Category: Press Releases

September is here and the children are going back to school for a term that will end shortly before Christmas. The year is in its final third, the cricket season is coming to an end for another season and the autumn tints are appearing quietly in some of the trees.

Not long before the schools break up the Corris Railway will be running its annual Santa Trains on Saturday December 7^th and Sunday December 8^th offering visitors a short journey in our recreated Victorian carriages along the Dulas Valley from Corris Station to Maespoeth Junction. There Santa and his helpers will be waiting with presents for the children and light refreshments with a seasonal touch.

There are four trains scheduled to run on each day, leaving Corris at 11:00, 12:30, 14:00 and 15:30. Fares are £7.50 for adults and £10.00 for children. With 70 seats available on each train early booking is advisable, particularly if planning your day around a particular train time.

The Railway Museum and Shop at Corris station will be open on both days allowing visitors to see artifacts from the history of the Railway, which once linked Machynlleth and Aberllefenni, and the area generally or to buy some late items of clothing, Books, Christmas Cards or children’s gifts ahead of the festive season and 2025. The range of children’s books includes “Hugh Goes Sliding” by Christopher Awdry, author of some of the “Thomas” tales about steam locomotives on the Corris and tales about the Friendly Engines written by one of our volunteers.

One of the regular August Bank Holiday Weekend events in Machynlleth is the annual Model Railway Exhibition staged by the Corris Railway Society at Y Plas. This year’s show will take place on Saturday August 24th and Sunday 25th.

Organiser Bill Newton aims to make the event as varied as possible and including something to keep younger visitors interested while the adults are looking at layouts or browsing at the sales stands. To that end the 2024 event will include a Brio trains layout to offer a hands on experience. At the other end of the age range older visitors will be able to enjoy some nostalgia looking at a layout featuring items from the great days of the O gauge Hornby tinplate marque.

As may be expected, given that the Corris is a narrow gauge railway, there will be models depicting aspects of the narrow gauge in miniature form. Scale-wise these range from the most popular scale, 009, through to the large 16mm models. Look out for the 009 set-up using a toilet bowl (scrupulously clean!) to mount the track. Other layouts will represent standard gauge railways, modelled in N, 00 and O scales.

Stalls-wise Kate Packham returns from South Devon with her jewellery and decorative items made from recycled glass and Ian Cross will be selling second-hand railway books at bargain prices. Other vendors will be offering railwayana and models old and new.

Profits from the Model Railway Exhibition help with the revival of the Corris Railway and trains will be running from Corris station on both days, leaving at 11.00am, 12.00pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Tickets for both the Model Railway Exhibition at Y Plas, Machynlleth and the passenger train services at Corris may be pre-booked online on the Corris Railway web site here.

Light refreshments will be available at the show and there is parking close to Y Plas. The Exhibition opening hours are 10.00am to 4.30pm on each day with admission for adults costing £4.00 for adults and £2.00 for children.

During one of the heavy showers which punctuated the Corris Railway’s Gala Day visitors who took shelter in the carriage shed at Maespoeth Junction had their eyes caught by a very unusual item of rolling stock. It has now been moved to its planned home in the Museum at Corris Station.

The four wheeled wooden bodied vehicle is the reconstructed velocipede, bringing back a small vehicle which was once used by the permanent way workers on the Mid Wales narrow gauge line in its original incarnation. The work on this recreation was carried out by the current Corris’ “Tuesday Gang” who have steadily been reviving and recreating the waggon fleet.

Known to former Corris Railway staff as the Manrider it is believed that the velocipede was towed at the rear of a train proceeding along the line until it reached the work site where it was detached. Once the train had been left tools were unloaded and after that the body and then the wheels were removed from the rails. At the end of the working day the vehicle was reassembled with the body turned through 180 degrees, tools reloaded and gravity saw the vehicle and the workers return home, control being managed by a simple brake acting on one of the four wheels. There was a facility to allow the velocipede to be pedalled along if required but a combination of very basic axleboxes and the Corris’ gradients and curves would not have made this a popular practice. One curiosity which will now probably never be explained is that the wheels have six spokes on one side and four on the other.

