Our volunteer team today successfully replaced the big timber lintel at the locoshed.
The team numbering seven in total worked extremely hard and left the works tonight very happy but very exhausted.

The Felin Fawr Works is to produce slate products once again for the first time since 1965.
Special products made from the worlds finest slate will be manufactured at the works to fulfill a niche market for high quality bespoke products. Three rich and distinct shades of the finest Penrhyn slate will be available, Penrhyn Heather Blue, Penrhyn Heather Red and Penrhyn Heather Green.

Volunteers have been busy completing the central pillar at the locoshed so that several other tasks can move forward. The pillar has been quite an undertaking and is perhaps the most important structure that we will restore on the railway front at Felin Fawr, to quote Richard – “the pillar is no longer holding us up; it is now holding the building up.”
Ian has completed the numbering on the Ruston and he has also constructed a very useful workbench for the locoshed. The new timber lintel has been painted with a primer and it now seems likely that it will be positioned in place during the next few days.

There are several jobs on the go at the moment and further progress now hinges on the completion of the central pillar at the locoshed.
The pillar is expected to be complete by the end of the week so that a new timber lintel can be fitted in place, once this is achieved the door rail can be restored and a new sliding door hung.

The railway has been extended slightly today through the block wall that blanks off the right hand doorway, the concrete block walls will be left in place until the central pillar is complete as they add stability to the wall above.
Traditional quick lime mortar is used to bed and point the slate blocks, this has been specially prepared with ingredients such as slate and cinder particles.

Work was progressing on three fronts today at Felin Fawr, Ian was busy kitting out the tool van with shelving and seats, Sion and Darren were busy filling in the large pit at the locoshed with rubble and Jon and Richard were laying a deep concrete foundation for the new central pillar at the west end of the shed.
The tool van is coming together nicely and our volunteers are now eager to put it to use out on the railway. Most of the external paintwork has been sanded down and once all of the metalwork has been cleaned up it will be primed and turned out in Penrhyn grey.
The important foundations for the central pillar have been laid and decent faced slate blocks are being sourced so that the restoration can commence.

Preparatory work has been carried out for the extensive restoration of the west gable wall of the locoshed.
Sadly alterations were made to the main twin doorways during the 1970’s when one of doorways was widened and the ground excavated out so that large road vehicles could enter the building. It is now a case of reversing these works and restoring the original appearance which will involve reconstructing a wide slate block central pillar and replacing the large timber lintel above the doorways.

The Penrhyn Railway is to build a second quarrymans coach, it will carry the letter "S" following on in succession from the recently completed coach R.

Volunteers have been busy today laying more rails in the locoshed and the track now extends the entire length of the building.
Attention will now be diverted to the restoration of the west gable and front doors. The railway will be used to transport materials such as slate blocks for the restoration of the central pillar and infill to raise the floor to its original level near the doorways.

Today seemed like a good day to move one of our two box vans up to Felin Fawr, the van will be used to carry tools and equipment along the railway as the restoration progress down the line.
The van was regauged some time ago and a new floor and roof have also been fitted. It will now be tidied up and fitted out at the locoshed.

More track was laid today and our railway now extends around halfway through the locosheds.
The rails sit on base plates and special retaining plates are secured to the concrete with an anchoring resin. Our old hammer drill was struggling after drilling around a hundred large holes in the concrete floor so we have been treated to a new powerful drill, this sped up progress and we are now just six rails away from reaching the front doors.
The west end gable will require quite a lot of work due to modifications carried out in the late 1970’s, the work includes constructing a new slate block central pillar, replacing a long timber lintel beam and constructing two replica sliding doors. Interestingly, the front doors provide around fourteen inches more headroom than the rear door of the building.

Volunteers moved back into the locoshed this week and made a good start forming the initial curve which will send road one over to the south side of the building; it will continue through the shed and out through the south front door followed by another curve onto the mainline. Road two will enter through the north front door, over the original inspection pit and extend two thirds of the length of the building, this will, as near as possible, restore the original layout.
While most of the building remains very original, certain alterations occurred in the 1970’s and mainly to the floor levels when the timber floor boards and rails were removed and replaced with concrete. Fortunately the newer floor was set around four inches lower than the original timber floor which now allows us to bolt the rails directly to the concrete. Time and finances permitting, the floor will be paneled out once again with timber which will restore the original levels.

