Llangollen Railway

Heritage Railway
name =
Llangollen Railway
"Rheilffordd Llangollen"



caption = Llangollen Station from across the River Dee
locale = flagicon|WAL Wales
terminus = stnlnk|Carrog
latitude = 52.970
longitude = 3.192
linename = Llangollen Railway
originalgauge = RailGauge|sg
preservedgauge = RailGauge|sg
era =
owned =
operator = Llangollen Railway Trust
stations = 4 and 1 halt
length = convert|7.50|mi|km
stageyears = 1975
com-years=1862
com-events=Opened
com-years1=1877
com-events1=Absorbed by Great Western Railway
com-years2=1964
com-events2=Closed
stage = Taken over by the preservation society
years = 1996
events = Opening of extension to Carrog
years1 = 2006
events1 = Work starts on extension to CorwenThe Llangollen Railway ("Rheilffordd Llangollen") is a volunteer-run preserved railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which runs from Llangollen to Carrog.

Work is being carried out on an extension to Corwen, with the trackbed cleared to Bonwm halt, a halfway point between Carrog and Corwen. The extension will not require any extensive civil engineering work, although a new station building will be required.citation|last=Green|first=Les|year=2006|title=A Visitor's Guide to the Llangollen Railway and the Dee Valley|publisher=Steam at Llangollen]

History

Commercial Service: 1865—1962

The railway was originally opened as the Ruabon to Llangollen line (see also Ruabon to Barmouth Line) in 1862, as a way for passengers to travel to "Llangollen Road" (then the nearest train station, later known as Whitehurst Halt) and then board a coach to Llangollen. Citation|url=http://llanrailarchive.llangollen-railway.co.uk/historyoftheline.html|title=History of the Line|accessdate=2008-08-27] The line was a success and plans were put forward for a line from Llangollen to Corwen, a market town ten miles past Llangollen. Work started shortly after the opening of the Ruabon to Llangollen line and the line accepted it's first traffic on the 18th May, 1865.

Reopening: 1972—1975

After the Beeching Axe, the Flint and Deeside Railway Preservation Society was founded in 1972 with the aim of preserving one of the "axed" railways. Originally the society was interested in preserving the Dyserth to Prestatyn line; however, the line was deemed unsuitable because a small amount of freight traffic was still using it. [Citation|url=http://www.dyserth.com/html/dyserth-prestatyn_railway.html|title=Dyserth—Prestatyn Railway|accessdate=2008-08-27] The society refocused its attention on the Llangollen to Corwen section of the Ruabon to Barmouth line. The local council granted a lease of the Llangollen railway station building, as well as 3 miles of track to the society, with the hope that the railway would improve the local economy and bring more tourists to Llangollen. The station reopened on the 13th September 1975, with just 60 feet of track.

Rebuilding: 1975—1998

Early progress was slow due to a lack of funding, though in 1977 Shell Oil donated a mile of unused track. Volunteers started laying the track with the target of Pentrefelyn, convert|0.75|mi|km from Llangollen. The work finished in July 1981 with the remaining quarter mile of track used to lay sidings at the old Llangollen Goods Junction to form a home for the growing rolling stock fleet of the railway. The working railway attracted the trust of many private companies, as well as the local council who renewed the lease of the land to the railway for a further 21 years. The Llangollen Railway Trust was gifted significant amounts of track allowing for the next extension of the line to Berwyn, which involved a £30,000 refurbishment of the Dee Bridge by the local council, which had fell into during the period following the commercial closure of the line. The first trains started running the now 1.75 mile (2.82 km) line to Berwyn in March 1986.

Locomotives and rolling stock

7822 Foxcote Manor

The Great Western Railway steam locomotive no. "7822 Foxcote Manor" is a 4-6-0 Manor Class locomotive, built in 1950 at Swindon Works. It was part of a post-war batch of 10 locomotives, which followed on from 20 earlier locomotives built in 1938.

The locomotive was originally allocated to Oswestry depot, where is was used to haul both passenger and freight services over lines such as the Cambrian Line and the now-closed Ruabon Barmouth Line. It regular hauled the "Cambrian Coast Express" from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. It was also allocated to Chester shed during its lifespan.

It was withdrawn in 1965 from Shrewsbury and was towed to Woodhams' Scrapyard in Barry, South Wales. It languished there until 1974 when it was rescued for preservation. It was initially taken to Oswestry for restoration work, but was moved to Llangollen once the work was finished.

6880 Betton Grange

The Great Western Railway steam locomotive no. "6880 Betton Grange" is a 4-6-0 Grange Class locomotive, known as "the 81st Grange", currently being built. When British Rail stopped using steam locomotives in 1968 none of the Grange Class locomotives were preserved so the 6880 society was formed in 1998 with the purpose of eventually creating a Grange Class steam locomotive. [Citation|url=http://www.6880.co.uk/|title=6880|accessdate=2008-08-27] Work is still ongoing on the locomotive but progress has been made on some major parts such as the driver's cab, with some smaller parts being made to order. Other parts have been taken from other similar steam locomotives to be used with the project.

ee Also

* Bala Lake Railway
* Ruabon to Barmouth Line
* Heritage railway

References

External links

* [http://www.llangollen-railway.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.llangollen-diesels.co.uk/ Llangollen Diesel Group]
* [http://www.thesectionalappendix.co.uk/WRSHD10.html British Railways in 1960 - the Llangollen Railway]
* [http://6880.co.uk 6880 project]