papagolfjuliet

Anything of Penrhyn origin is likely to stay put, but I'd expect Vesta and Haydock and Beckton No.1 and Hawarden and Kettering Furnaces No.3 to move elsewhere.

Catch it while you can. The National Trust is currently carrying out a 'review' of the railway museum, which will probably end with all the engines except 'Fire Queen' and 'Charles' moving elsewhere. Always assuming of course that they can get them out.

Found it! Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway No.6, later Furness Railway No. 102.

I've heard the pre-FfR revival Porthmadog described as 'A graveyard with streetlights.' It's a very well set up town, but without the three railways I doubt whether it would be the tourism hub it has become. I offer you the example of Denbigh, which is much handier for some major English conurbations and is one of the UK's finest mediaeval walled towns, but which has next to no tourist industry. Even on a nice day in midsummer the number of grockles in Denbigh can usually be counted on the fingers of one offensive gesture.

If memory serves it was owned and edited by Pat Hammond, at least initially.

She definitely isn't Bessie Jones. Her Welsh pronunciation is abysmal. Edited: It's an actress named Louie Emory: https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/The_Phantom_Light

And here's 'The Phantom Light' which opens with some fascinating footage of the Stephens era Ffestiniog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVfqTJZi4AU

Here it is. The Terrier appears fairly early on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QdoaxOHYLQ

I don't think anybody is writing it off. My understanding is that the railway is 'safe' and that services are expected to resume shortly. Nevertheless it is clear that it was the engineering business which sunk the PLC. The accounts for the past several years show two things: that the works made a loss which grew year on year, and that year on year it took on more staff and more jobs in a failed bid to dig itself out of the hole.

I'm not sure that the big galas were the problem. I think it's more a question of not having enough operational home based engines. I think I'm right in saying that on an ordinary peak period running day the LR needs two engines of power class 3 or above to operate its scheduled steam services. In order to do that and cover for boiler washouts, failures and so on, that really means that you need at least five working biggish engines. Fewer than that and you're essentially squeezing a damp rag; the fewer engines you have, the harder you work them and the more they fail. For the past few years t

It's not only 3814. The Patriot project and the SRPS have both been hit hard. Not only that but the Llangollen's home fleet appears to have suffered: I gather that when 4806 moved to the NYMR you would not have wanted to stand on the tender tank, and during the loco's current boiler overhaul Riley's have identified large build ups of mud and scale which are - quote - 'definitely pre-NYMR.' Why set yourself up as a centre of engineering excellence when your own engines have serious problems? Why operate a hire fleet of small industrial engines when you barely have enough locos of sufficient siz

The problem AIUI was not with the extension, although extensions are a regular cause of financial/maintenance/motive power crises on heritage lines, but with the engineering business. The Llangollen appears to have taken on too much work too quickly, and moreover underquoted for jobs. As a result, work was either done at a loss, or done badly, or not done at all, saddling the railway with major liabilities. Combine that overreach with the distraction and expense of an extension and you have a perfect storm. My major concern now is for loco and coach owners who have found themselves either owed

Not much. A few Mk.1s and I think some wagons. Denbighshire Council owns the land, and the lease and LRO and TWAO are held by the Trust. 7754, 'Austin No.1,' and 'Jennifer' are also Trust owned. Good Mk.1s are now hard to find and expensive so under normal circumstances any which did have to be sold would find a ready market. These are not normal circumstances, sadly.

Seconded. It's a delightful book, with those occasional touches of the macabre which so suit the British countryside.

Yes and no. Before the roof was reinstated, one of the towers was visible from the south end of the station and from Platform 2, but nowadays you have to stand on the footbridge to see it. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3584395