Cambrian and Tanat Valley Railways. Saturday 3rd September 2022.
I had a choice of events in the region on Saturday, the Llangollen Railway had a diesel event, the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway, had a steam event, but I opted for the Cambrian Railway who have recently increased the length of their railway by more than half and now have a full extension and facilities at Weston Wharf.
I’ve always had a bit of the soft spot for the Cambrian Railway and its history and can still remember Oswestry Works and depot from the stock books in the 1960`s, but I didn’t manage to travel down there, being a school boy on a limited budget. Fortunately, the old Works complex and original footbridge have all been preserved albeit in private use as shops and an hospital, I believe the old locomotive depot has now completely gone and the site is occupied by a wood yard, but the Cambrian (preservation) Railway are doing an amazing job of keeping the railway alive.
This would have been my third visit to the Cambrian Railway over a number of years, the first time I travelled down, was when the Railway had a small industrial steam loco running up and down the yard to the first bridge at Middleton Road in front of two guards’ vans. I revisited the Railway a few years later and it was still a case of guards-van rides, but the railway had then extended to the next bridge down, Gasworks Bridge. In April 2022, thanks to Corvid and non-running, the railway concentrated its efforts on opening to the line to Weston Wharf and what an amazing job they have done. With new stock, coaching stock now, plus two of the class 144 dmu`s, and a coach café facility and Stonehouse Brewery, who do an excellent pint by the way.
The Cambrian Railway have so much potential in the long term and in theory could open up from Gobowen through to Blodwel, they presently operate over a one-and three-quarter mile section, but also have a section at Llynclys South with just under a mile running to a halt further south. The next part of the plan is to join Weston Wharf to Llynclys, but this could be 20 or more years in the future though as this is a long-term project with a major road crossing to overcome.
I drove down to Oswestry, which took me around an hour and a half from Manchester. The first train out was at 11.00 to Weston Wharf and then half hourly throughout the day, I took one return trip, and although not a drinker, I did sample a half in Stonehouse brewery, before catching the next service back to Oswestry, so new track for me. The railway was operating class 144006 and also have 144007, it is also the home of class 73, E6036 also, which sadly wasn’t running on my visit.
After a visit to the excellent Cambrian Museum at Oswestry, I collected the car and drove down to Llynclys South, the other section of the Cambrian Railway, although it wasn’t operating at present, as all the efforts of the society had been channelled towards opening up the Weston Wharf extension.
While I was in the area I visited another nearby railway, the Tanat Valley Light Railway, not open for public running at the moment, but the owners did have quite a good selection of rolling stock and track machinery. Which included, three class 143 dmus, 143601, 616 and 619, plus a class 309 emu, 309616, formerly of Clacton depot and rescued from the Electric Railway Museum, Coventry. A number diesel shunters and various track machines also occupy the site. It does look like a lot of work needs doing on the railway though, before it would be open to the public, with one station platform in place at Nantmawr. The railway is set in a beautiful valley and I do hope they reopen to the public at some point in the future, although I was told only a team of 5 volunteers are presently working on the project, which also includes the addition of a narrow-gauge line at Nantmawr.
I returned to Weston Wharf and took the last return trip of the day back to Oswestry and back, before driving back to Manchester. It had been a very enjoyable visit.
Cambrian Railway websites,
Preserving the history of the Cambrian Railway in Shropshire
www.cambrianrailways.com
en.wikipedia.org
Cambrian Railway Llynclys section,
en.wikipedia.org
Tanat Valley Railway website,
www.tanatvalleyrailway.co.uk
www.facebook.com