Glyn Valley Tramway - Preservation

Preservation

Most of the railway's stock and track were scrapped in the 1930s. However, some carriage bodies were sold to local farmers. Two of these bodies survived long enough to be rescued by the Talyllyn Railway where they have been restored to working order and are now used in regular traffic. A quantity of Glyn Valley track also found its way to the Talyllyn.

The waiting rooms in Pontfadog and Dolywern survive to this day in their original locations. In 1950 the council officer used Pontfadog waiting room to collect rates and the locals nicknamed it ‘Pontfadog Town Hall’. It was later bought by the public house and it was also used as a craft shop.

Part of the historic tramway bed – dubbed the 'Little bit of Heaven Railway' is set to be revived by the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust (formed as a charity in October 2007) who plan to recreate its appearance in the 1920s era and provide a visitor centre and workshops with educational facilities to display and interpret the history and development of the Tramway through artefacts and audio visual media. However, the planned tramway will be operating with a different track gauge to the original, and so cannot be seen as a "heritage" line. The Glyn Valley Tramway Trust are to carry out a Design and Evaluation study of the entire route from Chirk to Glyn Ceiriog and beyond, and as a first phase intend re-instating a 1 km section as an operational steam heritage railway from the original Chirk GVT station next to the Shrewsbury to Chester main line to Baddy's Wood near Pontfaen by 2010.

The New Glyn Valley Tramway & Industrial Heritage Trust have plans to open a Heritage and Interpretation Centre in Glyn Ceiriog. Their website at http://www.glynvalleytramway.org.uk/notthetrust.html details their aims.

There is some local and political support for a revival of part of the Tramway by the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust (http://www.thegvt.org/), particularly in and around the town of Chirk, to assist with the economic regeneration of the area whose economy is dependent on two large local employers. . However, there is substantial opposition to the plans in the valley itself. The Trust recognises that to make a viable attraction from day one, it will have to make use of available resources, which is likely to result in the use of non-authentic, but sympathetic locomotives and rolling stock initially. The income from such an operation will allow the more specialised conservation and historical activities to be supported. At a later stage of development the Trust is keen to pursue the construction of replicas of the original Beyer Peacock tramway locomotives. The gauge proposed will not be the unique 2'41/2" of the original tramway but 2'6".

A contract has been awarded to Thirty Inch Railways Ltd in September 2008

The Trust and their consultants will undertake a thorough consultation and evaluation process over the next six months resulting in a public display of the results and detailed designs in Spring 2009. The Trust seeks to engage with all parties, especially special interest organisations, to help prepare a definitive plan for the future of all aspects of the Tramway. It is likely that the outcomes of this work will be incorporated into the local authority's development framework and tourism strategy.