papagolfjuliet

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 the LR has usually had no more than three suitable machines, and much of the time one of those engines has been out on hire. So, if you take on a contract job which requires, say, twenty hours' work a week with the usual penalty clauses, and one of your home based working engines suddenly requires twenty hours' work, you've got two choices: do the work you're being paid to do and substitute a diesel or cancel some services, leading either way to reduced income and nasty reviews on Tripadvisor, or prioritise the work on your own engine and hope that you can catch up the contract job later. Now imagine that you're in that position and you don't have one contract loco overhaul/build on but eight, and a few coaches too, and they're all having to be sidelined on a regular basis. It is notable that other lines which perform regular contract jobs, such as the Severn Valley and East Somerset and Ffestiniog, either have very large operating loco and carriage fleets or only need very small ones. The Llangollen appears to have tried to become a major player in the contract engineering field without first doing the necessary groundwork or, put another way, to have tried to run before it could walk.

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 size to cover your own services? The whole PLC business model appears to have been flawed for years now, to the detriment of the Llangollen Railway and of the movement as a whole.

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 large sums of money by an organisation with very few assets, or with an unfinished vehicle which the contract repair industry has no spare capacity to complete. On that note I gather that 3814, whose owner has suffered years of disappointments, left Llangollen this week.

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

Were all Chance 4-2-4s named 'C.P. Huntington' or, or only the Butlin's ones?

Follow up: a breakdown of all motive power used on Butlin's camp railways and their present whereabouts. http://www.butlins-memories.com/other/miniaturerailways/index.htm

The last time I saw the Filey Butlin's railway from the road, which must have been after it was taken over by the bizarre Trevor Guy and renamed Amtree Park, it was being operated by a Ruston NG diesel. Prior to that ISTR a US steam outline IC tender engine.

Despite looking like a conflat with container, this is Wissington Light Railway 4wPMR 'Mary.' She just cries out to be modelled.

The Welshpool and Llanfair acquired an Austrian transporter wagon in 2008, and a GWR five plank wagon to sit on it in 2016. https://www.wllr.org.uk/news-archive-2002-2008#Rollwagen https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/about-us/press-office/national-railway-museum-transfers-ownership-gwr-wagon-welshpool-llanfair

Yes, you're quite right. It's a Brazil. And it was indeed a standard NG one; probably a result of Kerr Stuart's practice of part-building engines to have in stock for short notice orders and then modifying them to the buyer's specifications. Another photo here: https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/RALWAYS-EXCLUDED-FROM-THE-1923-GROUPING/LONDON-TRANSPORT-CONSTITUENT-COMPANIES/i-xfmN5HM/

And a few standard gauge ones too: https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/1998-60478

The Camber Railway on East Falkland, which ran from the harbour at Port Stanley to the Admiralty wireless station. It was operated by a pair of Kerr Stuart Wrens which still survive in an ISO container near Stanley. http://www.railwaysofthefarsouth.co.uk/11acamberrailway.html

Pickering springs to mind. I'm fairly sure that Castell Dolbadarn can be seen from Llanberis station on the Snowdon Mountain and from Llanberis and Gilfach Ddu stations on the Llanberis Lake. The now-defunct Dudley Zoo miniature railway ran through the castle grounds which are the zoo's home. Denbigh Castle would have been clearly visible from the town's station, which is now the site of an Aldi. The mound which is all that remains of Huntingdon Castle is close to, but not I think visible from, the station. Scarborough Castle can be seen from Scalby Mills station on the North Bay Railway but not from the main line station nor from the site of Londesborough Road station.

This was the kind of effect I was aiming for: https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/RALWAYS-EXCLUDED-FROM-THE-1923-GROUPING/RAILWAYS-EXCLUDED-FROM-THE-1923-GROUPING/i-mZ4qhGf/A https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/COLONEL-STEPHENS-RAILWAY-EMPIRE/THE-SHROPSHIRE-MONTGOMERYSHIRE-RAILWAY/i-2ZHf38D

The transformation of Pickering station over the past twenty years or so has been a sight to see. In my childhood it was a fairly ramshackle spot, with horrible plywood booths in front of all the doors, vacuum cylinders and Brute trollies stored on the platforms, and an unappealling assortment of modern signage and recycled street lamps. Nowadays it's delightful.

I have a very soft spot for Newtondale Halt too. Flagging down an A4 or 9F in the middle of nowhere is an experience which takes some beating.

I think it also appears upthread here somewhere.

Staying on IC, can I interest you in the home made locomotives of the Kojonup Tourist Railway in Western Australia? A Perth Zoo road train and a Mini Moke, both mounted on rail wheels.

Reminiscent perhaps of the Kitson well tanks of the Corringham Light Railway and the Liverpool Overhead?

Oh yes, Weybourne is lovely. Has probably the fanciest toilets in preservation too, with genuine Thomas Crapper WCs which I believe cost a grand and a half a pop.

Turns out that I actually own one, and that it is a Charbens Spyker. https://www.vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk/3index/charben.htm

Just curious. My suggestions are: Grosmont (NYMR) Very crowded in peak season, but catch it on an off peak running day especially in cold weather and it is lovely. With the village Co-op by the crossing, and a main line platform, it still feels like a proper old fashioned railway junction at the heart of a community. Decent bacon butties too. Kemsley Down (S&KLR) Tight curves, higgledy piggledy buildings crowded together, cut down standard gauge signals, lots of sidings packed with stock. It's like being inside a 1970s OO9 rabbit warren layout. Charming. Horsted Keynes The perfect Edwardian main line station in the middle of nowhere. Atmospherically it is second to none, and besides which there's the carriage shop. Andrew's House (Tanfield) and Wittersham Road (KESR) At almost the opposite ends of England, these two are the epitomes of the light railway station. Porthmadog Harbour (Ff&WHR) Very much tourist-oriented but none the worse for that. The views from the Cob in both directions are among the best in Britain, Spooner's is excellent, and on a busy day with trains arriving from both ends there is always something to see. Your thoughts?

This week's evening project: 'Bramblewick,' an Edwardian light railway 0-6-0. Tri-ang 3F body with the cab filed down, Hornby Jinty chassis trimmed to fit, GBL C class tender body, Mainline Scot tender chassis, Narrow Planet nameplates, Precision NER brake van red oxide paint, HMRS LNER coach transfers. BCR stands not for Bishops Castle Railway but for an imagined line connected with another Shropshire castle, namely PG Wodehouse's Blandings. 'Bramblewick' is the name given to Robin Hood's Bay in the novels of Leo Walmsley. The coach is a butchered Hornby 4 wheeler mounted on a Lima HO BR brake van chassis to give a suitably low ride height, and is awaiting oil pots and final fitting of the roof.