© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2011 Ten years ago, we visited the Rhyl Miniature Railway - it was celebrating its 90th anniversary. “We’ll have to come again in ten years time”. We did! The 15” gauge line at Rhyl has a complex history - as has the fleet of six locomotives, for which the line is noted, built by Albert Barnes in Rhyl. The detail is spelled out on the RMR’s own website (see “Our History in Words”) - there’s little point in attempting to repeat it. Suffice it to say that the locomotives were built over a period of around 14 years, and that by the time the last was built, others had left. This would be the first occasion that all six had all been together. We’d arrived at the railway in the early afternoon (after a pleasant lunch just across the river Clwyd, beside which the line runs). This would give us plenty of time for photography around the lake, before the line-up of locomotives at 3.00pm. A three- train service was operating, in the hands of 101 “Joan”, 105 “Michael” and the little Cagney no. 44. So to the line-up - and the accompanying scrum. By comparison, the 90th celebrations, which we had enjoyed greatly, had felt a little low-key - today there seemed to be hundreds vying for places to get a photograph of the historic event. After some shunting - partly by hand (!) the Cagney set off around the lake, out of the way, and “Joan” made her way to head up two lines of three on adjacent tracks - carefully arranged in numerical order... ... 101 “Joan”, 102 “Railway Queen”, 103 “John” (visiting from the Evesham Vale Railway) 104 “Billie” (visiting from Preston Services near Canterbury), 105 “Michael” and 106 “Billy”. Looking on was “Prince Edward of Wales” - actually “Red Dragon”, from Windmill Farm. This locomotive was completed in 1991, incorporating parts from the locomotive which was used in the early years of the Rhyl line, before the construction of the first Barnes loco in 1920. Once the line-up had been unshunted, so to speak, nos. 105 and 101 coupled up to double-head an extra-long train, which was duly recorded. We felt we’d seen what we wanted to see, and set off for home. A most enjoyable event - I’ll be back, perhaps when things are a little quieter... Links: • Rhyl Miniature Railway • Rhyl's 90th anniversary (our previous visit)