Bethesda Sidings - Western Region in rural Mid-Wales

[Captain Kernow]

 

On 25/06/2023 at 10:10, Captain Kernow said:

Courtesy of Rob, the Vale of Radnor Light Railway has acquired several new items of motive power, which will be shown in their new habitat on Bethesda Sidings in the near future. 

 

At some point in the early 1950s, the well-known Welsh engineering firm of Taffson, Evans & Jenkins decided to close their rail-connected factory in the suburbs of Cardiff and concentrate their production in their two remaining facilities in the Rhondda Valley and South Gloucestershire.

 

Taffsons removed all engineering equipment and all other plant and materials before they vacated the premises and the factory buildings in the Rumney area lay empty for a number of years and although the Private Siding Agreement with British Railways was legally terminated, the physical rail connection was never actually removed.

 

Eventually in the late 1950s, a new owner bought the now semi-derelict buildings, with a view to redevelopment for residential and light industrial use.

 

The demolition contractors moved in and began to steadily level the site. Imagine the foreman's surprise, therefore, to be told after only being on site for a few days that the previous owners hadn't removed all the contents.

 

Hidden under a series of tarpaulins at the back of the former Assembly Shop were three old steam locos, all representing types previously thought lost, together with some heavy machine tools.

 

Even then, the future of the locos wasn't secure, because the foreman in his wisdom called his brother-in-law, who was a scrap contractor and offered them to him in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money. The scrappies turned up a week later with cutting gear and a large lorry. They made short work of the rusting machine tools but ran out of acetylene before they could start on the locomotives.

 

At this stage, Jonathan Greenhouse, an industrial archaeology student from the University of Aberystwyth visited the site to research his thesis on the history of manufacturing in Glamorgan. Mr Greenhouse had a hunch that these locos might be worth something and hurried away to find a public call box, to call his brother, the well-known and wealthy railway enthusiast P.B. Greenhouse.

 

Mr Greenhouse immediately realised the significance of the find from the descriptions provided by his brother and managed to find the telephone number of the Barry HQ of the scrap contractors.

 

The rest is, as they say, history. P.B. Greenhouse managed to purchase all three locos for little more than their scrap value and used his contacts within British Railways, Western Region to arrange for one of the Canton shed pilots and a brake van to be loaned one afternoon. Under the watchful gaze of the local PW inspector and the Divisional Operations Superintendent, the siding connection into the works was temporarily brought back into use and a Canton 57XX gingerly edged into the old Assembly Shop to collect the locos.

 

Hauled back into daylight for the first time in many years, the significance of the 'find' became abundantly clear to P.B. Greenhouse. Here was a former GW '517' 0-4-2T and two absorbed types of 2-4-0T, 'Lady Margaret' (formerly of the Liskeard & Looe Railway and ex-Cambrian tank loco No. 1197.

 

Mr Greenhouse had arranged for all three locos to be tripped to Caerphilly Works for overhaul, funded by himself and other private donors.

 

A few months later, a decision had been taken in conjunction with the directors of the Association of Independent Light Railways for the locos to be taken to Llanddewi on the Vale of Radnor Light Railway, where they would be kept and possibly used on service trains on that and also loaned out to other member railways.

 

The locos all travelled separately to Radnorshire, as they were not all overhauled at the same time.

 

The first to be moved was 'Lady Margaret', which was tripped to Ebbw Junction yard and then on a series of freights to Leominster, where she was marshalled in the daily goods working to Kington and Capel Bethesda. Here she is seen arriving in Bethesda yard behind regular branch loco 1458:

 

 

Note the resident VoRLR loco (ex-LNER J72 'Jennifer') waiting in the sidings to haul 'Lady Margaret' onto the Light Railway.

 

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

The next loco to arrive a few weeks later was the 517 0-4-2T and railway photographer R.C. Wolsley was on hand to record it's arrival in Bethesda yard.

 

Unusually, the route from Caerphilly was via Swansea, the Central Wales line and Gunstone West Junction, due to engineering works south of Hereford. This involved the train traversing part of the closed section of the Rhyadar section between Gunstone West Junction and Capel Bethesda, retained for occasional military trains from West Wales to the Army depot at Llanddewi and which required the presence of a pilotman to accompany every movement.

