Corris Railway Gala Day June 15th 2024

No 3 at Corris Railway - June 2003 (cropped)

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.

2 thoughts on “Corris Railway Gala Day June 15th 2024

  • 6th June 2024 at 8:54 pm
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    Hi
    Is there a fund launched for no. 7’s overhaul and when is it hoped to have her back in service ?

    Reply
    • 7th June 2024 at 10:01 am
      Permalink

      Thank you for your enquiry Jenny. In 1995 when the concept of building No. 7 became real a fund was set up to be able to provide funds for the build of the locomotive and was viewed as a 10-year project to get the locomotive built and onto Corris metals. This was and still is known as “The Tattoo Locomotive Appeal Fund”. Even after the completion and delivery of the locomotive in 2005 the fund continues to provide monies from donations to pay for ongoing maintenance and repairs and the annual Winter strip-down and testing of the locomotive. It is this fund that will contribute towards the cost of this (second) major 10-year overhaul. Costs are a little indeterminate as although it is known that the boiler will have a new set of tubes installed any and all other work and replacements that will be required depend entirely on what is found when the locomotive is stripped down. Similarly, it is not possible to give a meaningful estimate of the amount of time that will be required for this overhaul but “time will be of the essence” with the 2025 passenger services commencing at the Easter weekend, although we do have the Falcon Locomotive No. 10 of course. Donations to help towards the cost of this planned overhaul and maintenance can be made on this website at: https://www.corris.co.uk/tattoo-locomotive/

      Reply

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