An enjoyable time of year

The staff always enjoy the month of June. Visitors at this time of year are usually made up of families with pre-school children or senior citizens and almost all of them arrive in good humour.

Visitor numbers are modest but are enough to make operating the trains worthwhile. This allows staff and volunteers the time to do the jobs that get put to one side when the railway is operating at full tilt. One example of one of these little jobs was the installation of a point lever to a set of points leading to the carriage shed. Another job by the engineer was to fix two of the Cafes coffee machines. This looks like a minor job and doesn't effect train operations but it is vital for the catering departments profitability (so far the station Cafes turnover is up 36% on the previous year).

As there are only four train departures per day Kevin is able to carry out light trackwork maintainance in between the trains, today greasing the fishplates (the bars that join the rails together, yet allow movement when the temperature cause the rails to expand). Work to Russell's bodywork continues in preparation for its new coat of paint.

CJ

Jobs aren't always straightforward

After Russell's first public appearance in steam over the Whitsun holiday, and its subsequent trials, the locomotive was finally ready to go into the carriage shop for painting.

One of the carriage shop's features is the slightly raised wooden floor which keeps the room warmer and is far more comfortable to walk around, or kneel on, than bare concrete.

This is fine for carriages but narrow gauge locomotives have connecting rods which have very little clearance from the floor. So the locomotive could not just be pushed in. Luckily, the railway has short section of track used for transporting locomotives which has a ramp that can be fixed to one end. After the track section had been placed in the shop, the railway's Diesel locomotive pushed Russell onto the raised track. Murray is now preparing the bodywork ready for painting.

CJ

Time to dust off the running shoes

We've just heard that that the fourth annual Fairbourne Race the Train event will be held on the 30th July. Many contestants enter the 5 KM fun run in fancy dress. Registration is at 17.00 at the Springfield Hotel before the race start at 17.45.

Adult entries are £3 whilst Children are £2. Monies raised go to Ysgol Friog (the local primary school) and a donation towards the railway's appeal for a new waterwagon will be made. Prizes will be awarded for the best costumes.

Telephone enquiries about the event should be made to the the FDTC on 01341 250927.

CJ

A quiet Sunday

The forecast of heavy showers today (sadly all too accurate) meant that the railway didn't have too many visitors in the morning. The only silver lining was that carriage number 124, which had been withdrawn on the previous day, due to a failed bearing, wasn't missed. A replacement bearing will be fitted during the week.

Quiet times allow us to catch up with many jobs that aren't always finished in the hurly burly of a bank holiday, such as cleaning and restocking the Gift Shop's shelves. During this time a new tube brush was fitted to Beddgelert/Yeo's tube brush handle. Drivers dread new tube brushes as it makes the daily task of cleaning the boiler tubes extremely arduous, until the brushes have worn down a little. Envious eyes are cast at the Vale of Rheidhol and Ffestiniog Railways whose oil-fired locomotives tubes can be cleaned simply by pouring sand into the firebox.

CJ

A busy morning

With the road to the Harbour Cafe closed for resurfacing, the only way to Barmouth Ferry Station was by train today.

The first job was to open up the Harbour Cafe and its WCs, so a trip with the water wagon and the new diesel loco was needed (to replenish the water tank). Unfortunately, the Cafes waterpump had tripped out over the previous afternoon, so every WC was blocked and the Coffee Machine had run out of water. With no road access we couldn't call a plumber, so an hour was spent sorting things out.

Later on that morning the resident electrician, Ian, and volunteers Vince and Stewart took the diesel back to the Harbour Cafe to remove the old gas cooker and prepare for the new electric Lincat cooker. The diesel loco and flat wagon was run ahead of the service trains to remove the rather unsightly old cooker from public view. The railway uses a divisible staff and ticket system and VHF radios to control the trains so more than one train can operate on the single track line.

CJ

A Good Start

Hello, welcome to my first blog about the Fairbourne Railway.

Introduction

The Fairbourne Railway is a 2 mile long seaside minature railway, located in Gwynedd, North Wales, UK. It is open during School holidays and most days from May to the end of September.

First built as a horse tramway in 1895, it has had several different incarnations, but now has a track gauge of 12¼ inches (311mm) and is operated by 4 half-sized narrow gauge style steam locomotives.

Employing 5 full time staff (plus seasonal catering staff) the line is also supported by a Preservation Society (FRPS) which is made up of volunteers and armchair supporters. The buildings, land and track have recently been gifted to a charity (NWCLR Ltd), an extremely generous gesture by the former owners. The operating company, Fairbourne Railway Ltd, ploughs all its earning back in to running and maintaining the railway.

The railway has a Gift Shop, two licenced Cafes (the Harbour Cafe is open only during Peak season) and the Rowen Centre which features a large G-Scale model railway and animals. There is a large, well equipped workshop to maintain the railway's fleet of locomotives and carriages located at Fairbourne Terminus. Full details of the line can be found on its official website http://www.fairbournerailway.com/

News

The Fairbourne Railway has got off to a good start for 2009 despite difficult trading conditions. As of 31st May, visitor numbers were up 17.6% on the previous year. Despite the recession, Gift Shop takings increased by 12.7%. The two Cafes takings have increased by 33% and 52.3% respectively, possibly helped by the Alcohol licence, which was granted in April.

The above figures are very promising but it is too early to say how the railway will do during throughout the 2009 season. There has been increased expenditure on publicity (170,000 leaflets printed) which have been delivered earlier directly to the distributors and increased advertising in local magazines, local guides and newspapers. We have also tried to send publicity to all camping sites which are enjoying healthy bookings this year.

The glorious weather (Wednesday excepted) over Whitsun week certainly helped us and the Harbour Cafe was kept open an additional two days because of the number of visitors who had decided to extend their stay. The "Little & Large" event over the holiday again proved popular with the visit of live steam models on the G-Scale railway, a steam launch, a 5 inch gauge railway, a full size steam roller and free rides behind Roger Melton's miniature traction engine. Possibly the highlight of the event was the first public steaming of "Russell" which had been out of service for the previous 4 years.

CJ