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12th October 2022

Llangollen Heritage Railcar Gala


Last weekend saw the Llangollen Railway Heritage Railcar Gala which was the first to have taken place since September 2019.

There were two stars of the show. One was the Cravens trailer car (56456) which spent the weekend at Llangollen Station platform 2 so that visitors could climb aboard, chat to members of the restoration team, and find out just what is involved in a major restoration project. They could also see for themselves the current state of play although the majority of the products of blood, sweat and tears are now largely hidden under the shiny new panels. Despite that, some visitors were surprised by the amount, and nature, of work that was involved. At least the small team of people that has been working on it for more than ten years is now confident that light has been spotted at the end of the tunnel!

The Cravens trailer also provided a useful retail outlet for the "Everything must go" closing down sale of our so-called Arkwright's store of books and railwayana.


Class 105 at Llangollen platform 2

When the vehicle was hauled back to the Pentrefelin Depot on Sunday evening it was noticed that the recently-installed speedometer works correctly so that was another tick in a box...


Class 105: The speedometer works!

The other star of the show was the blue class 104 that ventured out as a twin-power-car unit, for the first time since 25th August 2020, following recent bodywork repairs to its DMCL (Driving Motor Composite Lavatory) vehicle (50528). The 2-car unit had to make good use of its 600bhp on the Saturday because it was given a Great Western Railway (GWR) Observation Saloon to haul...


Class 104 and GWR Observation Coach

On arrival at Carrog each time the class 104 was able to do a conventional run-round to get to the other end of the coach...


Class 104 running round the GWR

...but at Llangollen it required the help of a friend in the shape of this class 08 shunter which carried out a more complicated shunt release...


Class 08 doing a shunt release with the observation coach at Llangollen

The following video shows the class 104 plus observation saloon making its way up the bank into Berwyn station...



Regrettably it was not possible to use the GWR Observation Saloon as a tail load on the Sunday because of the need for trains to pass at Llangollen Station instead of at Llangollen Goods Junction.


The DMU Galas provide a rare opportunity to use some of the many destinations that are available on the destination blinds apart from the standard Llangollen Railway ones - something that provides the passengers, photographers and train crew with a bit of variety and, in some cases, a chance to relive the past. The following pictures show units allegedly bound for a number of different destinations, some rather more fanciful than others...


Class 108 allegedly bound for Bournemouth

Class 109 allegedly bound for Mildenhall

Class 109 allegedly bound for Wrexham General

Class 109 allegedly bound for Bala Junction

Class 109 allegedly bound for Seacombe

I'm not sure which of the above journeys the Wickham was on when it was photographed by Richard Walliker but it certainly found some impressive scenery along the way...


Class 109 in the scenic Dee Valley

On the Saturday evening visitors and volunteers were able to partake of a hotpot dinner and/or enjoy an evening 'Land Cruise' return to Carrog on the 4-car class 104+108. The conditions turned out to be ideal thanks to the large light in the sky as shown by the following pictures that were taken at Carrog and Glyndyfrdwy respectively...


Evening land cruise special at Carrog

Evening land cruise special at Glyndyfrdwy



Thanks to John Joyce, Mike Martin and Richard Walliker for supplying the pictures and to Pam Martin for the video.

3rd October 2022

General


The editor's workload has, unfortunately, resulted in a long block section between the previous edition and this one. As a result this one will only include the edited highlights of the very many things that have happened during the intervening period.


As well as running train services (as described in 'Out and About' below), carrying out the required maintenance and repair work (see 'Unit-specific work' below) and pressing on with some of the long-term restoration work (see 'Unit-specific work' below), we have been preparing for the forthcoming Heritage Railcar Weekend that is due to take place next weekend (8-9 October).

