You can help re-create the Victorian railway travel experience!

The Gwili Railway Company has been awarded a grant towards the production of new doors for GWR 216 by a professional joiner through the Culture and Heritage Fund administered by Carmarthenshire County Council. This work will have to be completed by March 2027.

We need to provide £5,000 as match funding to unlock the grant and so we need your help. Donations for this project to the Welsh Railway Trust can attract Gift Aid – increasing their value by 25%!

Coaches like GWR 216 are an integral part of the story of railways and the development of modern Wales and riding in the coach will bring the Victorian experience to life. We have all wanted to see the vintage carriages in service on the Gwili Railway for many years and this is our opportunity to make it happen. We have a limited time to make the most of this money.

You can make a one off or regular donation via the Charities Aid Foundation at https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/28892#!/DonationDetails

Or you can contact the treasurer at rob.phillips76@gmail.com or on 07973951611 if you would like to donate by bank transfer or cheque.

All funds raised for this appeal will be ring fenced for GWR216. 

Now is our chance to make the dream of a vintage train on the Gwili Railway a reality. Many thanks for your support.

The GWR 216 project is supported by the Welsh Government through the UK Local Growth in Wales Fund 

The DMU gang continued with work on the DMBS (power car at the Abergwili Junction end) on our latest workday on Jun 13th. Internally we finished cleaning off lose paint from the ceiling in the driver’s cab and the saloon, painted the cab ceiling in primer, removed side panels in the saloon and removed the floor heater covers.

Over the winter we will continue with work inside with the aim to open the saloon and cab to visitors next year with visitors able to sit in the driver’s seat and view a display in the saloon area. We will also continue with work to smarten up the exterior. At the last meeting, the WRT trustees also agreed a budget of £2,000 to undertake the work.

If you’d like to make a donation towards the DMU project, please visit https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/28891#!/DonationDetails

Saturday July 4th saw the TVR 28 group meet to smarten up the l;ocomotive or the summer season. No28’s GWR green paint had started to look a bit scruffy so we replaced it with a coat of TVR black. We also gave the buffer beams some red undercoat and the loco now looks much smarter for visitors to Llwyfan Cerrig. We also hope to add TVR crests and TVR style numberplates.

We also took some more details from the bunker to fill in the gaps on the original drawings we have.

If you would like to get involved, please message Neil Phillips 07961940651.

If you would like to donate, please click the link below https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/14275#!/DonationDetails

This Wednesday marked a small but significant step in the finalising of the overhaul cost of Taff Vale No.28. Whilst the main focus of the last 18 months has been the overhaul of Haulwen a small team has been working in the background to revise and update the overhaul costs for TVR 28.

As part of this work Wednesday saw us visited by David Abbe of Fides NDT services. David was down to carry out a detailed NDT survey of the boiler. This report will help us finalise the list of repairs the boiler needs and there likely cost. This is then the final piece in the puzzle in working out the likely overhaul cost of 28.
We will be launching a fund raising appeal for the overhaul of the loco this autumn, if you would like to support the return to steam of TVR 28 in the interim you can make a donation via the following link and it will go in to a ring fenced pot for the loco.

Donate at

https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/14275

The Welsh Railway Trust is working with the Gwili Railway Preservation Society to restore Mark 1 Brake Coach 35012 to traffic. The coach was bought by the late Doug Rice in 1990, it has four compartments seating up to 32 passengers, it has its own WC, a Guard’s brake area and a large adaptable parcels/luggage area suitable for conversion for those living with a disability. Sadly it has been out of use for 11 years requiring repairs.

Apart from the need for a second Brake Coach, we also need to have a more improved area suitable for those living with a disability. This includes a dining facility, seats for carers and with improved visibility out of the coach. It will be a fitting tribute and legacy to a much-loved volunteer and Committee member of the Society. Doug ran the 300 Club for many years, until just before he passed away, taking it from strength to strength.

Please see the appeal information leaflet.

The Welsh Railways Trust is pleased to announce that it has acquired HST Power Car 43056 ‘The Royal British Legion’ for preservation. Thanks to the generosity of Porterbrook in donating the vehicle, it will become the first High-Speed Train Power Car to be preserved in Wales and is one of only a small number currently preserved in the U.K.

The High-Speed Train was introduced into service in 1976 and formed the backbone of Intercity services on the South Wales Main Line until May 2019, when they were finally withdrawn and replaced by Hitachi IET 800s.

The power car 43056 has led a varied life, having worked on nearly every part of the U.K rail
network. It entered service as part of set 254001, the first HST set on the Eastern Region of what was then British Rail. The Power Car will form a cornerstone in the Trust’s ambitions to create a museum telling the stories of Welsh Railways.

James Buckley WRT Trustee said “We are incredibly proud to be preserving the first HST Power Car in Wales and extremely grateful to Porterbrook for its donation. By adding 43056 to our collection, we can tell the story of Welsh Railways from early 1874 right through to 2019. Our plan for 43056 is that it will be subject to six months of conservation and cosmetic work before going on public display for Easter 2022. It is then intended that it will be moved undercover as part of project Dan Do, which we hope will be completed by the summer of 2022.

The Welsh Railway Trust was formed in 2021 by the merger of the Caerphilly Railway Society and the Gwili Vintage Carriage Group. It is based on the Gwili Railway in Carmarthen and is a registered charity (519531)

Contact Details :

James Buckley
Mobile : 07495 409291
Email : Jamesbuckley@evan-evans.com
Website : welshrailwaytrust.wales

Image Details

HST Power Car 43056 by PAFC1015
Used under licence Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Original image https://www.flickr.com/photos/tguppy37401/26010246547

The Welsh Railway Trust is delighted to announce that the 3 car class 117 Diesel Multiple Unit, based on the Gwili Railway, has been donated to the WRT by its owners.

Vehicle numbers 51347, 59508, 51401 arrived on the Gwili Railway in 2009 and were in regular service until 2019. TCL 51347 is currently in use as a locomotive hauled coach while the other two vehicles are out of traffic. The WRT is currently drawing up plans to return 59508 and 51401 to operating condition.

We are incredibly grateful to the Llanelli & Dsictrict Railway Society for this kind donation.