HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter

Cymdeithas TeithwyrRheilffordd CanolCymru

Heart of Wales LineTravellers’

Association

In This Issue...In This Issue...In This Issue...In This Issue...In This Issue... Chronicles of Llangadog Stationvolume 8 ... ... ... ... ... 6News from the HoWL Forum 8Colour Centre Fold! ... ... 12AGM Draft Minutes / Report 16A Word from the Chairman... 20

Signal Returns to Dolau ... 350th Anniv of Closure ofCarmarthen Branch... ... 4Bucknell Memories ... ... 5

PRICE

£1.50Free to Members Signal returns to Dolau Station (see page 3).

[Photo © Stephen Miles]

Number 126

HOHOHOHOHOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTAAAAA

NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERAutumn 2013Autumn 2013Autumn 2013Autumn 2013Autumn 2013

24 Printed by PostDatum, Llandovery

Blocked In! The 17.05 Swansea service stuck behind the 17.47 Birmingham trainthat had to discharge its passengers after it developed a fault in Shrewsbury on 7thSeptember. The HoWL train was a good ten minutes late leaving.

[Photo © G Davies]

Saturday rush hour through the arches at Llandrindod Wells and, perhaps, acontinuation of the HOWLTA AGM. [Photo © Ray Sharratt]

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter2

FFFFFor neor neor neor neor new HOw HOw HOw HOw HOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTA Committee and reA Committee and reA Committee and reA Committee and reA Committee and revisedvisedvisedvisedvisedNewsletter copy dates please see page 23Newsletter copy dates please see page 23Newsletter copy dates please see page 23Newsletter copy dates please see page 23Newsletter copy dates please see page 23

Coming Along the LineHere are some more dates for your diary of events taking place in thenext few months that can be reached from the HoWL

20th November 2013Shrewsbury Christmas Cracker2nd-3rd December 2013Royal Welsh Agricultural Winter Fair,Llanelwydd (buses from Builth Road)25th & 26th December 2013Christmas Day & Boxing Day -sorry, no trains on our line 27th January 2014Copy date for Winter HOWLTAnewsletter

From the Editor’s Desktop

30th March 2014Last day of free travel on HoWL thisyear for bus pass holders28th April 2014Copy date for Spring HOWLTAnewsletter17th & 18th May 2014Royal Welsh Spring Festival,Llanelwydd (buses from Builth Road)20th September 2014HOWLTA AGM at Llanwrtyd Wells

An interest ingmixed bag of con-tents in this issue- start ing offwith threelargely nostal-

gic pieces about Dolau and Bucknellstations and the old Carmarthen branch(not to mention, of course, that won-derful centrefold!). But in fact most ofthis newsletter is looking to the future -I would like to draw readers’ attentionparticularly to the latest report from theHoWL Forum (p.8), the Minutes ofHOWLTA’s AGM (pp. 16-19 - and,especially, the addresses by our Presi-dent, Prof Stuart Cole, and the repre-sentative from ATW, Michael Vaughan,

and our Chairman, Gill Wright’s Re-port). Some of the likely forthcomingchanges mentioned in the latter arealso covered in the Word from theChairman (p.20).Changes are clearly in the air - it is upto all of us to ensure that these changeshelp lead us ever further towards thetarget identified previously, and re-peated (with a slight, but most impor-tant, addition) below...

“We need more trains,faster trains, comfortabletrains...to serve the localcommunity”Peter Berry

23

Clippings

Important NoticeImportant NoticeImportant NoticeImportant NoticeImportant NoticeHOWLTA members are reminded that under no circumstances should they writeor speak on behalf of HOWLTA unless thaty have specific authorisation from the

committee to do so. Any deviation from this ruling will be acted on immediately, asit is important that all matters which carry the HOWLTA tag should have the

approval of the committee.

HOHOHOHOHOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTAAAAASubscription RatesSubscription RatesSubscription RatesSubscription RatesSubscription Rates

Individual membership ... £5 Overseas membership ... £15Family membership ... £6 Corporate membership ... £10Renewal date is 1st March each year.50% discount if joining after 1st September

Please NotePlease NotePlease NotePlease NotePlease NoteThe views expressed in this

Newsletter are not necessarilythose of the HOWLTA committee.

HOHOHOHOHOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERAdvertising RatesAdvertising RatesAdvertising RatesAdvertising RatesAdvertising Rates

(Black & white adverts only - colour rates on request)One issue 1 year (4 issues)

HALF PAGE (128mm x 90mm) ... ... ... £80 £200QUARTER PAGE (61mm x 90mm) ... ... ... £45 £120EIGHTH PAGE (61mm x 43mm) ... ... ... £25 £70SIXTEENTH PAGE (61mm x 22mm) ... ... £15 £40

HOHOHOHOHOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERA NEWSLETTERRevised Copy DatesRevised Copy DatesRevised Copy DatesRevised Copy DatesRevised Copy Dates

Winter 2014 (pub. mid-February Copy by 27th January 2014Spring 2014 (pub. mid-May) Copy by 28th April 2014Summer 2014 (pub. mid-August) Copy by 28th July 2014Autumn 2014 (pub. mid-November) Copy by 27th October 2014

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter 3

Semaphore Signal Returns to DolauSemaphore Signal Returns to DolauSemaphore Signal Returns to DolauSemaphore Signal Returns to DolauSemaphore Signal Returns to DolauStaStaStaStaStationtiontiontiontion

Major Black’s son, Paul, wrote to MikeReynolds, the chairman of Dolau StationAction Group, to enquire if the group wouldlike to take possession of the signal. Mikereplied that they would and the signal wastransported on a trailer from Norfolk all theway to Dolau House Farm immediatelyadjacent to Dolau Station. On 17th July thisyear the signal was re-erected in the centreof a flower bed on the disused upside platformunder the direction of Mr. Ian Smyth (NetworkRail’s Infrastructure Maintenance ProtectionCo-ordinator based in Shrewsbury) workingwith Mr. Steve Griffiths (Off Track Supervisorbased in Hereford), Mr. Adrian Bennet t(Assistant Permanent Way Section Managerbased in Llandrindod Wel ls), Mr. JohnWilliams (Technician based in LlandrindodWells) and five volunteers from the stationaction group. To give the signal extra heightthe hollow column of the signal was slid overthe top of a section of an old telephone polewhich had been previously concreted into theground. This final operation was undertakenusing a tractor with lifting equipment. Thesignal post was subsequently bolted to theold telephone pole and the whole structurehas been given two coats of paint by thestation volunteers, the paint being kindlydonated by Network Rail.

The signal is a definite focal point of interestat Dolau Station and along the Line generallywhere there are now no semaphore signalsapart from those at Pantyffynnon Station andnear the junction with the Marches Line atCraven Arms. One driver of a northboundservice train recently remarked that afterseeing the signal at Dolau Station he wasunsure of “which line to take”! Certainly thesignal is a welcome addition to those historicelements of the Line’s infrastructure whichstill remain.

In July 2013, a semaphore signal was re-erected on the disused upside platform atDolau Station on the Heart of Wales Linenearly 38 years after it was decommissionedand removed from that station.

The signal was manufactured in 1971 andwas a standard lower quadrant semaphoreof a t ype widely in use on the WesternRegion of British Railways at that time. InFebruary 1972 it was installed in the trackbedof the old up main line adjacent to the signalbox at Dolau Station Level Crossing,replacing the former LNWR up starting signalwhich was on a bracket attached to the boxitself. The signal box had ceased to be ablock post several years before and thesignal’s sole function was to protect the levelcrossing which sti l l had mechanical lyoperated double gates. The new semaphoresignal was in use for less than four yearsbecause on 1st November 1975 the signalbox and all associated signalling equipmentwere decommissioned and replaced by anautomatic open crossing with flashing lights.

The redundant signal box was quicklydemolished because of visibility issues andthe semaphore signal posts were also takendown. The top six feet of the signal post(including the signal arm and finial) whichhad formed part of the signal adjacent tothe signal box was purchased by Major HughBlack of The Old Vicarage, Dolau, who putit in his garden. He and his family latermoved to Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, andtook the signal with them. After some years,Major Black and his family moved again (withthe signal) to King’s Lynn in Norfolk. Therethe signal was erected in their garden andremained there until 2012 when the family,owing to the earlier death of Major Blackand due also to the deteriorating health ofMrs. Black, put the property up for sale.

