The wonderful Welshpool and Llanfair…

Last weekend, as I mentioned briefly on Monday, Steve and I visited the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway for their annual steam gala…

The railway is intertwined with my life with fond memories from childhood, blending the ‘foreign’ locomotives and stock with those from the pages of Tim’s LGB catalog. The line has a peculiar yet enchanting character that some in the past have dismissed due to the lack of ‘authenticity’ in the trains in operation. Today though, with a rake of recreation carriages and a goods train the line can mix the best of both worlds, the world of ‘what it used to be like’ to satisfy the purists and the world of ‘I remember’ with trains like Joan, Sir Drefaldwyn (nearing the end of a protracted restoration) and the lovely Sierra Leone No.85…

  

That’s not to mention the nature and character of the railway itself, a true light railway endeavour it follows the contours of the Banwy valley, along field boundaries and the river itself without major earth works or tunnels. Constantly undulating with some quite sharp severe gradients, it’s a delight to travel and watch the rolling green hills go by, very much evoking the thoughts of travel 100 years past.

Where normally a visit is somewhat limited by the timetable a gala weekend delights with the opportunity to disembark and enjoy crossing and passing trains along the route. This weekend didn’t disappoint and with the Sittingbourne’s visitor a fantastic mix of traction was sampled - just three in steam, but what a pedigree… the Earl resplendent in GWR green following it’s recent overhaul, visiting Zillertal, such a purposeful and distinctive machine from Austrian Tirol and finally, Premier, a product of ‘Kerr, Stuart’, a true industrial that is an example of a class that saw service across the world.

The day however was somewhat overcast so these photos are just a taste of the experience rather than wonderful photographs in themselves. I have ‘edited’ them to give a sense of the feelings from being stood there, rather than a true representation of the colours and light of the day.

Steve and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, and if you’ve not been previously I’d recommend you give the line some consideration this autumn. As for the Planet Industrials, well we were able to make firm plans for the coming few months and outline the next 2-3 years of projects so a thoroughly successful visit.

I hope you've enjoyed this photographic essay, I'm sure there are a myriad of photographs of the event online, and I suspect some will grace the pages of the periodicals shortly... these though, for me, are markers and memories and I've taken the time to go further than just the facts and share some of the emotional connection I feel with the railway, and why I think it deserves the title of this blog. Until next time, more soon...