The Bala Lake Railway (BLR) in North Wales has issued its latest bulletin on progress with the locomotives, rolling stock, and track maintenance.

On 5th January the local ITV station did an interview, largely as a result of increased recent activity regarding the extension into Bala. Winifred was steamed for the occasion and the presenter, Ian Lang, sought comments from General Manager David Jones and Director Julian Birley, whilst Chief Engineer Rob Houghton was on hand to ensure all went well. From the railway’s point of view this was excellent PR.

Click on the following link to view the ITV News article ‘Multi-million pound railway extension plans ‘major’ for Bala economy and local community’

Natural Resources Wales has started work on the much-needed flood defence improvements at the eastern end of the lake; the track-bed of the extension will run on top of the new works.

The model railway manufacturer, Bachmann, recently printed a five-page article in its journal The Bachmann Times about the BLR and its Heritage Centre. Bachmann is also releasing well-known Hunslet locos in OO9.

Events for 2022 started with half-term running on Thursday, 17th February, and then from Saturday, 19th to 27th.

People who live in North Wales can travel free on the 27th as that is the nearest operating day to St. David’s Day. However, because there is still a restricted capacity, tickets will need to be booked online and in advance, with the special codes needed to obtain the free tickets being made available a few days before on BLR’S St David’s Day page and proof of address needed when checking in.

A number of special events are being run to celebrate the railway’s half-centenary. ‘Bala at 50′ is being run during the May Day Bank Holiday, and a ’50th Anniversary’ event will take place on 13th August to commemorate the running of the BLR’s first trains. The final event scheduled to celebrate the 50 years will be a ’50th Anniversary – Steam Gala’ over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The ‘Great Little Trains Model Railway Show’ returns at the end of September, with many excellent layouts and trade stands that have in the past come from all over the UK and Ireland. The show will be held at the main school in Bala.

Click here for further information on all of the ‘Special Events’ planned for 2022.

During the winter, three locomotives, Winifred, George B, and Maid Marian all passed their annual steam tests.
Holy War and Alice are still in pieces undergoing their ten-year strip-down, with Alice due to receive a new boiler.

These works are not high priority, as there is much to do on rolling stock and track-work before the season opens, although some good progress has been made as steam manifolds for both Holy War and Alice are complete.

There has been a continuing programme of carriage renovations and track improvements. The culvert work at the line’s eastern end has been completed and the track that was lifted re-laid with the ballast ploughed back into place using bespoke ploughs towed behind either a tractor (for removal) or a diesel loco (for re-instatement).

At the end of the month, track fishplates were re-gapped and greased, as during the hot summer days there can be occasional problems with rail distortion, which could mean a train cancellation, with the section along the unshaded Dolfawr Bank to Pentrepiod being the most susceptible.

Between the end of the yard at Llanuwchllyn and the crossing halfway down Dolfawr Bank 83 sleepers were replaced, and five more sleepers that were spare were installed near Dolfawr crossing.

Further progress has been made on the new carriage no. 4, with the floor given its third and final coat of paint.

Carriage no. 2 (the wooden guard’s one) had its floor removed and new steel strips added to the underframe so that the air tanks, which have been cleaned and repainted, can be attached more securely rather than to the floor. Other frame members were primed and painted.

Carriage no. 8 was given a thorough clean top to bottom inside and the floor given two coats of paint.

Carriage no. 1’s new bogies had their bearing pads fitted.

On the loco front, George B and Maid Marian had their handrails and cab edges primed and repainted, and a start was made on re-assembling them and Winifred after their boiler examinations.

New steps and framework were fitted to the Llanuwchllyn signal box and a window frame replaced. The following photo shows that the job is making good progress.