Volunteers have been busy finishing off the east end track before switching attention to laying rails through the sheds. Contractors are still busy carrying out structural repair work to the dividing wall between the main shed and the smaller diesel shed which has been cordoned off for the time being. It is hoped that extensive work to the roof and windows of the main shed will be carried out over the next few months.

The curve near the waterwheel building is almost complete, the track just needs extending a further straight panel to a buffer stop. Robin and Jon formed the curve over a two day period with the aid of a Jim Crow rail bender, the curve has proved to be quite a learning experience and it follows the exact alignment of the original track.

Work was being carried out today to extend the track east for a short distance to the rear of the carpenters waterwheel, once this work is complete the railway will be extended through the locosheds and out through the main doors at the other end of the building near Coed Y Parc bridge and on to the mainline with a switch to bullhead rail.

A very special milestone was reached today that marked the end of the beginning of the restoration of the Penrhyn Railway.

At midday our own diesel locomotive number.25 operated along the first section of the railway and into the locomotive sheds at Felin Fawr marking the historic return of locomotion to the site for the first time since 1967.

Volunteers worked through the night to load the loco at Plas, unload at Felin Fawr and lay track within the locosheds so that this unofficial but highly significant event could take place. The very same volunteers who made it happen spent a relaxing afternoon celebrating their achievements.

The concrete arrived first thing this morning for the track at the locoshed.
Structural repair work is also being carried out within the shed by contractors.

It was a very significant day at Felin Fawr today with the first rails being laid at the locoshed. The track panels which had been fabricated at Plas arrived at Felin Fawr yesterday and have been lifted into place today ready for concreting.

Work has finally started on the railway. A section of the concrete yard at the east end of the locoshed has been broken up and removed.
The yard is a later Alfred McAlpine addition laid in the 1970’s and sits four inches higher than the locoshed floor level but is being retained as it is thought useful as a loading pad so the rails will be sunk into it.
The concrete proved to be extremely hard and up to nine inches thick in places and it took three days to break up the section using a breaker, recovered Penrhyn flat-bottomed rail has been welded up into panels; these will be dropped into the channel and concreted in place.

Volunteers have been busy clearing more trees with work concentrated at the top end of the trackbed. For the first time in several years it is now possible to see Coed Y Parc bridge from the oil shed and much easier to visualise things.
Vegetation has also removed from the bridge masonry and the rusty and neglected de Winton ironwork has became quite a topic of conversation. There is a strong likelihood that at some stage soon attention will be diverted to revamping it.

Attention turned to some outdoor work last Saturday at the area next to the volunteer facilities at Felin Fawr. Vegetation was cleared making it look much tidier and easier for levels to be ascertained in between the slab mill building and the trackbed.

At present the trackbed is cordoned off by means of a fence which was erected in the early 1990’s to mark the boundary between Penrhyn Quarry land and Gwynedd Council land. The fence will be removed and a shallow slate block retaining wall will be restored the entire length of the slab mill building which will restore the raised level of the siding that once accommodated the well known line of disused locomotives. The restoration of the shallow wall will then mark the boundary between railway land and Felin Fawr land

All outstanding issues regarding the final specification of the railway have now been resolved with the planners, the restoration of phase one of the railway will now commence.

Volunteers have finished constructing quarryman’s coach R at Felin Fawr Works. It’s a matter of definition but coach R is the next in the series. The first batch (A to J) of these iconic coaches were built by deWinton and delivered to the PQR in 1879 and 1880. Between 1902 and 1908 a further six (K to P) were built at Felin Fawr Works with coach Q built at the works in 1927. Coach R has been built to the later PQR design which featured slatted seats and additional tie-rods.

Work is continuing on the coach, the floor and seats have been trial fitted and then dismantled again for painting. The final correct shade for the coach is Penrhyn 'purple brown' a traditional Penrhyn colour once used throughout on the estate.
All paints used on the coach are manufactured at Coed Y Parc, Bethesda by Bradite, the company has supplied the Felin Fawr Works with paint since the 1930’s.