22

Line RepresentaLine RepresentaLine RepresentaLine RepresentaLine Representatititititivvvvves andes andes andes andes andStaStaStaStaStation Adopterstion Adopterstion Adopterstion Adopterstion AdoptersShrewsbury John CreswellChurch Stretton Church Stretton Rail User GroupCraven Arms Richard WatkinsBroome Alan BelcherHopton Heath Paula TuckerBucknell Beryl Starr; Bucknell WI; Ray DaviesKnighton Shauna DaviesKnucklas ––––*Llangunllo ––––*Llanbister Road ––––*Dolau Steve Vipond; Dolau Action GroupPenybont Sue CookeLlandrindod to be advisedBuilth Road to be advisedCilmeri Ann & Stephen FrodshamGarth to be advisedLlangammarch Ron Birchell - Llangammarch Community CouncilLlanwrtyd John Price; Ainsley Jones; Station Action GroupSugar Loaf Peter & Margaret JoyceCynghordy Gill WrightLlandovery Mary Iliff; Maureen Williams; Llandovery Town Council;

Friends of Llandovery StationLlanwrda Richard Rees; Hywel JonesLlangadog Eileen Mainwaring; Dennis HarrisonLlandeilo Ros BellamyFfairfach David RimmerLlandybie Gwyn IrvingAmmanford Ammanford LionsPantyffynnon Mike Smith, Amman Valley RailwayPontarddulais Mike Smith, Amman Valley RailwayLlangennech Llangennech Community Council; David EdwardsBynea Rex LloydLlanelli ––––*Gowerton ––––*Swansea Felicity Cobley

Anyone who would like to help at their local station is invited to contact Gill Wright (tel.01550-750261; email : gillwright.glandwr@gmail.com)

At the time of going to press there are vacancies at those stations marked * above. Gillwould particularly like to hear from potential volunteers for these.

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter4

Recent Developments and Another50th Anniversary of a Railway ClosureCompiled from information supplied by George ScarfeFree Rail Travel

This winter there is again free rail travel be-tween Swansea and Shrewsbury via the Heartof Wales Line for eligible bus pass holders inPowys and Carmarthenshire. This conces-sion runs from Tuesday 1st October 2013 toSunday 30th March 2014.

Arriva Club 55The 'Arriva Club 55' travel concession wasre-introduced on 1st October 2013 and con-tinues until 30th November 2013. This per-mits anyone aged 55 or over to make a re-turn journey to any station on the ArrivaTrains Wales network on (i) any day exceptFriday for £23 and (ii) on any day of the weekfor £28. Senior and Disabled Persons Railcardholders get a a discount of £1 on all ArrivaClub 55 tickets. Other train operating com-panies are permitting concessionary 'add-on'fares to be used within their areas by ArrivaTrains Wales' passengers seeking to travelbeyond the limits of the ATW network toreach destinations which include LondonMarylebone, Worcester and many stations inthe Manchester and Liverpool areas.

50th Anniversary of the closure of theLlandeilo to Carmarthen BranchOn an historical note, September saw the50th anniversary of the closure of the branchline which used to run between Llandeilo andCarmarthen. The branch left the Heart ofWales Line at Carmarthen Valley Junction, apoint about half a mile south-west of LlandeiloStation, and then extended westwards alongthe Tywi Valley for a distance of just underthirteen and a half miles to Abergwili Junc-tion at a point just north-east of Carmarthen

Station where it joined the Carmarthen toAberystwyth Line. The Carmarthen Branch,as it became known, opened to freight in1864 and to passengers in 1865. It had sta-tions at Llandeilo Bridge, Golden Grove,Drysllwyn, Llanarthney, Nantgaredig andAbergwili and was a charming single trackrural railway with passing places - but slow,the journey time for passenger trains betweenLlandeilo and Carmarthen was about threequarters of an hour.

The last day of train services on theCarmarthen Branch was Saturday 7th Sep-tember 1963, just over five months after thepublication of the Beeching Report, The Re-shaping of British Railways.

Charter TrainsThere are currently no reports of railtouroperators planning to run any further char-ter trains along the Heart of Wales Line thisyear. It is now unlikely that we shall see anymore until the spring of next year.

In fact, the Railway Touring Company ofKing's Lynn is planning to run a steam hauledcharter train southwards along the line onSaturday 12th April 2014. Between Shrews-bury and Cardiff Central, the train will behauled by two LMS 'Black Five' steam loco-motives (Nos 44871 and 45407).