After the line was closed in 1948 the Forestry Commission took over the locomotive shed at Maespoeth Junction and the vehicle was dumped in the inspection pit inside the shed. The Corris Railway Society was able to acquire the remains and they were taken to Corris to await reconstruction.

One difficulty was that only one picture exists of the velocipede, so the reconstruction has been based around those remains and calculations based on them and the photograph. These were two solebars, the brake anchor and the wheelsets. The pedalled axle had suffered damage and it and the wheels required specialist welding in Machynlleth. This was not helped by the original Victorian casting of the iron being less than perfect with an excess of sand inclusion.

Working from the surviving parts and the photograph the joiners in the Gang ordered the wood and set about reconstructing the body. The seat was created and positioned after some consultation as in the best place to work the pedals and a new rimmed platform was created as the likely way to carry the tools. A new brake was created to suit the 2 feet diameter wheels and other metal work was also carried out in-house.

Following on from producing a series of kits of the Corris carriages and brake van for 7mm scale Iconic Rail will be adding a ready to run model “Falcon” to their range of products.

Pre-orders are being taken for the first batch with delivery due in a couple of months time. The model has a metal chassis and gearbox so should have plenty of weight beneath what is promised to be a well detailed plastic body. The cab will be that as carried by No. 10, rather than the one John Bate fitted to “Sir Haydn” at the Talyllyn. The livery will be as per No. 10, which should certainly be accurate as Iconic Rail is the work of Graham French who lined-out No. 10 earlier in 2024.

There is definitely the beginning of an upsurge in ready to run 7mm narrow gauge models. Lionheart has produced items based on the ubiquitous in all scales Lynton and Barnstaple and now Bachmann has entered the field with various Quarry Hunslets, waggons and some buildings. It’s good to see the Corris getting a look-in rather than some of the bigger concerns.

The Iconic “Falcon” can be seen at www.iconicrail.co.uk and orders for the model which will retail at £250 can be placed via sales@iconicrail.co.uk

Saturday June 15^th was a day of variable weather in Mid Wales with good spells of sunshine interspersed with some very heavy, albeit generally of short duration, showers. Despite the downpours this year’s Corris Railway Gala was a successful day with full trains and good sales in the Railway’s shop.

It was a day of historic events. The schedule of trains leaving Corris station at half hourly intervals was the most intensive timetable ever to operate over the section of line to Maespoeth Junction and for the first time in living memory three locomotives were in steam. Expecting a good turn-out for the event the Corris had decided not to run any demonstration freight trains and to concentrate on its passenger services. There had been a spate of online bookings during the day and on the evening of the 14^th as well as walk-up sales on the day.

For most of the visitors the major attraction was the visit of “Sir Haydn” from the neighbouring Talyllyn Railway and its initial appearance alongside its much younger classmate Corris No. 10. It was the first time two “Falcons” together had worked trains in over a century and the lunchtime double-headed pairing was a highlight of the day. No. 3 was very much at home on the railway where it ran between 1878 and 1948, its green livery contrasting with No. 10 in its Corris red paint.

The visiting engine had to come to the rescue in mid-morning when the “Tattoo”, Corris No. 7, failed in section with a steam leak on its way up the line. The 2005 built loco was returned to the Junction and spent the rest of the day on the headshunt while the pair of “Falcons” worked turn and turn about.

A number of Corris Railway Society members took the opportunity to walk down past the headshunt and onto the new embankment which has now linked up with the earthworks supporting the existing head of rail. Looking ahead to the next phase of the line’s Southern Extension plans a new appeal leaflet to raise funds for the Nant Goedwig stream had been printed and a number of visitors had picked one up and were reading it (copies can be obtained by sending an s.a.e. to CRS 42 Bluebell Close, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3XQ or donations to the Southern Extension Fund can be made online at www.corris.co.uk). Hopefully donations may follow.

Overall it was a very satisfactory day for the Corris and thanks go to the visiting crew from the Talyllyn who worked No. 3 during the event.