Negotiations with various interest groups are still on going regarding the final specification of certain aspects the railway. It was hoped to conclude all outstanding issues by the end of January, however, ensuring that all matters are addressed and concluded in a satisfactory manner inevitably takes time.

While delays can be frustrating, they have not hampered work at our off site workshop know as Plas which is located at the extreme end of the trackbed on phase two. All of the ironwork on the quarrymans coach was completed recently which meant that the coach could be delivered to the Felin Fawr Works for the completion of the woodwork and final painting. The rubbish wagons have also been moved to Felin Fawr and all that remains at Plas is the Ruston and the Trecwn PW wagons which will be moved once track is laid through the Felin Fawr locosheds. The Plas works, having achieved all of its targets, will soon be downscaled and returned to agricultural use once all the railway equipment has been moved.

The purchase of the Felin Fawr Works site from Cyngor Gwynedd Council was finally concluded last week. The management of the site is divided between two companies, Penrhyn Railway Heritage Trust who has taken possession of the loco sheds and lands and buildings necessary to operate the railway and Felin Fawr Cyf who have taken possession of the rest of the site.

For several years the railway has lacked even very basic on site volunteer facilities and now that permission has been granted to restore the railway it is essential that facilities are provided on site. New build is not an option within the Felin Fawr site and internal alterations within the loco sheds would detract aesthetically from the character of the buildings and then there is of course the cost involved which would be a substantial burden on any self financing project such as this. Therefore, the obvious solution in the short term is to utilise facilities that already exist at the site, with that, Felin Fawr Cyf have agreed to make available one of the smaller industrial units for a short period, the cost of leasing the unit will be shared between the three volunteer groups involved with the restoration and preservation of the site and its heritage features.
The small unit is likely to be located at the 1803 slate slab mill which is literally just three yards away from the Penrhyn Railway! The units retain many heritage features while providing ample space and facilities such as an office, kitchen/mess-room and toilets.



Finally, a very big thank you to everyone who has supported us through the last twelve months.
We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Work has continued for the last month finalising details of the railway with the local authority before works can start proper at Felin Fawr. However, there are some signs that work is imminent on the ground, quantities of sand and gravel have arrived at the locoshed and interesting looking yellow lines have appeared at various locations around the site.
Efforts over the next few weeks will be directed to making locoshed safe and watertight as well as providing basic facilities such as a lavatory!

The new sliding door for the loco shed east gable was hung during the last few days. Weather conditions were hardly favourable so it was a case of timing work in between torrential showers and gusts.

The door arrived in kit form and was assembled and primed at the locoshed, the roller hangers had already been restored but one or two snags meant a frustrating few hours while the roller motion was modified slightly. Two obstacles then lay in way of progress, a concrete block office building which had been constructed within the shed during the 1980’s when the building was used by a coach company and the other obstacle being a very solid block wall constructed to blank off the doorway. These were demolished with the rubble used to fill in another unsightly 1980’s feature in the form of a large inspection pit. Ground guides for the door still need some work but this will be carried out when rails are sunk into the yard area adjacent to the door

The management are still busy concluding various leases and transfers of ownership concerning the Felin Fawr site. However, access was granted yet again to the site to carry out preparation work and maintenance.
A team of engineers arrived on site last Wednesday to carry out a detailed survey of the two waterwheels, details are sketchy at the moment but vibes seem to suggest that it is the intention to return at least one of the wheels to working order with the long term plan being to generate electricity for the Felin Fawr complex as part of the Trust’s renewable energy policy.

Volunteers where also on site last Wednesday and Friday, tasks included cutting back vegetation that had established again around the loco shed and work associated with fitting the new sliding door. Another volunteer bash is planned for the middle of this month when the door will be fitted.

A bus shelter has recently been acquired; the shelter is located within the curtilage of land recently acquired by the railway at Coed Y Parc. The Trust is actively encouraging the maintenance and upgrade of a local bus service so as to link directly with strategic locations.

As far back as late 1963 a small group of enthusiasts had recognised both the historical importance of the Penrhyn Railway and also it’s potential as a tourist railway. Moves were afoot to take over the closed railway from the Penrhyn Quarries as can be seen from the letter below:

PRHT Archives

Substantial work was carried out by the group, including a survey of the entire route and some preliminary thoughts on passenger facilities etc. However, the groups’ hopes were very quickly dashed.

