Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

823 The Countess and 822 The Earl - the two original W&LLR engines.

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Wales.

The line is around 8.5 miles (14 km) long and travels between the towns of Welshpool and Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is 2 ft 6 in (762 mm).

The W&LLR was one of the few narrow gauge branch lines to be built under the provisions of the 1896 Light Railways Act. It was opened on 4 April 1903 to aid economic development in a remote area. It never made a profit. It was originally operated by the Cambrian Railways. The line is built through difficult country, having a great number of curves in order to reach the summit of 600ft. The original terminus at Welshpool was located alongside the main line station and trains wound their way through the town, using the locomotive bell as a warning.

In the 1923 Grouping of railway companies the line was taken over by the Great Western Railway. On 9 February 1931 the line lost its passenger service, which was replaced by a bus service, and it became a freight-only line. It was temporarily re-opened to passengers between 6 and 11 August 1945 for the Eisteddfod. The W&LLR was nationalised in 1948.

Freight traffic lingered on until 1956, by which time British Railways decided to close the line.

A group of volunteers and enthusiasts took the line over and started raising money to restore it. On 6 April 1963 the first section of the line was re-opened as a tourist railway. The line through Welshpool however could not be reopened, so the line has a new terminus at Raven Square on the outskirts of the town, originally opened on 18 July 1981. Because of the gauge, unusual for the British Isles, locomotives and rolling stock to supplement the originals have had to be obtained from a cosmopolitan variety of sources. A major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund permitted restoration of both original locomotives together with several coaches and original wagons, and provision of new workshop facilities, ready for the line's centenary.

Locomotives

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway - Preserved Locomotives
WLLR No.	Name	Builder	Year	Wheels	Type	Notes
1	The Earl	Beyer Peacock	1903	0-6-0T	Steam	Original W&LLR locomotive
2	The Countess	Beyer Peacock	1903	0-6-0T	Steam	Original W&LLR locomotive
3	Raven *	Ruston & Hornsby	1934	4wDM	Diesel	Sold
4	Upnor Castle *	F. C. Hibberd	1954	4wDM	Diesel	Sold to Ffestiniog Railway
5	Nutty	Sentinel	1929	4wVBT	Steam	Owned by & returned to care of Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
6	Monarch	W. G. Bagnall	1953	0-4-4-0T	Steam	Sold to Ffestiniog Railway but recently re-purchased by W&LLR
7	Chattenden *	Drewry Car Co.	1947	0-6-0DM	Diesel
8	Dougal *	Andrew Barclay	1946	0-4-0T	Steam	Originally operated at Provan Gasworks, Glasgow
9	Wynnstay *	J. Fowler	1951	0-6-0DM	Diesel	Sold
10	Sir Drefaldwyn *	Franco-Belge	1944	0-8-0T	Steam	Originally operated by German Army & in Austria
11	Ferret *	Hunslet Engine Company	1940	0-4-0DM	Diesel
12	Joan	Kerr Stuart	1929	0-6-2T	Steam	Originally operated in Antigua
14	-	Hunslet Engine Company	1954	2-6-2T	Steam	Originally operated by Sierra Leone Government Railway
(15)	Orion *	Tubize	1948	2-6-2T	Steam	Returned to Jokioisten Museum Railway in Finland
16	Scooby *	Hunslet Engine Company	1941	0-4-0DM	Diesel	Rebuilt by W&LLR
17	Diema *	Diema	1979	6wDH	Diesel	Originally operated in Taiwan

* = Name added by WLLR

Orion is now back in Finland where it originally ran.

0-8-0T No. 10 Sir Drefaldwyn was imported from Austria.

1954 Hunslet No. 85 was repatriated from the Sierra Leone Government Railway.

See also

• British narrow gauge railways

Reference

• Cartwright, Ralph I. (2002). The Welshpool and Llanfair. RailRomances.  ISBN 1-900622-06-8

External links

• The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway - an online photo album
• The Weshpool and Llanfair Railway's website