Although the official timings for this train willnot be available until a few days before it isdue to run, it is anticipated that it will arrivein Llandrindod Wells at approximately 1.00p.m. and leave for Llanwrtyd Wells and thesouth at about 2.30 p.m.

[Editor : George has started to compile anew Charter Trains List for 2014]

21

NeNeNeNeNews from the Associaws from the Associaws from the Associaws from the Associaws from the Associationtiontiontiontion

Useful TUseful TUseful TUseful TUseful Telephone Numbers / Welephone Numbers / Welephone Numbers / Welephone Numbers / Welephone Numbers / Web Siteseb Siteseb Siteseb Siteseb SitesLlandrindod Station Ticket Office (Kelsham Hanna) ... ... 01597-822053National Rail Enquiries ... ... ... ... ... ... 08457-484950Arriva Trains Wales (Customer Services) ... ... ... 08456-061660HOWLTA web site ... ... ... ... ...... www.howlta.org.ukHOWL Forum web site ... ... ... ... ... www.heart-of-wales.co.ukBritish Transport Police (24 hours National Freephone No.) ... 0800-405040Network Rail National Helpline... ... ... ... ... 08457-114141

Membership ReportSince the beginning our HOWLTA's new yearwe have 26 new members. Our figures arenow showing 1044 paid up members whichdo include corporate membership.

200 ClubUp to 20th October we have sold 373 ticketsfor the 200 Club. Recent winners are listed

below :

August 2013017 – John Lewis, Shrewsbury - £20333 – R Welfare, Sutton, Surrey - £15272 – D Harper, Llandrindod Wells - £10049 – B Billingham, Llandovery - £10

299 – Mrs A Williams, Ffestiniog - £10

September 2013003 – Mrs M D Nash, Swanse - £20093 – Mrs M Humble, Craven Arms - £15260 – Mr Stone, Church Stretton - £10151 – P Adams, Ludlow - £10

064 – K Lloyd, Carmarthen - £10

October 2013369 – G Jones, Newport - £20323 – R J Kenby, Woking - £15112 – R Potts, Bristol - £10290 - J Pyper, Llangammarch Wells - £10277 – Mrs A Clarke, Llandovery - £10

Hazel Touch, Membership Secretary

Committee Meetings 2013/147th December 201311th January 201412th April 201412th July 201411th October 2014Committee meetings start at 11.30am atCammarch Hotel, Llangammarch.

Newsletter Stuffing Session19th or 20th February 2014

Starts at 11.30am at The Level Crossing, nearLlandovery Station (see page 11).

E-Mail AddressesIt would be a great help to HOWLTA’s hard-working officers if all members with accessto the internet would let us know their e-mail address. The simplest way of doing thisis to send a short e-mail to one of HOWLTA’sofficers (see page 15). Alternatively pleasewrite to the address below. Rest assured wewill not pass your e-mail address on to any-one else.

Address for Correspondence :HOWLTA, Llandovery Station,

Llandovery SA20 0BG

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter 5

My father has lived in the Station House and Station House Cottage (the reno-vated booking office / waiting room) at Bucknell for 56 years, having been Sta-tion Master from ‘57 to closure.I took these photos from my bedroom window, probably in the 1960s.

Bucknell MemoriesAustin Powell

The first shows the sta-t ion yard looking to-wards Shrewsbury. Theequipment to the imme-diate right of the goodsshed is a bucket loaderand bagging machineused by the RadnorshireCompany which had itslocal coal distributionbase at the station. Notethe two sidings to theright of the picture, one either side of the tree trunks.The other photo show the ‘local’ leaving Bucknell heading towards Knighton.Each day a stopping goods train ran from Craven Arms to Llandrindod Wellsfrom where the crew would make the return journey on the corresponding pick-

up goods traincoming from thesouth. It wouldstop daily, aroundm i d - m o r n i n gtime, at Bucknelland the guard wasoften Jack Sum-mers who wasbased in CravenArms and can justbe seen on theguards van.

[Photo © Austin Powell]

[Photo © Austin Powell]

20

A Word from the Chairman

ADVERTISEADVERTISEADVERTISEADVERTISEADVERTISEHEREHEREHEREHEREHERE

A 1/8th page advert like this costs just£25 for one issue(or £70 for a year).

See page 23 for full advertising rates.

