Glyn Valley Tramway - News & Pictures

Links for the TWO groups hoping to preserve/reopen/rebuild/recreate the Glyn Valley Tramway are as follows:
 
Glyn Valley Tramway Trust (Based in Chirk): http://www.glynvalleytramway.co.uk/
 
Glyn Valley Tramway Group (Based in Glyn Ceiriog): http://www.glynvalleytramway.org.uk/

Oh no! not another railway with two groups hoping to rebuild it! I hope they are more successful at working together than they have been in Porthmadog!

In any case I really hope they succeed!

The home page of the Glnn Valley Tramway Mk2 ( dot org ) has a big poster plastered on the page saying the other group is a small faction and what they are trying to do will not be a true re-creation! With an attitude like that I would certainly steer clear of them, mud slinging just isnt good enough these days and you would think groups would know how damaging it is after the fiasco on the Welsh Highland. Im sure the people on the ground think they are the ones being reasonable but the public image it gives is not good.

Rob
Oh no! not another railway with two groups hoping to rebuild it!
In any case I really hope they succeed!

It might depend upon your definition of success, as each group is proposing to use a different track gauge

What a shame ! One thing is more or less for certain - neither group is going to achieve much. The difference in gauge appears to lie at the heart of the issue - one group wants to build a heritage railway at 2'6" gauge and the other an exhibition line at 2'4.5". There definitely seems to be an absence of fun in the Ceiriog valley.

Tis a shame they cannot get their heads together to bring this fascinating little railway back to life.
Heritage lines have to act like business' these days in order to survive and lets face it there is some stiff competition from both narrow gauge and standard gauge in the area.
Lets hope they do...

My money is on the Trust (based at Chirk) to be the first group to get something running, albeit not with original GVT rolling stock.
 
http://glynvalleytramway.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/leaflet-1-revised.pdf
EDIT - This link might not be up to date so, if you are thinking of going along to the meeting do check first.
 
And if anyone does attend, could we have a report on what takes place  

Details of a few recent developments, Local MP joins Trust and the replacement of Matchbox Bridge, can be found here: http://glynvalleytramway.wordpress.com/

Sad to see the same sort of split as embittered the WHR when I was a member.
The authentic 2'4" group are going to be solely reliant on their own stock with no prospect of hiring in a loco if theirs fails. Their aim is admirable but it will require a lot more money to start up as they will need at least two replicas locos to start with to have any chance of running a reliable service.
As mentioned above they have to think of the wider market and they aren't going to get many repeat visits from enthusiasts if they don't see anything different each time. You can't hold a gala advertising two identical engines in steam!
2'6" makes more sense, and is only 1 1/2" different, to get things going as Nigel says and raise revenue to build their replicas of locos and stock. I'm afraid the Group are heading down a dead end and if they do get anything running it may be vary hard to sustain it while the Trust will hopefully tap into the broader tourist industry and enthusiast market.

If they do manage to bury their differences and resurrect the line it will be fantastic.
The Glyn Valley is a beautiful place.

just dont mention the gauge wars.....

I must admit I sympathise with the 2'4" people but I think the other mob are right , from looking at the respective websites & what has been mentioned on here  

Sounds frightfully Welsh to me....

funandtrains


Having read both websites they only want to build a 1km track which seems too short to be worthwhile; there and back in under 10 minutes!

Yep.... to where and back though? trouble with all these projects (and I'm in now way saying there are never worthwhile) the funding to keep them running once they get going is UNBELIEVABLE.... even using 100% vollunteer labour... which you never can because the beaureacrats always have to enter stage right and do thier darndest to justify their positions which essentially means they set up flaming hoops get everyone jumping through them then make the hoops gradually smaller untill they can no longer be jumped through and they have killed off any enthusiasm and the money has run out......

The original 'progress blog' appears to be defunct. 
 
Latest News can now be found here instead : http://www.thegvt.org/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=latest&Itemid=61

tramcar trev


... which you never can because the beaureacrats always have to enter stage right..........

 
As the villains, surely they should enter Stage Left, speaking traditionally.
(Oh, no they shouldn't; Oh, yes they should.......etc)
 
2ft 4.5 is surely worthy, and right, but is is correct? I suspect not, given considerations of practicality as outlined in previous posts. However with a different faction sitting across the right of way a little way up the line the Trust are always goiung to be limited in terms of route mileage unless the two factions can come together which seems, at the moment, unlikely.

oberinntalbahn

Rob
Oh no! not another railway with two groups hoping to rebuild it!
In any case I really hope they succeed!

It might depend upon your definition of success, as each group is proposing to use a different track gauge

The golden spike ceremony when they meet could pose a bit of a problem then 

Rhinochugger

oberinntalbahn

Rob
Oh no! not another railway with two groups hoping to rebuild it!
In any case I really hope they succeed!

It might depend upon your definition of success, as each group is proposing to use a different track gauge 

The golden spike ceremony when they meet could pose a bit of a problem then 

Track Gauge may be the least of their problems - don't forget that between Chirk Fisheries and Glyn Ceriog the GVT ran along the public highway and did not have it's own trackbed.  In the old days traffic consisted of the occasional horse and cart, today the road has become the busy B4500

Or the first dual gauge full preserved railway

Weren't there a pair of tramways in the north of England where 4 foot and  standard gauge met, and they had a few trams for through running with wheels sliding on splines for gauge change?