One of the highlights of the gala will be the return to service of the twin-power-car class 104 DMU which last ran on 25th August 2020 prior to one of its vehicles (50528) being taken out of service for bodywork repairs and the other (50454) subsequently being paired with Derby trailer (56223) to form a hybrid class 104/108 unit. It transpired that the condition of 50528's bodywork was worse than expected and a very small group of individuals has almost been burning the midnight oil in order to get it ready in time for the gala. Some pictures can be found in the 'Unit-specific work' section but the best way of appreciating the improvement will, of course, be to attend the gala and sample the class 104 hauling a tail load that is likely to be the GWR inspection saloon.

Also at the Gala, the Cravens class 105 trailer car will be stabled in platform 2 at Llangollen Station so that visitors can see for themselves what is involved in restoration work and chat to members of the restoration team.



Railcar Gala 2022 Poster

There is a Timetable, a Graphical Timetable and Tickets can be booked online.

Information about the work that was carried out on specific railcars can be found in the unit-specific work sections below.




Out and About


During September the class 108, the Wickham class 109 and the hybrid class 104/108 DMU provided a number of weekday services, sometimes by themselves as 2-car units and at other times in 4-car combinations. There was also a surprise Sunday service on 18th September when the scheduled steam-hauled service had to be cancelled due to staff illness and the hybrid class 104/108 DMU ventured out instead...


Hybrid class 104/108 substituting for steam on 18/09/22





Unit-specific work




Class 104 50528

As mentioned above it has been "all hands to the pumps", albeit for a small group of people, to prepare the vehicle for its return to service at the DMU Gala. The bodywork turned out to be in a worse condition than anticipated and therefore required more preparation work than was expected but the glossing stage was eventually reached...


Class 104: Painting 50528

and it now has a shiny yellow front and shiny blue back and sides...


Class 104: Freshly painted 50528

Inside the vehicle the repair to the toilet ceiling that had suffered from water damage was completed with the fitting of the final piece of beading...


Class 104: Repaired toilet ceiling in 50528

and this light was added as the finishing touch. Readers may be interested in its inscription...


Class 104: Light for the toilet in 50528

Class 104: Light for the toilet in 50528

Class 104: Light for the toilet in 50528

It works! Is that what is known as a light bulb moment? :-)


One of the vestibule ceilings also required some sanding and painting. As I have no doubt mentioned several times in the past the railcar group provides its members with a variety of interesting and rewarding jobs but everyone is, nevertheless, allowed an occasional, "What on earth am I doing here?" moment...


Class 104: Repairing a vestibule ceiling in 50528



Cravens class 105 trailer car no. 56456 (undergoing restoration at Llangollen)

Here's a novel way of getting out of doing the washing-up! As a homework project a member of the Cravens team has taken to disappearing into his virtual shed and producing steps for the Cravens trailer...


Class 105: Producing steps as a homework project

Back at Pentrefelin and inside the vehicle itself two long aluminium strips were fitted along the ceiling/wall joint...


Class 105: Fitting a length of beading

... the vestibule partitions on the secondman's side were painted with the top coat...


Class 105: Painting the vestibule partitions

... and the first window on the driver's side of the first class section received its 2-part beading...


Class 105: Fitting the beading to a window in the first class section



Class 108 (51933/54504)

An 'A' exam was carried out and, in response to a recent problem with the batteries on the trailer car (54504), the power car was given a new set of batteries and the displaced ones were moved to the trailer car.





Gloucester class 100 51118/56097 (undergoing restoration at the Midland Railway, Butterley)

Occasionally a decision is taken to undo/redo work that has already been done in order to achieve a more pleasing outcome. One such example was the removal of the luggage rack panels and the fixing of wooden strips to the top edge in order to bring the tops of the panels in line with the beading above them....


Class 100: The middle compartment with the white beading in place

The third, and last, ceiling panel was cut and fitted to the cab ceiling...


Class 100: All three panels fitted to the cab ceiling

Some more work was carried out on the door jamb/frame on the driver's side rear vestibule because, like its counterpart on the other side of the vehicle, it was neither level nor square. The following picture shows the trial fitting of the modified door frame which, it was claimed, fit "like a glove"...


Class 100: Modified door frame



Thanks to Allen Chatwood, John Joyce and Mike Martin for supplying the pictures.