It is after much deliberation and soul searchingthat I have come to the decision that I willstep down as Chairman of HOWLTA, so nextyear’s Annual General Meeting will be last. Ihave a year to make sure that everything isin order and all those things that mill aroundin my head, that I do without thinking, canbe passed on to my successor.

It has been a long time – 1992 was the yearand a lot has happened in that time. BritishRail ran the show then, before privatisationand train operating companies and Railtrack.Then came Network Rail and more traincompanies. It was a huge learning curve foreverybody, not least the fact that, given theopportunity, people did actually want totravel by train. This meant that the railindustry as a whole had to have a completemind change. Instead of contracting as hadbeen the thinking since the 1940’s, growthwas what was required and huge sums ofmoney had to be found to turn this shudderingleviathan into something fit for purpose. Itis not there yet, but is moving in the rightdirection.

Things can never stay the same and myannouncement means that HOWLTA will dothings differently. Let’s face it. When I firststarted, email didn’t exist! Now we cancommunicate on a daily basis when necessary.The first change is halving the number ofregular committee meetings in the year. Themain product for our members is theNewsletter, so the meetings will be quarterlyprior to the copy date. This may be moreattractive to members to become involved.

The management structure may have tochange and though some things may happenwhile I am still in the chair, more will be forwhoever comes after. I have been aware forsome time that we are not able to make use

of the help from people who are keen tohelp and we need to remedy this. Maybe if Ifocus on that for my last year, the job for thesuccession will be that much easier.

One ‘job’ that could be tackled now is that ofputting the Newsletters in envelopes. Werelied on my daughter Sally for some timenow and of course she can no longer do it,but it could be that a small group of memberscould get together and have a session ofenvelope stuffing once a quarter. I can imagineit could turn into a little social get together.Let Peter Berry or me know if you would bewilling.

And of course, when I do step down nextyear, I shall go on travelling and I will still be

able to ‘See you on the Train’!

Gillian Wright

Gwili RailwayOur near neighbours on the Gwili Railwayhave Christmas special events including 'San-ta's Magical Steaming' on a selection of datesfrom 8th to 24th December. Market stalls, a50 foot high inflatable snowman and Santa'sGrotto will all be featured. Pre booking ise ssent ial: cal l 01267-238213 or v isitwww.gwili-railway.co.uk DE

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter6

Chronicles of Llangadog Station - vol 8Chronicles of Llangadog Station - vol 8Chronicles of Llangadog Station - vol 8Chronicles of Llangadog Station - vol 8Chronicles of Llangadog Station - vol 8Eileen Mainwaring and Dennis HarrisonEileen Mainwaring and Dennis HarrisonEileen Mainwaring and Dennis HarrisonEileen Mainwaring and Dennis HarrisonEileen Mainwaring and Dennis HarrisonWe are overwhelmed here at the downtownLlangadog station when we avidly read thelatest Howling Newsletter. We have twomore stations (let us boost our morale a littleand call ourselves stations and not halts——the latter means we have to blackmail thedrivers to stop) writing in with all the latestnews from their little empires. Our platformstaff at Llangadog is suitably impressedparticularly at the goings on at Dolau ———which leads us to think that we too can havean open day and invite the Queen and thewhole of the Cabinet for tea thus helping tobolster our dwindling cash reserves——if wecharged the crowds a fiver a go we shouldamass enough to buy the whole ofLlandovery station completely and have itmoved to Llangadog——loop line included.In the meantime we poor relations atLlangadog are now bankrupt by theacquisition of four Lavender plants for thenew flower bed——well hardly a bed just aglorified wooden pot if you like. Anyway,welcome to Dolau and Bucknell——two newstations to join the ranks of the brave whoput pen to paper (we include emails in thissweeping generalisation) and put theirstations on the line in the Newsletter. Cilmerimay also be a contender but after muchscrutiny we failed to spot any mention ofthe Adopter in charge. Maybe in time wecan have more Adopter ar t icles in theNewsletter than those from Howlta and wecan change the name to Adoptaletta.