PRHT Archives

Thirty nine years later another even smaller group began to think along similar lines, fortunately their aspirations fell on more sympathetic ears.

Full planning consent for the first phase of the restoration of the Penrhyn Railway has been granted by Cyngor Gwynedd Council this week. This first phase includes the section of trackbed within the Felin Fawr Works site and extends north in the Port Penrhyn direction to St Anns road OB.

Although very rarely expressed on this website, for the last five years, this project has encountered many obstacles, trials and tribulations that if included in a novel would probably be dismissed as unbelievable, the planning consent is without doubt our greatest achievement to date, it’s the difference between the dream and reality, uncertainty and confidence.

The iconic Penrhyn Railway is alive again, it has a very strong heartbeat and it is here to stay.


David Roberts
Chairman

The Penrhyn Railway 2010 calendar and Christmas cards are now available at our new online shop. A full range of new and exciting products will be added in the spring of 2010.
Proceeds from the sale of goods at the shop are invested in the restoration of the railway. Please visit the “Shop” link in the left hand menu.

There is very little to report on the practical front this week, the sliding door hangers for the locoshed have been taken off site for refurbishment and apparently the new replica sliding door is progressing well, the door will be fitted towards the end of this month.

It was a return to Felin Fawr this Saturday to clean up the yard area next to the loco shed. It was wheelbarrows and shovels to begin with but the decision was soon made to introduce a little mechanical assistance. The yard area is now looking tidy and complete with some track albeit temporary!

Original track features are being sorted ready for the restoration of the railway, two types of point levers have been sourced, the well known distinctive Penrhyn levers and one or two rarities such as a lever manufactured by the Isca Foundry Co of Newport, South Wales, this lever was originally located on the mainline at the Northern end of the Felin Fawr site.

Efforts are being made to ensure that everything is ready for tracklaying at Felin Fawr, a petrol powered sleeper drill, rail drill and rail cutter along with a petrol powered rail screw tool have been acquired recently.

Most of the PW rolling stock is ready for work with the exception of our tool van, the ex RNAD van was re-gauged some time ago and a new floor and roof have also been fitted. The crumbling paint on the inside was scraped off and sanded down yesterday and a primer has been applied. The tool van will be finished off and kitted out at Felin Fawr so as not to increase its weight prior to delivery to the site.

The question of rail is also being addressed; we currently have three stockpiles at three different locations within a two mile radius of the Felin Fawr site. A simple method for its transportation is being worked on.
Without doubt, the original Penrhyn bullhead rail will be the most challenging to lay, with some of it having seen seventy years of use at Penrhyn and a further forty years of use at Porthmadog, matching rails up will undoubtedly prove to be quite interesting! Quantities of fishplate shims of various thicknesses are being made up to aid tracklaying.

The opportunity was taken today to remove a large mound of rubbish that was dumped near the East door of the loco shed, two heavy loads were carted away. This will be the unloading area for rail and rolling stock which is currently in storage off site. Adjacent to the bricked up doorway is a concrete yard area which still needs scrapping and cleaning up.
The doorway will be reopened when the necessary documentation is in place and a replica sliding door is currently being made off site.

Coach “R” has finally had its wheels fitted but there are still one or two jobs left such as wooden brake blocks and a ratchet for the brake lever. The floor boards have been cut to size and the seat bars are waiting to be fitted once the brakes have been completed.

Five volunteers worked extremely hard for seven hours on Saturday to complete the slating of the oil shed roof and all that now remains to be done is the fitting of the ridge tiles and some rendering up here and there. Many of the slates used were of random size and thickness so naturally these factors complicated things slightly.
Current thinking is that the building will be used as our permanent way shed and a short wall and platform area next to the building once used for unloading oil barrels will be restored once the site has been cleared of vegetation.

The Penrhyn Railway Trust only secured freehold of the oil shed last week following negotiations with the previous owners the Penrhyn Estate. (Images by Gwyn)

The Penrhyn Railway Society held its third AGM at Tregarth Community Centre on Saturday the 5th of September. A good turnout and a successful meeting were reported by Society Chairman David Roberts.

