- The first charter opportunity for over 20 years with No.7 Owain Glyndwr on the highly scenic VoR, Saturday 3rd November 2018
Vale of Rheidol Railway
The first charter opportunity for over 20 years with No.7 Owain Glyndwr on the highly scenic VoR, Saturday 3rd November 2018
Join us for a day's photography on the highly scenic Vale of Rheidol Railway using 1923-built No.7 Owain Glyndwr in Great Western Railway livery fresh from a major overhaul on an authentic GWR mixed train.
£75.00
Book your place
About this event
It is over twenty years since Vale of Rheidol Railway No.7 Owain
Glyndwr steamed, and the locomotive is now reaching the final stages of its
major overhaul at the line’s Aberystwyth workshops. So, with grateful thanks to
the staff of the Vale of Rheidol, we are delighted to be able to offer the
first charter using No.7 as it re-enters traffic for the first time since 1998.
Owain Glyndwr will be returning to steam over the coming Summer with the more
authentic appearance now being applied to locos as they come out of the
workshops with the air pumps carefully disguised and no longer visible. No.7
was built at Swindon in 1923 along with its sister locomotive No.8, with No.9
following in 1924 [though it was kept a closely-guarded secret from the GWR
accounts department that the locomotive ostensibly overhauled and running as
1213 was, in fact, a brand new loco that would later appear as No.9]. When the
locomotives were named in the mid-1950s by British Railways Western Region,
No.7 became Owain Glyndwr. It was the first of the engines to be oil-fired in
1978, a process which is now being revised as the Railway’s steam fleet
gradually reverts to coal firing.
Our train formation for the day will consist of No.7 hauling two GWR-liveried
closed coaches followed by two or three open wagons, the sheep wagon and the
recently-repainted van. This will give a mixed train formation that is entirely
prototypical of those that would have run during the earlier days of Great
Western Railway ownership. We will start as early as possible to make the best
use of the available light at that time of year. The light should still be
getting into all but one of the prime photo locations and the Autumnal colours
should be approaching their best on the surrounding hills and mountainsides.
Formerly part of the Cambrian Railway before being incorporated into the Great
Western Railway in 1923, the Vale of Rheidol survived in British Railways
ownership to become the last steam-operated line under BR, operated by them
until privatisation in 1989. The VoR is now owned by a charitable trust which
has done some fantastic work in providing new station buildings and beginning
to restore the locomotives and rolling stock to their more authentic historical
appearance.
Event timings
Event timings
This event will run approximateley 08.00 to Sunset.
Cost £75.00 per person
EVENT REQUIREMENTS
Camera
Lenses- suggest bringing lens lengths between 16-200mm
Spare batteries
Memory cards
Photography Knowledge:
Basic to advanced
Fitness Level:
Low - Medium
Other
Appropriate outdoor clothing and walking footwear