Now then. talking about flower beds and potsand things. Llangadog platform aestheticssub-committee have included a photo of thelatest flower pot thing gracing our platform1. In fact one of three but it is the latest andincluded in this report of our activities to

inspire other small and struggling stationsthat you can do things on the cheapAnyway, the two foot square f lowercontainer in the photo cost us about £12,and for those who fancy a session with ahandsaw, screwdriver and electric drill youwill need a few metres of 6" x 1" Tanalisedroughsawn planks from Ken Ratcliffe, acouple of metres of 2" x 2" and a few screws.Our other similar containers we made lastyear cost us £10 each and heaven onlyknows what they are going to cost next year——we do need a few more.

This is confession time for this assistantsubservient Adopter who is being besiegedby howling Howling members to join theAssociation. I am, actually, just a plain oldfashioned, dyed in the wool, hands oncertified station maintenance operative, but,many years ago I had to draw the line atwhat I could afford to join, or not, as thecase may be. I delve and labour——sometimestoo much, at our little Llangadog platformand am content. I am just as content to seeour small endeavours here emblazoned in theNewsletter for all the world to see and hopethat will be enough. So thank you Howltafor giving us the space.

19

produce additional traffic for the line: thereare problems as well as opportunities here

---why the HoWL Railcard is only sold atLlandrindod station: this is currently beinglooked at by ATW’s Commercial Policy Groupfollowing representations from HOWLTA

---whether the Senior Citizens’ free travelconcession (for Carmarthenshire and Powysbus pass holders) would be returning thisautumn: the Welsh Government had yet toannounce it s decision on th is mat ter.Members were advised to consult the ATWwebsite for the latest information on this andother developments

11. Address by a representative ofNetwork Rail: members were disappointedthat no-one from NR was present at themeet ing. However, an e-mail had beenreceived which referred to personnel changeswithin the organisation and to severalschemes which are due to be completed onthe line in the near future, including scourprotection work at Stowe (near Knighton)and repairs to Sugar Loaf tunnel andCynghordy viaduct

12. Report by the HoWL Forum JointLine Development Officers (DavidEdwards & Gill Wright): Gill and Davidcirculated copies of their report to thosepresent. David then expanded on some ofthe points in the report and other currentissues, including:

---the slight fall reported in use of the line:Michael Vaughan commented that this shouldbe seen in the GB context, where a slightdecline had also been seen

---the production of a new leaflet on usingthe line for days out and short breaks

---the work done by the HoWL Forum inconjunction with the other WelshCommunity Rail Partnerships (CRPs), suchas promoting rail travel to Wales at majorstations in Birmingham, London andManchester, and the production of an al l-

Wales map showing rail routes and the TransCambria long-distance bus services

---the Local Management Study, which isfocussing on improvements which existingand potential passengers would favour. It isanticipated that the consultants’ final reportwill be presented to the Minister in earlyNovember. He referred to the survey whichis being conducted as part of this exerciseand urged members present not only tocomplete a survey form themselves but alsoto take packs of forms and try to get peopleto complete them in their localities

13. Discussion of motions notified inadvance by members: no motions hadbeen received

14. Open Forum: several points werementioned by members, including theimpending completion of repainting of thefootbr idge at Church Stret ton and theperceived need for each station to have atleast two “running in “ boards, it beingpointed out that there is only one at Broomeand that Sugar Loaf has no such board atpresent.

Tony Bains of Green Dragon Activities, Llanwrtyd,joined some of those attending the AGM to launch thelatest revised and updated edition of David Perrott’sand Les Lumsdon’s Great Walks from the Heart ofWales Railway (pub. Kittiwake, price £5.95). The bookincludes walks suitable for all abilities.

[Photo © Peter Berry]

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter 7

That stupid woman on the DIGITALINFORMATION INDICATOR still refuses topronounce our name correctly and usAdopters at places like Llangamarch Wellsand Llanwrtyd and all the other ‘Llan’ stationsshould be up in arms and writing to our MP.Is Llan just a step too far???? Maybe withjust four trains a day we can let it slide!

The big news of the day is that we haveacquired a petrol strimmer that cost us naughtso that with luck we can at last attack thequarter acre of rough land that has been thebane of our our little lives here at downtownLlangadog for the past umpteen years. Allour previous plans came unstuck but then,out of the blue, just like a miracle, came apetrol strimmer. This one is a Japanese make,which for those in the know means OKengineering unlike the Chinese imports whichjust mean trouble. We are riding high andhave great expectations for taming our unrulypatch. It had languished in a garden shed forfive years but after a good cleaning and a fillof petrol started first pull. In fact an up tothe minute update on strimmer operationsshows a better than expected outcome——asummer’s growth was reduced to zero afteran hour’s toil and we have high hopes forthe future.

