The Llangollen Railway has released an update on its project to extend the line to Corwen.

The summer is almost here, with the longest day of this year all ready to light up the Dee Valley for a minimum of 16 hours.

The majority of this month has been full of warm and dry conditions with the odd downpour of rain which has caused a little “local difficulty”. The team in charge of the project have been making the best of the dry conditions that they possibly can and they have now closed “the gap” between the new station and the main train line from Llangollen. They are now in preparation to set out the eastern cross over. Everyone that is associated with the project that has taken place would like to thank all of you that have contributed in any way towards the “Fill the Gap” Appeal which has resulted in contractors from the local area being able to spend two intense long periods at the site digging out and moving materials to the gap.

At the very same time, some infill was in fact added to the platforms gap, which has now been completed.  Filling the gap has cut through the old formation and allowed traffic access to the Welsh Water’s sewage treatment works which has now been completed. This is a “landmark” achievement, alongside with the underpass, the water tower, the signal box and the new road that leads to the treatment works – all of these are key pieces of infrastructure which have allowed the station to be successfully completed.

With the closure of the gap, direct vehicular access to the site itself has now been blocked and is no longer available. The west end of the single platform does still have a gap in it as does the east. These gaps will be closed soon in order to allow for successful completion of the island platform. Local contractors have again been engaged to pave the surface of these platforms. This work will be paid for out of the grant that has been allocated by the Welsh Government as part of the EU Fund that has been given for Rural Communities.

The “Blackfriars Columns” had in fact returned from Barnett Engineering at the beginning of this month, completely ready for their installation at the site to support the canopy of the station. The columns have been cut to the correct size, and have actually had the addition of a bolting plate at the base of them,  this is because they were not suitable for use in their “recovered” state.

The restoration of the castings has mainly been completed in the hands of volunteer, Tony Warren who has had some help from both Peter Neve and Tony Cooke. Some of the decoration of the ironwork was damaged but was replaced using “spares” sourced from the columns that were not used. Thanks to the original Victorian designers, all the decorative pieces were actually able to be unscrewed from the reserve columns and transferred to where they were needed if these pieces were needed elsewhere. None of the decoration was properly cast into the columns, all the other parts were “add ons”, including the counterbalances for this transferable and movability purpose.

The first piece of “hoop top” fencing has now been added to the top of the underpass itself. The gap that is under the fence will be filled using a form of brickwork.

The rest of this fencing will follow after the lift for wheelchairs has been installed, the manufacture of this wheelchair lift has now begun after some technical changes to the design of it.

Spear top fencing has now actually been completed on the western edge of the single platform. The fencing gang that is under the leadership of Vic Taylor have been working extremely hard to repair the flood-damaged fences and to install the recovered palings that are from the Corwen East platform, on the fence alongside the Welsh Water station approach road. Peter Neve worked alongside other volunteers to add palings to the fence from the former site of the Corwen East station building through to the entrance and then to the former breach (which has now been filled).

Further back in the month of January 2018 it was reported that Peter Jump had in fact made a start on the building of the facing pillars that are at the foot of the underpass. Very soon Peter’s attention was drawn away from this and drawn to other aspects of the project/build and the pillars were left as they were untouched for over a year – until now where they have been touched once again!

The pillars have finally been completed once and for all, they have been capped and the sloping side walls have now been dressed with slate blocks. All of these materials were recovered from the station site itself and assigned to the new role that they have been given.

The Project’s Treasurer, Paul Bailey reported that the CCRD’s Fund has banked in excess of a total of £113,250, which after disbursements now has a balance of just over £86,000. Paul is at pains to point out that the grant from the Welsh Government/the EU was to construct a basic island platform only and the grants agreements did not include “refinements” such as adding a waiting room and toilets, adding a canopy, and adding support columns along with a wheelchair lift too! Such additions have had to be funded via the share issue and direct fundraising and not the grant.

Sometimes offers of support are not able to be used. Recently two companies from the local area have got in touch with the Project to aid the “Gap” Appeal these companies were Stonewest Construction, Talybont, Gwynedd and Knights Construction Ltd, Middle Sontley, Wrexham. Unfortunately, the offer of equipment available didn’t fit either of the project’s, not even their own construction programmes. Stonewest has now also stated that they would be happy to help out on any other project that CCRD may need to undertake in the future and have also wished CCRD well in their endeavours. Jamie Brooks of Stonewest was actually the mayor of Barmouth in the year of 2018, he was a strong supporter of the improved transportation facilities within rural areas and an example of this has been his campaign for better public access alongside the Barmouth railway viaduct.

What did they say?

Paul Bailey writes:

“Donations for Corwen have been a little slower now that we’ve “Closed The Gap” but welcome none the less. These are now being put into our “General ” Fund to be used for the on Platform Waiting Room and Toilets. To date there have been no takers for sponsoring any of the 6 GWR Style Lamposts and Lanterns (£750 each) for the New Platform. Maybe this might be an opportunity for a family group to sponsor a lamp as a memorial object or as a quirky present for a rail fan??”

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