Two Penrhyn rubbish wagons have been restored and made ready for ballasting work on the railway, quarry galley names have been painted on their sides as apparently featured pre 1930’s.

Work has resumed on the oil shed at Felin Fawr and a regular volunteer work pattern has been established so that the restoration of the building is complete before efforts are diverted to the locomotive sheds.

Improvements have been made to the Lon Las Ogwen cycle path within the Felin Fawr site. These works include resurfacing the section next to the railway trackbed along with additional safety warning signs.

The Penrhyn Railway Trust is currently evaluating various options for the two water wheels at Felin Fawr. The Trust is committed to restoring these listed features and negotiations are underway with investment partners.

The Penrhyn Railway Heritage Trust carried out preparatory works at the Felin Fawr loco sheds over the Easter period. The tasks included killing long established ivy on the South facing wall, clearance of vegetation around the building and a general and thorough tidy up within the building itself. Volunteers split into two groups, the internal team faced years of built up debris, broken glass and general rubbish while the external team battled with ivy trunks, briers and self seeding trees that had taken root during the last few years.

The locomotive building consists of two sheds, the larger loco maintenance building to the South and the smaller “diesel” shed to the North. This building is the only surviving section of what was once the carpentry workshop, a large building that once dominated most of the Felin Fawr yard area before being destroyed by fire in the late 1940’s.

The Felin Fawr Works site will feature both heritage and modern light industry, our sister company Felin Fawr Cyf will manage the site as a whole with the Penrhyn Railway Heritage Trust and Society focusing on the restoration of the locomotive buildings and the Penrhyn Railway.

Another group that should be mentioned are the PUG’s (Penrhyn Underground Group) rarely seen but could pop up almost anywhere! The Felin Fawr Works site is littered below ground with a network of culverts, drains and drive shaft tunnels. The PUG’s are a volunteer group specifically assigned to assist with the maintenance of these tunnels and the restoration of the two waterwheels that once powered most of the machinery at the site. PUG members have recently assisted structural engineers with gaining access to a culvert that passes beneath the Penrhyn Railway in order to carry out a structural survey.

We have bad a busy week finishing off Ruston 25 so that she is ready to go. Tasks such as wiring, the fabricating and fitting of a bonnet hood and numerous other small jobs have all now been completed. Most materials used (other than nuts, bolts and paint) are recycled, the body panels for instance were fabricated from steel salvaged from an old diesel storage tank, the engine was recovered from a small lorry and even the fames and gearbox had spent many years at a scapyard before being rescued by the previous owner.
The loco is now affectionately referred to as “Y Motor Bach”.

The workshop is now concentrating on getting two Penrhyn rubbish wagons operational as it is thought they will be useful for ballasting being open ended, they are extremely robust wagons and virtually indestructible. The railway originally used two of these wagons for ballasting which were purposely fitted with single flanged wheels.

Well anther year almost over with very little to show for it on the ground so to speak, what can we say? Well it is coming and as far as the railway is concerned, everything is on schedule with construction work expected to begin in the New Year with a completion target of mid May 2009 as planned. The event scheduled for the end of that month remains cancelled due to outside factors but we promise that an event will take place as soon as practically possible during 2009, we will keep you informed.

The quarrymans coach is almost complete with the wheels and brake gear expected to be fitted over the Christmas period, we will post some photographs as soon as we can. The coach is something that we are extremely proud of, special thanks to those who have worked so hard on the project. The Ruston 25 will also be completed over the next two weeks when the new bonnet hood is fitted; the loco along with a few PW wagons will then be ready for work.

The famous short section of track laid at Felin Fawr a couple of years ago will be lifted in early January so that the site is clear for earth works. This section of track has been quite significant and perhaps more than anything, it has demonstrated our determination to restore the railway. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice that it was laid with double-head rail and not Penrhyn bullhead, the reason for this being that we assumed it would vanish within a month.

We have spent quite some time recently photographing and recording details of virtually every square inch of the Felin Fawr loco sheds. This work follows on from the Capita Symonds survey of the buildings that we funded a couple of years ago. There will be much more news to come on this front but in the mean time, there are some recent images within the short video clip below.