 

Here one of Swansea Paxton Street's 2-6-4Ts arrives with the train:

 

 

Mr Wolsley stayed long enough to catch this view of the light railways 'Planet' diesel making ready to depart up the valley with the 517 in tow:

 

[Captain Kernow]

Finally a couple of months later, 1197 arrived as part of the consist of the local goods from Leominster, this time pannier 7418 was in charge:

 

 

Once again, 'Jennifer' hauled the ensemble onto the light railway:

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

I'm very grateful to Rob for the opportunity to acquire these lovely locos.

 

 

 

 

[NHY 581]

27 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

I'm very grateful to Rob for the opportunity to acquire these lovely locos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pleasure, Tim and they already look very at home in their new surroundings..A 1930s period Bethesda in the future perhaps ? 

 

Rob. 

[BroadLeaves]

1 hour ago, Captain Kernow said:

I'm very grateful to Rob for the opportunity to acquire these lovely locos.

 

 

 

 

All three of these are splendid. However, I don't recognise any of them. Could I ask what each of them is? They have a class 517-ish look about them. Also, are they RTR or kits?

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

R.C. Wolsley

Must be a kinsman of W. C. Wolseley, who has been known to work in Mid-Cornwall from time to time.

[Re6/6]

11 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

...................A 1930s period Bethesda in the future perhaps ? 

 

 

The matter has already been suggested....!😏😯

[NHY 581]

9 minutes ago, Re6/6 said:

 

The matter has already been suggested....!😏😯

 

Morning John,

 

Keep working on it...........

 

Rob. 

[Captain Kernow]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Must be a kinsman of W. C. Wolseley, who has been known to work in Mid-Cornwall from time to time.

Ah yes, that's the fellow - a very good photographer but with a waspish sense of humour.

 

[Captain Kernow]

11 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

All three of these are splendid. However, I don't recognise any of them. Could I ask what each of them is? They have a class 517-ish look about them. Also, are they RTR or kits?

One of them is indeed a '517' class.

 

The 'Lady Margaret' was build by Andrew Barclay in 1902 for the Liskeard and Looe Railway, once of a class of three, but went into GWR stock when that company absorbed the L&LR in 1909. It ended it's main line service in May 1948, based at Oswestry shed, having worked on the Tanat Valley line for a while. It was clearly not scrapped as the history books tell us, but somehow found it's way to Cardiff, to be discovered 10 years later...

 

1197 was also one of a class of three 2-4-0Ts, built for the Cambrian Railways and also absorbed into GWR stock at the grouping. It also worked on the Tanat Valley line until withdrawal from BR stock in 1948.

 

All three locos are kit-built, but apart from 1197 (which is a Gem kit and still available), I am not sure of the exact provenance. Further examination once I take the bodies off may reveal more in due course. All were professionally built, however, for a collector who, I understand, never actually ran them. I suppose they were kept either in a glass case or in their boxes, but they are all in lovely condition. Rob was fortunate enough to acquire them, when the collection was disposed of and I am very grateful to Rob for the opportunity to acquire them in turn myself.

 

[Rugd1022]

How did I miss this...? What a beautiful little layout Tim!

[Captain Kernow]

13 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

A 1930s period Bethesda in the future perhaps?

 

1 hour ago, Re6/6 said:

The matter has already been suggested....!😏😯

Well, that is under consideration, of course, but I would then have to acquire some Grouping-era rolling stock...

 

The other likely scenario is that they will be used on the 1950s/1960s era Light Railway 'as is'. The Cambrian 1197 could certainly be used without any further excuse, as it has 'aged light railway loco' oozing from it's pores.

 

The two in Great Western livery could well be said to be preserved by a small but enthusiastic group, based in the Army depot at Llanddewi and could make occasional forays down the Light Railway to Bethesda on special workings or even ordinary service trains.

 

What happened to the three of them, once the line closed in 1965, is another mystery. We know that 571 and 1197 ended up at the fledgling Herefordshire Railway Society site at Lower Vowchurch in the early 1980s. When that scheme eventually folded a few years later, both locos went their separate ways into private ownership. 1197 was rumoured to be going to the Cambrian Heritage Railway at Llynclys about twenty years ago, but the move never happened and it's current whereabouts (2023) are not known.

