Vale of Teifi and Brecon Mountain - 19 September 2013

This started off as a wet day. At the Vale of Teifi Railway, I was the only passsenger on the 11.15am train. Another narrow gauge line on a picturesque section of a main line railway, this friendly line, two miles in length, seems to have struggled with its location probably meaning some difficulty in attracting passengers and volunteers. Only one steam locomotive was available - 1894 Hunslet quarry tank ALAN GEORGE. It was the first time I had seen it since the Bruntcliffe Light Railway near Leeds which I worked on before 1975.

ALAN GEORGE waits by the engine shed

1959 Ruston & Hornsby TOMOS

Coming onto the train

Ready for departure

At the Pontgoch terminus

The weather was slightly better by the time I arrived at Pant, headquarters of the Brecon Mountain Railway. This line is professionally run and is situated along an old main line railway alongside Pontsticill Reservoir and into the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The beautiful Baldwin Pacific of 1930

Heading away from Pant

Having given advance notice of my visit, I was kindly shown around the workshop by Tony Hills

An impressive kit of completed parts for a Baldwin 2-6-0 of 1897,
awaiting a boiler.

Jung 1908 0-6-2T

The Baldwin pausing at Pontsticill on the return journey