We wish all members, supporters and friends a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i bawb sydd wedi cefnogi ni, enwedig yn ystod y misoedd diwethar, diolch o galon.

It is with great regret that we have to announce that due to circumstances beyond our control, the special event planned for the last week in May 2009 is now cancelled. A special event will take place later in 2009 and an announcement will be made closer to the time.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and we will keep you informed of any developments as and when they occur. We remain very determined, optimistic and totally committed to our aims and objectives.

PRHT submitted proposals last April to Cyngor Gwynedd Council in response to an invitation published in newspapers for 'expressions of interest' regarding the future of Felin Fawr mill site.

For more information regarding our proposals for the Felin Fawr site, please visit a dedicated website here

The workshop has been busy recently since the arrival of the replica quarrymans coach manufacturing all the associated metal work to turn it into a serviceable vehicle for next summer. To date the two sprung couplings, four corner brackets, brake lever and the coach numbers and new letter “R” (the next in sequence) have been made. The last task currently being undertaken is the wheels and axleboxes, patterns for which have been sourced. The coach has now been primed in a red undercoat ready for its Penrhyn 'red brown' finish.

On another subject which may be of great interest to Penrhyn enthusiasts, ex-Penrhyn mainline locomotive Felin Hen was steam tested in France last week following an extensive restoration after her return from Australia. Built by the Baldwin locomotive Works for service in France during the First World War, she became one of three such locomotives purchased by Penrhyn Quarry in 1924 and withdrawn after just three years service. The locomotive was exported to Australia in 1940 and worked at the Fairymead Sugar Mill until 1965 returning to Europe in July 2002.

Thanks to Dave 'gizmo' Gander for the photograph and to Barry Williams for the information.

Almost exactly 5 years after the first definitive plans were put together for the rebirth of the Penrhyn Railway and an initial approach was made to Cyngor Gwynedd Council we are able to announce that we hope to see steam return to the railway next summer.

Current plans at Felin Fawr are to re-lay the route of the original mainline in recovered bullhead and a run round loop will be laid in flat-bottomed rail recovered from Trecwn replicating as near as possible the original layout and materials. Slight changes to the original track layout are being incorporated in order to provide for the needs of future commercial railway activities. However construction will soon commence on at least one set of the infamous stub points synonymous with the Penrhyn Railway for incorporation into the layout.

This weekend saw our first big volunteering bash at Felin Fawr. The aim for the weekend was to make a tidier job of storing the rail that arrived last November from Trecwn. The main job on the Saturday was to lift the track panels from our trackbed into an open area and break them up in there components parts. Volunteers soon formed into groups, some doing the demolition work, some removing the spikes from the baseplates and others stacking sleepers. Come lunch time we were about half way through the stack of around twenty panels and it was time to enjoy the Societies newly acquired mobile mess facilities, complete with the Penrhyns answer to Keith Floyd in the form of Society Chairman, David Roberts, doing the honours in the kitchen. On this occasion the a la carte menu consisted of bacon rolls OR bacon baps!! By early evening all the rail had been dismantled and removed from site to a secure storage area.

On the Sunday all that was left to do was to move the five points to a better location on the trackbed so we can in the future access the area with machinery for clearance works. While some were involved with this the opportunity was also taken to strim some of the lighter undergrowth that is beginning to take hold again. On the Monday volunteers stacked the rail and sleepers in a more orderly fashion and had a count up of exactly what had been achieved. The grand total for the weekend was 460 yards of railway and some 500 sleepers.

In the previous couple of weeks more progress has been made on Ruston No. 25 which has now acquired much re-fabricated bodywork, the loco will not be fitted with a cab at this stage as it is felt that it will serve the purpose better without for the time being. The loco only now requires a bonnet hood and it will be ready for work.

Rapid progress is being made with our quarrymans coach with the woodwork now almost complete, it has also been primed. The Pernrhyn 'red brown' topcoat which will be applied when the coach is moved to our workshops for final fitting out.

Work on our Ruston diesel has also progressed in the last week with the fitting of the bulkhead and engine following painting. Testing then followed but our fitters were not quite happy with the way in which the oil fed gearbox was functioning, so it was stripped down again and a fault was discovered in one of the high pressure oil lines, this was rectified and the unit is now satisfactory. Controls have been added to the bulkhead and the rest of the bodywork is now being fabricated.