 

The 517's fate is equally mysterious. A report of a loco very similar to this, in a woebegone and derelict condition, locked in a barn on a remote farm in West Wales, was discounted some years ago, when the person making the report was arrested on suspicion of farming his own 'magic mushrooms' in a disused railway tunnel in Lancashire.

 

'Lady Margaret' did return to Cornwall for a while, as P.B. Greenhouse sold her in the 1970s to a group endeavouring to rebuild the Liskeard & Caradon Railway. This came to naught when a series of jumble sales in Cheesewring Village Hall failed to raise enough to pay for six month's rent on a local farm building near the old formation. The loco then spent a few years on display in a specially-constructed metal barn at the nearby Llanhydrock House, before the National Trust required the land for a new 18th Century Fabric Interpretation Centre and the locomotive was moved again, having acquired yet another new private owner.

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Captain Kernow

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Captain Kernow said:

Ah yes, that's the fellow - a very good photographer but with a waspish sense of humour.

 

Indeed. He does have a tendency to get bogged down in his work, though.

[woodenhead]

15 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

 

 

At some point in the early 1950s, the well-known Welsh engineering firm of Taffson, Evans & Jenkins decided to close their rail-connected factory in the suburbs of Cardiff and concentrate their production in their two remaining facilities in the Rhondda Valley and South Gloucestershire.

 

Taffsons removed all engineering equipment and all other plant and materials before they vacated the premises and the factory buildings in the Rumney area lay empty for a number of years and although the Private Siding Agreement with British Railways was legally terminated, the physical rail connection was never actually removed.

 

Eventually in the late 1950s, a new owner bought the now semi-derelict buildings, with a view to redevelopment for residential and light industrial use.

 

The demolition contractors moved in and began to steadily level the site. Imagine the foreman's surprise, therefore, to be told after only being on site for a few days that the previous owners hadn't removed all the contents.

 

Hidden under a series of tarpaulins at the back of the former Assembly Shop were three old steam locos, all representing types previously thought lost, together with some heavy machine tools.

 

Even then, the future of the locos wasn't secure, because the foreman in his wisdom called his brother-in-law, who was a scrap contractor and offered them to him in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money. The scrappies turned up a week later with cutting gear and a large lorry. They made short work of the rusting machine tools but ran out of acetylene before they could start on the locomotives.

 

At this stage, Jonathan Greenhouse, an industrial archaeology student from the University of Aberystwyth visited the site to research his thesis on the history of manufacturing in Glamorgan. Mr Greenhouse had a hunch that these locos might be worth something and hurried away to find a public call box, to call his brother, the well-known and wealthy railway enthusiast P.B. Greenhouse.

 

Mr Greenhouse immediately realised the significance of the find from the descriptions provided by his brother and managed to find the telephone number of the Barry HQ of the scrap contractors.

 

The rest is, as they say, history. P.B. Greenhouse managed to purchase all three locos for little more than their scrap value and used his contacts within British Railways, Western Region to arrange for one of the Canton shed pilots and a brake van to be loaned one afternoon. Under the watchful gaze of the local PW inspector and the Divisional Operations Superintendent, the siding connection into the works was temporarily brought back into use and a Canton 57XX gingerly edged into the old Assembly Shop to collect the locos.

 

Hauled back into daylight for the first time in many years, the significance of the 'find' became abundantly clear to P.B. Greenhouse. Here was a former GW '517' 0-4-2T and two absorbed types of 2-4-0T, 'Lady Margaret' (formerly of the Liskeard & Looe Railway and ex-Cambrian tank loco No. 1197.

 

Mr Greenhouse had arranged for all three locos to be tripped to Caerphilly Works for overhaul, funded by himself and other private donors.

 

A few months later, a decision had been taken in conjunction with the directors of the Association of Independent Light Railways for the locos to be taken to Llanddewi on the Vale of Radnor Light Railway, where they would be kept and possibly used on service trains on that and also loaned out to other member railways.

 

The locos all travelled separately to Radnorshire, as they were not all overhauled at the same time.

