Bala Lake Railway has made a flying start to its 2015 season after reporting a 20 per cent increase in visitors during April.
Railway general manager David Jones said he was delighted with the upsurge in visitors during April, which continued throughout May despite the inclement weather. The positive start to 2015 for the railway, which reopened on March 31, follows on from a three per cent increase in visitors last year.
“Part of the reason for the big increase in April was the good weather, but also the Easter Egg Hunt that we organised,” said Mr Jones. “It was our best Easter weekend since at least 1988, which is as far back as the computerised records go.
“My wife runs a bed and breakfast business in Porthmadog and she has found that at least 50 per cent of people staying have come to visit the narrow gauge railways in the area, which shows how important the Great Little Railways of Wales are to the country’s tourism industry.”
On April 13, pop mogul and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman was in Bala to re-launch ‘Winifred’, the railway’s newest engine on her 130th birthday. It was 130 years to the day that Winifred started work at Penrhyn Quarry and riding on the footplate as guest of honour was former driver Emrys Austin Owen, who now lives on Anglesey.
It was Winifred’s first day’s work in over 50 years and the first time that she had hauled a passenger train, having previously been used to shunt wagons. Chief engineer Rob Houghton and railway director Roger Hine spent three years overhauling the engine, which was re-patriated from the USA after 50 years in exile in 2012.
Winifred’s remarkable story began at Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds, where she was built and she was delivered to Penrhyn Quarry on April 13, 1885. She worked initially at Porth Penrhyn until she was transferred to the quarry in 1955.
By 1964 she was laid up and sold with five other locomotives at Penrhyn Quarry. An American antiques dealer, who happened to be in Glasgow on business, saw veteran broadcaster Fife Robertson on the BBC Tonight programme reporting on the demise of the steam locos, which were being replaced by diesel equivalents.
Recognising a business opportunity, he bought all six steam locos and shipped them back to the United States where he sold them at auction. Winifred was purchased by Tony Hullman, owner of the famous Indy 500 race circuit, who initially placed her on display at the Early Wheels Museum in his home town of Terre Haute before she disappeared from public view into climate controlled storage for over 40 years.
In 2012, Bala Lake Railway supporter Julian Birley negotiated the purchase of Winifred and returned her back to Wales to be based at Bala. The fact that the loco had been carefully stored meant that she still had her original quarry paintwork from 50 years ago.
Railway enthusiasts and visitors will be able to see Winifred in action throughout the summer and over the August Bank Holiday Steam Gala at Bala, which is specifically aimed at families.
The railway’s four resident engines will be in steam with many of the train services double-headed. Demonstration freight trains will give visitors an idea of what the engines did in the quarries before preservation and there will be the chance to ride in the Dinorwic Quarry yellow carriage, once used to convey the royal family around the quarry.
Especially for the children, there will be a chance to ride on a five inch gauge miniature railway and to see working and static models. A free bus service will connect Bala station with the nearby town and there will be guided tours of the old signalbox and engine shed.
Bala Lake Railway is a member of MWT, an independent organising representing around 600 tourism and hospitality businesses in Powys, Ceredigion and Meirionnydd.
For more information visit http://bala-lake-railway.co.uk/
Picture caption:
Repatriated steam loco Winifred.
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