Solva - unusual narrow gauge...
Sometimes you walk past something for years without realising what it really is... that goes for me and a small tunnel entrance at Solva in Pembrokeshire...
It took my brother exploring a few weeks ago and finding the water treatment works the other side of the thill and a narrow gauge railway emerging from a tunnel to realise what I'd missed. A 600mm gauge line with no points and a single battery electric tram with the only access via the tunnel to the works. Built sometime in the mid to late 1970s, the water works at Solva is still in use today. It is unclear whether the tramway is original or added later, but the track seems to be maintained. The photos below document my visit this month, I've included a few from Steve Thomason showing the battery electric locomotive built by Bradshaws (who specialise in electric vehicles), as well as some montages where the photos on the left were taken by Chris Stockdale in summer 2011, compared with my photos from spring 2018.
It took my brother exploring a few weeks ago and finding the water treatment works the other side of the thill and a narrow gauge railway emerging from a tunnel to realise what I'd missed. A 600mm gauge line with no points and a single battery electric tram with the only access via the tunnel to the works. Built sometime in the mid to late 1970s, the water works at Solva is still in use today. It is unclear whether the tramway is original or added later, but the track seems to be maintained. The photos below document my visit this month, I've included a few from Steve Thomason showing the battery electric locomotive built by Bradshaws (who specialise in electric vehicles), as well as some montages where the photos on the left were taken by Chris Stockdale in summer 2011, compared with my photos from spring 2018.
There is plenty of inspiration here, and I'm sure I'll sketch out some layout concepts in the coming weeks! More (possibly) soon...
The Solva line has fascinated me for many years. All the way back to when I was a Gn15 modeler and I was going to model the Bradshaw loco scaled down to 18" to run on my Purespring watercress layout. It never got built though, probably because I found another equally unusual vehicle top model. Thanks for this posting.
ReplyDeleteI actually photographed the Bradshaw locomotive being used in March 2016 - it was carrying tools and equipment which a couple of chaps were using to repair a valve. According to them, it was being used around four days per week, in the mornings. I believe since then the locomotive has been rebuilt or replaced as the wheel flanges were thin and causing derailments. Some recent photos would be interesting, kind regards Keith
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