PRS Chairman Jonathan Ball has resigned with immediate effect so that he can concentrate fully on other aspects of the project, David Roberts has come forward to fill the role until the next Society AGM in August

While the engine is still fitted to the loco, the opportunity was taken today to fabricate a new fuel tank and check clearances, as the original tank which is part of the bulkhead had rotted through.

The original bulkhead is to be reused and the new tank was fabricated by Mark today. The bulkhead was then trial fitted to check clearances.

The replacement diesel unit for No 25 was finally trial fitted in the frames recently following some new mounting fabrication and the fitting of a specially made drive coupling. Volunteers worked hard for almost a week to get everything in place so that testing could commence, this work also included the installation of a temporary fuel supply, radiator and battery.

The Ruston gearbox is a constant mesh type two speed unit in which the gears are brought into operation by oil operated cone clutches, initial problems were encountered with drive take-up to the wheels but following a few phone calls, reassurance was given that all was in order and following half an hour of running with the loco supported off the rails, the clutches finally engaged, the initial problems were put down to the fact that the loco has stood dormant for many years. The power unit will be removed shortly for painting and then refitted so that the body work can be built up around it.

A short video clip of Penrhyn Railway Chairman Bryce Latham starting up the engine!

Much discussion has taken place recently regarding our diesel loco No25, the natural conclusion being that it needs to be as user friendly as possible. Sourcing items such as a suitable starter motor combined with concerns regarding the lengthy and slightly complex start-up procedure not to mention parts availability has influenced a new direction on the power unit front. The owners have decided that a more modern power unit would be favourable, for simplicity, parts availability, and in order to keep costs to a minimum. A four cylinder Perkins engine was purchased recently and it has arrived at the workshop for evaluation, the only major and obvious modification will be to the flywheel so that it will accept the Ruston gearbox coupling. The unit will be mounted on semi-solid pads to allow minimal vibration, the loco frame and original engine mounts will not be disturbed, so in theory, the original unit could easily be refitted in the future.

Good progress has been made with our quarryman’s coach with the framework now well underway. Work is currently being carried out at a private location but it is expected to arrive at the workshop in the future for final works including top coats of paint etc. Attention to detail is paramount and to date, this is being well and truly achieved even down to sourcing original materials such as American pitch pine kindly supplied by Crest Cooperative Ltd of Llandudno Junction. Pitch pine was once traditionally used throughout on the Penrhyn Estate with quantities imported on returning slate ships.

Work started on the collapsed culvert around a week ago, the stream was diverted so that excavation work could commence. The culvert work was complete within two days, and once again, the stream now flows beneath the trackbed rather than along it! Some groundwork was also carried out at the crossing while the plant was on site.

A lorry was sent down to Trecwn last week to pick up all the base plates and dog-spikes associated with the track that arrived at Bethesda in November, unfortunately, it hadn’t been possible to include these items with the original consignment so a special trip was called for. Thousands of plates and spikes arrived last Thursday which were sorted out by volunteers on Friday.

The decision was made recently to dispose of one of our two Ruston locomotives; No.26 (RH375694/54) has been sold to a private collector as it was felt that there was little likelihood of it being restored to working order in the foreseeable future. The wheels along with some other parts are now fitted to No 25 and the gearbox is also being retained as a spare unit. The loco is in a dismantled state and the first component parts were collected by its new owner this morning. Funds from the sale of this loco will be invested in No 25 which is currently being restored to working order at the workshop.

Recent gales have taken their toll on a few of the trees alongside the trackbed, most notable was the destruction caused to a large oak at one of the most scenic locations around half a mile North of Felin Fawr. A large limb had snapped off and crashed through the slate pillar fencing and also demolished the temporary fencing on the other side of the trackbed.

Today volunteers cleared half the timber away and re-erected the wire fencing which we intend to replace with slate pillar fencing in due course. They were also faced with another problem at the site in the form of a collapsed culvert so the decision was made to replace it within the month as a matter of priority.

Volunteers also spent some time recently stacking Trecwn sleepers at Plas, these had been dumped hastily near the access on arrival.