and hello again to an old friend
Farewell Rhiw Valley
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2022
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
2 October 2022
- and of course partook of the tea and cakes. We
decided to give the very last train a miss - it was getting
busy. Instead, we’d drive over the hills to Llanfair
Caereinion and see what was going on. We arrived to
find a train had gone down to Welshpool some time
earlier, so we drove on - to find a most welcome sight!
In February 1970 I’d gone to Austria (school ski trip!)
and finding that we were staying no great distance from
Jenbach, I caught a local train along the Inn Valley and
enjoyed a steam-hauled (I wasn’t expecting steam!)
ride up the Zillertalbahn. The locomotive which hauled
my train was their no.2 Zillertal - and there, at the
eastern end of the W&L at Welshpool Raven Square,
was the self-same locomotive. It arrived at the W&L, on
hire, three years ago. I’d been meaning to come and
see it, but the world went wrong in 2020. It’s been a
long time since we last met!
Links:
•
Rhiw Valley Light Railway
•
Rail Diaries, Feb 1970 - Zillertalbahn
•
Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
We’ve enjoyed a number of visits to this little line over
the years (the cakes are pretty good too…). Sadly, this
would be our last - today’s last train would be the Rhiw
Valley Railway’s last train ever.
This 15” gauge railway operated in quiet sheep
pastures beside the river Rhiw, a feeder of the Severn
between Newtown and Welshpool. It was created by
the late Jack Woodroffe in 1970. Jack died in 1990, but
the line has remained in operation with the support of
his widow and a group of enthusiasts. Sadly, it seems
that all good things must end, and today, after the last
open day of the 2022 season, the line was to close.
The railway’s two steam locomotives took turns in
hauling the four-coach passenger train around the
circuit, sometimes clockwise and sometimes anti-
clockwise (to keep photographers on their toes, I think).
Powys, an 0-6-2T was built by Severn Lamb in 1973;
Jack, an 0-4-0 tender locomotive was completed in
2003.
We wandered around the fields, took photos and
enjoyed the day in this very pleasant part of the country
