SN5881 : Coupling up
taken 7 years ago, near to Aberystwyth, Ceredigion/Sir Ceredigion, Wales
Vale of Rheidol Railway locomotives No.7 and no. 1213 are now safely back in Aberystwyth after a brief visit to the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition, held at the NEC on the 26th and 27th November.
I just caught a glimpse of No.1213 travelling through Capel Bangor on its way back to Aberystwyth and decided to travel into town to see if I could get a few shots of it being unloaded. When I arrived, the trailer on which it was loaded was in place with a 'rail-ramp' just being constructed to allow it to be unloaded. No. 7 was on another trailer elsewhere in the yard.
No.7 is still a 'kit of parts' being in the latter stages of a complete overhaul and has been out of use now for some 18 years.
No.9 has reverted to its original number applied by the GWR when it was built in 1924. That will take some getting used to as, not being around in early GWR days, I've always known it as No.9! Nos. 7 & 8 were always identified as such and so it is probable that those numbers will be retained by the railway in its search for GWR authenticity.
No.1213 is now unnamed, the name 'Prince of Wales' was applied in BR days as were the names of the other two. No.8, previously 'Llywelyn', has been running unnamed for a number of years now. It remains to be seen what livery No.7 will carry when it returns to service, hopefully in mid-2017. It was previously named 'Owain Glyndŵr'.