West Wales, the temperature
> peaking at 30C / 86F. Aberystwyth is also the home
> of the 2' gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway which was
> running a four train, two loco service yesterday.
> The locos in service were nos.7 and 8 two of the
> three 2-6-2T built for the railway by the Great
> Western at Swindon in 1923.
>
> 1: no.7 approaching Nantyronen
> 2: At Aberffrwd, one of two passing points on the
> railway.
> 3: no.7 at Devil's Bridge, journey's end.

They look much nicer in traditional colours than in BR Blue with the 'arrows' on the sides I must say!

Posted from Android

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Very nice, what amazing weather we'e having right
> now...  I assume you're probably rounding up but
> isn't the gauge 1' 11 3/4"? Wonder why that was
> quite a common gauge for narrow gauge, rather than
> exactly 2"...

Yes, 1' 11 3/4". Originally though it was 1' 11 1/2!

The Brecon Mountain Railway is also 1' 11 3/4"

The Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog are 1' 11 1/2" however.

To further complicated things the Bala Lake is 1' 11 5/8" ;)

To be fair, they (and railways that are actually dead on 2ft exactly) are all commonly referred to collectively as two-foot railways and there is some compatibility with the smaller differences in gauge between the 1' 11 1/2 and 3/4" for example.

Posted from Android

Thanks for the clarification.

Hexagon789 Wrote:
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> They look much nicer in traditional colours than
> in BR Blue with the 'arrows' on the sides I must
> say!
>
> Posted from Android

They do, don't they. The railway's owner, the Phyllis Rampton Narrow Gauge Railway Trust (PRNGRT) has worked very hard on the railway's image, rebuilding the wayside halts, reinstating the passing loops at Capel Bangor and Aberffrwd, building a brand new station, in traditional style, and loco works at Aberystwyth and rebuilding the rolling stock. The Great Western pre-WW2 atmosphere is beautifully captured.

Another point, unlike most other heritage railways the VoRR is not run or supported by a society of volunteers. All the staff are salaried, employed by the PRNGRT.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/21 23:54 by 86235.

86235 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hexagon789 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They look much nicer in traditional colours
> than
> > in BR Blue with the 'arrows' on the sides I
> must
> > say!
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> They do, don't they. The railway's owner, the
> Phyllis Rampton Narrow Gauge Railway Trust
> (PRNGRT) has worked very hard on the railway's
> image, rebuilding the wayside halts, reinstating
> the passing loops at Capel Bangor and Aberffrwd,
> building a brand new station, in traditional
> style, and loco works at Aberystwyth and
> rebuilding the rolling stock. The Great Western
> pre-WW2 atmosphere is beautifully captured.
>
> Another point, unlike most other heritage railways
> the VoRR is not run or supported by a society of
> volunteers. All the staff are salaried, employed
> by the PRNGRT.

They do indeed, they've done an excellent job.

The salary thing is interesting, the only parallel I can think of are the heritage railways on the Isle of Man which are technically nationalised fully functioning passenger railways with fully salaried staff but they mostly operate only in the tourist season.

Beautiful photos and video clip, Nick -- thank you. A really lovely operation in some very scenic countryside.

MC

Hexagon789 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 86235 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hexagon789 Wrote:
> >
> ----------------------------------------
> The salary thing is interesting, the only parallel
> I can think of are the heritage railways on the
> Isle of Man which are technically nationalised
> fully functioning passenger railways with fully
> salaried staff but they mostly operate only in the
> tourist season.

The Brecon Mountain Railway is also a salaried railway. No idea what the employment contracts are like; zero hours, temporary etc