With this year’s Corris Railway Gala Day less than a fortnight away the following is the plan of train workings for the day. Please note that circumstances, such as a breakdown, may cause this to change and the Corris Railway cannot accept responsibility for any changes to the following timetable.

Public service trains will leave Corris station at:

• 11:00 – Planned locomotive No. 7
• 11:30 – Planned locomotive No. 10
• 12:00 – Planned locomotive No. 3
• 12:30 – Planned locomotive No. 7
• 13:10 – Planned locomotives Nos. 3 & 10 double heading
• 14:15 – Planned locomotive No. 10
• 14:45 – Planned locomotive No. 3
• 15:15 – Planned locomotive No. 7
• 15:45 – Planned locomotive No. 10

Public service trains will leave Maespoeth Junction at:

• 11:15 – Planned locomotive No. 3
• 11:45 – Planned locomotive No. 7
• 12:15 – Planned locomotive No. 10
• 12:45 – Planned locomotive No. 3
• 14:00 – Planned locomotives Nos. 3 & 10, topping and tailing the train
• 14:30 – Planned locomotive No. 7
• 15:00 – Planned locomotive No. 10
• 15:30 – Planned locomotive No. 3
• 16:00 – Planned locomotive No. 7

PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO START YOUR DAY AT MAESPOETH JUNCTION. PASSENGERS MUST START FROM CORRIS STATION.

Locomotive Information

No. 3 is the surviving member of the original trio of locomotives built in Loughborough in 1878. Following the closure of the original Corris route by British Railways in 1948 it was purchased by the Talyllyn Railway in 1951 and has worked there since, being named “Sir Haydn” by our friends at Tywyn. This is the locomotive’s third visit to its original home.

No. 7 was the first steam locomotive built for the Corris Railway revival and after a chequered story around its construction – including the firm building it going out of business – entered service in 2005. It is a 21st Century classmate of a locomotive delivered from Kerr Stuart Ltd of Stoke-on-Trent in 1921 and which, accompanied No. 3 to the Talyllyn. This will be its last summer in service as a statutory overhaul falls due in 2025. To read more see the booklet The Tale of a “Tattoo” by Peter Guest.

No. 10 arrived on the revived Corris at the end of August 2023 and as visitors will see it is a classmate of No. 3, albeit some 145 years younger. It was built for us by Alan Keef Ltd, at a cost of nearly £400,000 and this Gala will see two of these “Falcon” locomotives working together for the first time in over a century. Its story is told in a booklet by John Simms.

The workshops at Maespoeth Junction will be open to the public, as will the Museum and Sales area at Corris station. Light refreshments will be available 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 has a good cafe. It is possible to walk to the Railway from the Craft Centre via the zig-zag path but the return up the path is not for the unfit.

Photograph shows a scene from the 2021 Gala Day when ex-Corris Railway No. 4 Tattoo Locomotive paid a visit from Talyllyn Railway to join replica Corris Railway No. 7.

This year’s Corris Railway Gala Day, which will be held on Saturday June 15th, will have a couple of changes to previous Galas on the Mid-Wales narrow gauge railway, Past galas have seen demonstration freight and van trains running between Corris station and Maespoeth Junction and some trains headed by diesel locomotives.

Instead this year’s plans intend to see three locomotives in steam. The Corris’ own Kerr Stuart “Tattoo” No. 7, completed in 2005, and its “Falcon” No. 10, delivered from the workshops of Alan Keef Ltd at the end of August 2023 and making its Gala debut. They will be joined by “Falcon” No. 3 “Sir Haydn”, courtesy of the Talyllyn Railway, which will be spending the month of June back on its original route. No. 3 was constructed by the Henry Hughes company in Loughborough in 1878 and is the surviving member of the trio of locomotives that brought steam to the Dulas Valley for the first time.

The lack of freight workings is based on past experience when planned trips for the Railway’s heritage freight stock had to be cancelled on the day in favour of passenger trains to meet the demand of space for people to travel.

