In the Heart of the Land of the Little Trains
Recent S and T work under the auspices of Samuel Knappett has seen the installation of the new token machine at Corris on its purpose built cupboard in museum and shop building. Also visible is the battery operated omnibus phone as a backup in case of power failure.
Our main Railway 200 event, the Corris Railway Gala, will be held on Saturday 24th May 2025 with the first train of the day departing Corris at 10:30 commencing an intensive timetable. This Gala will be an opportunity to see older locos from the fleet less often seen in more recent years heading a variety of consists, alongside The Railway’s newly built loco, No. 10 Hughes 0-4-2 ‘Falcon’ as well as No. 11 Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0 ‘Vlad’.
For Corris Railway members there will be several opportunities to ride on the Gravity Train, for those wishing to eschew the more usual comforts of the saloon coaches. Ride down the Dulas valley like slate mine workers of yesteryear, quite possibly whilst squinting into the liquid sunshine. Only current members of the Corris Railway can ride on a gravity train but it’s not too late to become a member in time for the Gala. Adult annual membership is £22.00 and can be purchased online.
Depending on crew availability, The Railway hopes to use Loco No. 5 Motor Rail Simplex 4w ‘Alan Meaden’ to offer rides in exchange for a small donation, in Guard’s Van 204 down to the railhead of the Southern Extension when No. 5 is not required for its timetabled duties. ‘Alan Meaden’ was the first locomotive acquired by the Corris Railway Society and she worked the first formal train of the revival between Maespoeth and Corris in 1985.
The workshops at Maespoeth Junction will be open to the public and there will be fun games for children of all ages to play. Visitors to the Gala will also be able to see the work being carried out by the Corris’ volunteer workforce including carriage number 24, which, once complete, will allow first class travel on the line for the first time in at least 90 years. The Museum and Shop at Corris station will also be open. The recently completed reconstruction of a manrider or ‘Velocipede’ using original wheels and axles will be on display in the Museum. Light refreshments will be available from the shop but if something more substantial is wanted it is a short walk from Corris station to the village shop and cafe or the “Slaters Arms” (which once had its beer delivered in casks rolled across the street from the railway’s waggons).
The Corris Craft Centre also has an excellent cafe and visitors may park their cars there and walk to the station down the zig-zag path (which is a steep journey on the return). Parking is available at the station and Lloyd’s bus service number FF2 stops outside the station yard and bus service T2 (Aberystwyth – Dolgellau – Bangor) stops outside the Braich Goch Hotel at the top of the hill into Corris centre.
Advance Gala Day Rover tickets can be purchased online and are priced at £10.00 for adults, £5.00 for children aged 5-15, children under 5 are free and dogs are £1.00.
| Depart Corris | Train Composition | Depart Maespoeth | Train Composition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:30 Passenger Train | Loco 11 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 | 10:00 ECS Movement | Loco 11 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 |
| 11:15 | Gravity Train | 11:00 Passenger Train | Loco 10 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23, Gravity Train |
| 11:30 Passenger Train | Loco 10 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 | 11:50 | Loco 5 + Gravity Train + Brake Van 204 |
| 13:00 | Loco 5 + Brake Van 204 | 12:15 Passenger Train | Loco 10 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 |
| 13:15 Passenger Train | Loco 10 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 | 14:00 Passenger Train | Locos 10, 11 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23, Gravity Train |
| 13:30 | Gravity Train | 15:00 Passenger Train | Loco 6 + Carriages 20, 22, 23 |
| 14:15 | Loco 10 + Gravity Train | 16:00 | Cavalcade of available Locos |
| 14:30 Passenger Train | Loco 11 + Carriages 20, 21, 22, 23 | ||
| 15:30 ECS Movement | Loco 6 + Carriages 20, 22, 23 |
PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO START YOUR DAY AT MAESPOETH JUNCTION. PASSENGERS MUST START FROM CORRIS STATION.
NB: We are a volunteer run organisation, there may be some changes to the timetable to accommodate crew availability.
This weekend has seen work continuing on the 10 year overhaul of No. 7. The boiler tubes have been ground off at the firebox end and then each tube is individually heated and then rapidly cooled in order to shock the metal into a rapid contraction so that it can be hammered out of the boiler with a slide hammer.
Meanwhile in the machine shop, a newly acquired horizontal boring attachment for the Huron mill was delivered and tried. It will now be overhauled and painted before being put straight to work on the overhaul of No. 7.
