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.
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...
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...
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...
...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...
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...
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...
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...
Thanks to John Joyce, Mike Martin and Richard Walliker for supplying the pictures and to Pam Martin for the video.
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.
Information about the work that was carried out on specific railcars can be found in the unit-specific work sections below.
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...
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...
and it now has a shiny yellow front and shiny blue back and sides...
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...
and this light was added as the finishing touch. Readers may be interested in its inscription...
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...
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...
Back at Pentrefelin and inside the vehicle itself two long aluminium strips were fitted along the ceiling/wall joint...
... the vestibule partitions on the secondman's side were painted with the top coat...
... and the first window on the driver's side of the first class section received its 2-part beading...
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.
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....
The third, and last, ceiling panel was cut and 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"...
Thanks to Allen Chatwood, John Joyce and Mike Martin for supplying the pictures.