One of the UK’s oldest working steam locomotives will be hauling trains from Aberystwyth on the Vale of Rheidol Railway (VoR) in Mid Wales during August and September.
Saddle tank Palmerston was built in 1864 as one of the original locomotives for the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog.
However, it has strong historical links with Aberystwyth when the Vale of Rheidol Railway hired it for additional traffic when a large Territorial Army camp was opened three miles from Aberystwyth at Lovesgrove in 1912.
Palmerston also hauled timber traffic in the Rheidol valley during the First World War. It was last used to haul regular service trains on the Vale of Rheidol Railway in 1922, just over one hundred years ago.
In a unique collaboration between the Vale of Rheidol Railway and the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways (Ff&WHR), earlier this year, the Vale of Rheidol Railway agreed to display Palmerston in its new museum at Aberystwyth and to carry out its ten-year boiler overhaul.
With that work now complete, Palmerston is again in operational condition, and its first public runs will be on Fridays from 26th July until 23rd August. On each day, a special train hauled by Palmerston will depart from Aberystwyth at 12.15.
Palmerston will also work a Sunset Steam Special on Wednesday, 28th August, departing from Aberystwyth at 18.00 and returning by 21.00, including an hour for passengers to explore Devil’s Bridge. The following weekend, Palmerston will headline the three-day ‘Rheidol Steam Festival’ being held in Aberystwyth over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
During September, Palmerston will work Rheidol Heritage Tour specials on Fridays 6th and 20th September.
These are new for 2024 and include a commentary about the journey to Devil’s Bridge given by local historian and author Ioan Lord and a guided tour of the new Aberystwyth museum with a look behind-the-scenes workshop tour and time to ask questions.
Palmerston’s final appearance at the Vale of Rheidol Railway will be on Saturday, 21st September, when it will be in steam within the station limits at Aberystwyth, and possibly also offer short rides.
This is part of the ‘Behind the Scenes’ event of the CADW ‘Open Doors’ festival, which allows the public to see and experience things at tourist attractions not normally open.
Palmerston will return by road to Porthmadog in late September, in time for the long-established ‘Bygones Weekend’ event at the Ffestiniog Railway from Friday, 4th to Sunday, 6th October which celebrates the rich heritage of the Ffestiniog Railway, with historically accurate train formations and costumed characters.
Tickets for the Vale of Rheidol Railway events are now on sale at https://www.rheidolrailway.co.uk.
We are very grateful to Paul Lewin and the team at the Ff&WHR to agreeing to the loan of ‘Palmerston’ for the 2024 season. We are excited to have it running on the Vale of Rheidol Railway at our event in August: it has been ten years since its last visit to Aberystwyth, so it will be great to have it here again for all to experience once more.
Llŷr ap Iolo, Managing Director of the Vale of Rheidol Railway
Responses
What a fantastic collabration! Honestly wasn’t sure I’d live to see this old gem in steam again. I still have to pinch myself every time ‘Palmerston’ hits the headlines, as when I last saw it rusting away in Glan-y-Mor yard, immediately south of Blodge (where the magnificent new carriage shed now stands), Ffestiniog No.4 could only have been described as a pile of scrap metal which would’ve been loco shaped, had it still carried a chimney. When first restored, I genuinely thought the photo I was shown of it pulling a short goods train out on The Cob was ‘Prince’ in disguise for a photo shoot!