 

The first to be moved was 'Lady Margaret', which was tripped to Ebbw Junction yard and then on a series of freights to Leominster, where she was marshalled in the daily goods working to Kington and Capel Bethesda. Here she is seen arriving in Bethesda yard behind regular branch loco 1458:

 

 

1 hour ago, Captain Kernow said:

 

Well, that is under consideration, of course, but I would then have to acquire some Grouping-era rolling stock...

 

The other likely scenario is that they will be used on the 1950s/1960s era Light Railway 'as is'. The Cambrian 1197 could certainly be used without any further excuse, as it has 'aged light railway loco' oozing from it's pores.

 

The two in Great Western livery could well be said to be preserved by a small but enthusiastic group, based in the Army depot at Llanddewi and could make occasional forays down the Light Railway to Bethesda on special workings or even ordinary service trains.

 

What happened to the three of them, once the line closed in 1965, is another mystery. We know that 571 and 1197 ended up at the fledgling Herefordshire Railway Society site at Lower Vowchurch in the early 1980s. When that scheme eventually folded a few years later, both locos went their separate ways into private ownership. 1197 was rumoured to be going to the Cambrian Heritage Railway at Llynclys about twenty years ago, but the move never happened and it's current whereabouts (2023) are not known.

 

The 517's fate is equally mysterious. A report of a loco very similar to this, in a woebegone and derelict condition, locked in a barn on a remote farm in West Wales, was discounted some years ago, when the person making the report was arrested on suspicion of farming his own 'magic mushrooms' in a disused railway tunnel in Lancashire.

 

'Lady Margaret' did return to Cornwall for a while, as P.B. Greenhouse sold her in the 1970s to a group endeavouring to rebuild the Liskeard & Caradon Railway. This came to naught when a series of jumble sales in Cheesewring Village Hall failed to raise enough to pay for six month's rent on a local farm building near the old formation. The loco then spent a few years on display in a specially-constructed metal barn at the nearby Llanhydrock House, before the National Trust required the land for a new 18th Century Fabric Interpretation Centre and the locomotive was moved again, having acquired yet another new private owner.

 

So you've not given this much thought then 😁

 

They are lovely little engines, prettier I dare say than a pannier which looks quite brutish in comparision.

[Captain Kernow]

The other recent arrival in Radnorshire was an Army 0-6-0 Ruston diesel shunter.

 

Due to mechanical problems with the resident loco, the MoD sent one of their Rustons from Marchwood to Llanddewi. Here we see the loco, hauled throughout by a BRCW Type 3, arriving in Bethesda yard, prior to being collected by one of the ancient light railway steam locos for the journey up the valley:

 

 

The Type 3 was only supposed to have hauled the diesel shunter as far as Bristol, with a W.R. hydraulic taking over from there for the journey via Gloucester, Newport and Hereford, but the allocated loco failed on shed just before departure, so the Type 3 worked throughout, the Southern men being conducted by a series of footplate staff from the relevant W.R. depots.

 

The Ruston has now been shunted into a siding and the Type 3 is now waiting to depart back to the south:

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

 

[2ManySpams]

On 01/05/2023 at 19:05, Captain Kernow said:

The light railway has hired this example of brutish modern motive power for a few weeks in the early 1960s:

 

 

Guard this with your life CK, the Sheep seems to be collecting small, ugly and squished locos and garden sheds...

[2ManySpams]

54 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

 

 

I was asking about this loco and its absence all weekend at Railwells. 

[NHY 581]

On 01/05/2023 at 19:05, Captain Kernow said:

The light railway has hired this example of brutish modern motive power for a few weeks in the early 1960s:

 

 

22 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Guard this with your life CK, the Sheep seems to be collecting small, ugly and squished locos and garden sheds...

 

 

 

 

[PaulRhB]

7 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

 

 

 

he’s found his ninja fleece . .

[DLT]

Lovely stuff Mr. Captain.

Lady Margaret also spent some time on the Culm Valley before going to Oswestry.

Thanks,

Dave.

[Captain Kernow]

18 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

I was asking about this loco and its absence all weekend at Railwells. 

There is a simple reason why this loco was not at Wells, dear boy.

 

It's 'narrow gauge'...

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Captain Kernow

[Tim Dubya]

12 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

he’s found his ninja fleece . .

 

???

 

[PaulRhB]

51 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

???

 

Ah ring-fenced sheep