The Vale of Rheidol Railway has announced the appointment of a new General Manager of the Brecon Mountain Railway with which it merged last year..

Stuart Williams has been appointed as the General Manager and will take up his new position in early Summer 2024.

He is currently living and working in Orkney, where he is leading a trust that is developing and promoting three remote islands, and is a stakeholder in County Marquees which he co-founded in the 1990s and until 2017 was its Managing Director.

Railways are a familiar environment for Stuart, as from 2010 to 2017 he was a volunteer and director at the Dean Forest Railway, from 2017 to 2023 he was General Manager of the Talyllyn Railway, and a director of the Heritage Railway Association from 2020 to 2023.

As part of a £2.2m project called “Wales to the World”, the Vale of Rheidol has a new Museum, Display & Events space at Aberystwyth station that is transforming the site into a station suitable for the 21st century.

The building has been designed to tell the story of how Wales led the way in narrow-gauge railways, and helped to export the idea all over the world.

Originally the railway’s locomotive depot, the building has been re-purposed to provide 5,000 square feet of display space for some of the railway’s priceless collection as well as exhibits from around the world.

Managing Director Llŷr ap Iolo said: “I am very excited about the appointment of Stuart as the General Manager of the Brecon Mountain Railway: we are fortunate to have recruited such an experienced and capable person to fill the role.

“We are looking forward to working with him to develop plans to expand the visitor experience in the future, as we continue the good work of the Brecon Mountain Railway”.

Stuart said: “I am thrilled to return to Wales to take up the position of General Manager at the Brecon Mountain Railway. My experience in Orkney has proven instrumental in gaining experience in effective collaboration with funders, community development, and the essential transition to Net Zero skills that will undoubtedly contribute to the success of my new role. The Brecon Mountain Railway boasts immense potential, and I eagerly anticipate collaborating with the existing staff, as well as partnering with Ll?r and his team at the Vale of Rheidol Railway”.

This year’s operating season for both the Vale of and the Brecon Mountain Railway starts on Saturday, 23 March.

A trailer for RailAdvent’s DVD featuring the Brecon Mountain Railway is below, you can find out more information by clicking here.