One of the features of the day will be some double heading of trains by No’s 3 and 10. Evidence of double heading by “Falcons” during the Corris’ history, even in its “golden age” before the First World War is scanty. One photograph exists of such a working on the bridge over the river Dyfi at Machynlleth but it is not known if this was a set-up for a commercial postcard. With the original route closed in 1948 memories of how trains worked have almost vanished but local tradition says that some trains were double headed at times of high demand, such as on market days in Machynlleth. It is suggested that on these occasions the pairing would work returning trains from Machynlleth as far as Maespoeth Junction. There with the most severe climbing over, including the 1 in 30 gradient on the approach to the Junction, which the current work on the Southern Extension will recreate, one locomotive would detach before the other took the trains on the rest of its journey to Corris and Aberllefenni.

It can be safely said that three locomotives in steam is a sight that has not been seen on the Corris in over a century and beyond living memory.

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 Railway’s Museum at Corris will be open, along with the sales area at which drinks and sweets will be on sale. It is a very short walk from the station to the village shop and cafe, and the “Slaters Arms” which until 1948 had its beer delivered by train with the barrels being rolled across the road from the level crossing opposite the pub. 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 34 stops outside the station yard.

Advance Gala tickets can be purchased via www.corris.co.uk

This year’s Corris Railway Gala Day on June 15th will be a special moment in the history of the revival of the oldest narrow gauge railway in Mid-Wales. For the first time in over a century two “Falcon” locomotives will be in steam and working trains between Corris station at Maespoeth Junction.

Following the completion of our new “Falcon”. No. 10, in August 2023 it has been a priority to see it working with Corris No. 3, the surviving and much rebuilt member of the original trio built in Loughborough by the Henry Hughes company in 1878. Since 1951, and following the closure of the original Corris route by British Railways in 1948, it has worked on the neighbouring Talyllyn Railway where it has been named “Sir Haydn”. It has visited Corris before during the revival period, the photograph shows No. 3 at Maespoeth Junction during passenger services in June 2003, but this will be the first time the two classmates have featured together.

No. 3 is the result of the work of Corris Railway Engineer Alfred Hulme who tackled the problem of the original trio wearing out after four decades of hard work by amalgamating components from No.s 1 and 3, whilst No. 2 stayed serviceable as back up to No. 4, delivered new from Kerr Stuart of Stoke-on-Trent in 1921. More work was done on the amalgamated No. 3 at Swindon in 1929, ahead of the Corris being acquired by the Great Western Railway the following year. No. 2 was then retired and scrapped along with No. 1.

With the Corris and Talyllyn sharing the two feet and three inches track gauge, which is almost unique in Britain, neither “Falcon” will be seen working elsewhere so this is a chance to witness and enjoy a bit of railway history. Why not come to see the event and take a train journey in this beautiful part of Wales with the sun at its annual zenith?

If you cannot make it on the 15th No. 3 will be in action on the Corris on the 8th, 22nd and 29th.

Advance tickets can be purchased online now.

The Corris will have publicity stands at two different events simultaneously on Saturday April 27th.

One will be at Narrow Gauge South, an annual event organised by the 009 Society and featuring some 30 layouts in the most popular of the narrow gauge modelling scales. There will also be trade stands with items to tempt the wallet to open or the card to be wielded. The venue is Barton Peveril College, Chestnut Cottage. Eastleigh, S050 5ZA and the doors will be open from 10am to 5pm.

The other is the National Garden Railway Show which is taking place at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh Park, CV8 2LG. It is between Coventry and Warwick. This is large scale modelling and is organised by the 16mm Society. 17 layouts are due to appear plus trade support. Opening hours will be 9.30am to 5pm.

Overcoming adversity in re-establishing a much loved line. Corris Railway Society member Chris Smith will be giving a talk about the Corris to the Shropshire Railway Society on Thursday 11th April 2024.

The venue is The Gateway Education and Arts Centre, Chester Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 1NB. The start time is 19:30 and the finish time 21:30 with a break for refreshments.

Guests are welcome but are expected to make a donation of at least £3.00 to help defray costs.