Whilst the loco shed is busy with the 10-year overhaul of No. 7, other areas of the railway have not been in hibernation. The signalling and telegraph department have been working on the signal box where the installation and testing of a token machine is complete and ready for the changeover to EKTs from the current staff system in operation between Maespoeth Junction and Corris. New interlocking for the lever frame with dogs made in house by Phil Scott has been installed and undergone final adjustments and testing. Meanwhile, work continues in the carriage shed with the painting of coach No. 24.
In this short video, head of S&T Samuel Knappett runs us through the working of the lever frame with the new interlocking dogs in place.
In order to survive in the 21st century as a viable tourist attraction the Corris Railway needed a working steam locomotive so as to give visitors the unique experience of travelling part of the oldest narrow gauge railway in Mid-Wales aboard an early 20th century-style train. The members of the Corris Railway Society were asked if they would help to finance the building of a modern version of the Kerr Stuart “Tattoo” class locomotive, similar to loco No. 4 (now Talyllyn Railway No. 4 “Edward Thomas”). A majority of those who responded to the survey said they would support an Appeal Fund to build the engine. The Project was started officially on 1st February 1995 and with funding provided by members’ covenants plus many other fund raising initiatives. The new locomotive, numbered 7, entered service in 2005, bringing the sound of a steam engine at work back to the Dulas Valley after half a century.
2025 marks the 20th year of service on the railway for No. 7 and the second “10 year” major overhaul of the locomotive is now due, following the expiration of her boiler ticket at the end of the 2024 running season.
In the last decade No. 7 has proved a reliable locomotive suffering only one major failure whilst working Santa Trains in December 2018. Whilst taking empty coaching stock back to Corris station to collect extra passengers, a lack of lubrication caused a section of the valve gear on the driver’s side to seize. As the locomotive was working uphill with the regulator open this caused stress and damage to the valve gear as a whole. The locomotive was taken out of traffic immediately and repairs were carried out with the help from the Vale of Rheidol Railway. The “Tattoo” was ready just in time to work a photographic charter and a “Your Railway for the Day” experience package before passenger train services for 2019 were due to commence at Easter. More recently, a failed steam gasket during the 2024 gala meant that she had to be withdrawn after working the initial double header with Falcon steam locomotive No. 10.
Overall however, she has proved to be a reliable locomotive for both the Corris Railway, heading the majority of passenger trains and private charters as well as a couple of brief visits to the Talyllyn Railway where she worked alongside her sister locomotive No. 4. Since the last “10 year” overhaul she has completed 3,978.5 miles, primarily on Corris metals, although this figure does include a couple of hundred miles working from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol on the Talyllyn Railway.
An entirely volunteer force started the strip down of the locomotive between Christmas and New Year 2024, not least in an attempt to burn off some Christmas calories, although primarily in the hope to maintain a schedule of work that will see the locomotive returned to steam in time for the 2025 Corris Railway gala due to be held on Saturday 24th May.
The saddle tank, cab, coal bunker, boiler cladding, steam fittings and pipes and the motion were removed within a couple of days and have been stored indoors on a flat waggon in order to allow work to progress on the boiler and smoke box. The boiler will be re-tubed at Maespoeth and the boiler metal and welds will be inspected and measured to ensure that they meet the necessary safety requirements to pass certification for the next ten years. After the boiler is lifted from the frames, the driving wheels and pony truck will be removed and the frames will be cleaned down and repainted.
The workshops at the Vale of Rheidol Railway have been contracted to fabricate a new stainless steel smokebox for the loco as well as re-profiling the tyres and fitting new crank pins. New bearings for the driving axles will be produced in-house at Maespoeth in the newly revamped machine shop, under the auspices of engineers Phil Scott and Ian Cross. The recently acquired Huron mill has also been used to take measurements to a three decimal place accuracy of the axle centres and the motion using the digital read out.
The cancellation of the 2024 Santa Specials owing to Storm Darragh meant the total loss of the much needed revenue usually accrued at this time of year in order to ‘keep the lights on’ at the Railway outside of the running season. Anyone wishing to donate to the Railway to help with general running costs or the overhaul of No. 7 can do so via the Railway’s website – www.corris.co.uk – or cheques payable to Corris Railway can be sent to The Corris Railway, Station Yard, Corris, Machynlleth SY20 9SH.
For the full story of the construction of Locomotive No. 7 see The Tale of a “Tattoo”, written by Peter Guest and available from the Corris Railway online shop or from the museum sales counter at Corris.