Our Lawsons Cypress hedge in the meantimecontinues to grow and the concrete fence itwas designed to hide is now pretty wellhidden. T’ank de Good Lord for green thingsthat grow. And grow quickly. But not theweeds -—except at Bucknell.

How many Adopters does it take to lookafter a grand main line terminal station wewonder. According to the records——— justone. Our minds then started musing aboutwhat a big station Adopter does. At Swanseafor instance if you put out the red carpettreatment for the Central Wales Linepassengers on platform one then OK. But,

our train may in fact depart from platformtwo, or, arrive in platform three next trip.So, do you keep dashing from one platformto the other with the coffee and buns.Commuters on the 125’s would have a shockat sampling the delights of al l theconveniences and perks that us CWLAdopters throw at its customers———particularly after having to stand all the wayfrom Paddington—— And to compound theproblem we are told that CWL trains departfrom platform four on a Sunday. So there. Ashort resume from Felicity and a nice pic ofthe hanging baskets on Swansea platformone would put us all out of our misery.Platform one is the one nearest the toilets !

I have been besieged again by a Howlingmember—but not an Adopter——as to thespelling of certain towns in the Newsletter.From th is long standing re sident ofPontardulais we learn that the correct spellingof Pontardulais is in fact—er— Pontardulais.He was at pains to explain the Welsh waysof spell ing to me at great length.Pantyffynnon——two ff’s like in laughing——Pontardulais——one ‘d’. His graphic rhetoricincluded words not printable here or otherwiseyou would have to read it after the 9pmwatershed. We include Pantyffynon here as anaide memoire to the Editor in case he getstempted to put just one f in the thing.We now have a fair workload at our littlestation and are now looking for a third Adopterto join our ranks. So, if anybody is interestedin joining the madness that is Llangadogstation and lives within a couple of miles thenplease contact the editor with your phonenumber who will be pleased to pass on theoffer to us.Eileen Mainwaring.Eileen Mainwaring.Eileen Mainwaring.Eileen Mainwaring.Eileen Mainwaring. Chief Adopter.Dennis Harrison.Dennis Harrison.Dennis Harrison.Dennis Harrison.Dennis Harrison. Slave Adopter andchief Strimming Person.

18

repor t, in addition to any immediate andmedium term improvements

9. Chairman’s Address: Gill referred tothe untimely death of Tom Clift just beforelast year’s AGM, which had been keenly feltover the last twelve months, not least becauseof his significant input into the LocalManagement Project (the subject of the currentconsultants’ study). She also referred to the“scenic de-vegging project”, which isCommittee shorthand for the attempt to getbetter views for passengers at certain pointson the line where the views are potentiallythe best, but which NR refuses to do anythingabout because there are no health and safetyissues involved, so according to them fundingis not available. She also talked about theexcellent work being done at a number ofstations on the line by local volunteers tomaintain f lowerbeds, and hoped thatCynghordy would see considerableimprovements in this respect in the nearfuture. Finally, Gill mentioned the installationof a “Harrington Hump” at Builth Road,which meant that part of the platform hadbeen raised so that it was easier to get intoand out of trains: it is hoped that severalother stations will receive these humps overthe coming months

10. Address by a representative ofArriva Trains Wales: Michael Vaughan saidthat in general the operating performanceon the line has improved, with the PassengerPerformance Measure (PPM) for the line itselfapproaching 90%, compared to a franchise-wide figure of 93.8%. He admit ted thatrecently two trains had failed on the sameday, but said that ATW’s new EngineeringDirector had been tasked with doing somework on the class 153 units which shouldimprove matters. He also said that a largeproportion of operational issues on the linewere down to NR rather than ATW, such asproblems with the single-line token system.He noted that the completion of the

redoubling of the line through Gowerton hadallowed several extra stops by HWL servicesto be scheduled there and that ATW waslooking at whether the two remainingservices could be timetabled to call. He thenreferred to a number of issues which affectedthe whole of ATW’s network (not just theHoWL), including revenue protection, theCardiff re-signalling project and various otherinfrastructure schemes. Finally, he pointedto the need for the Welsh Government andall stakeholders to move forward with theissue of what should replace the currentfranchise in 2018

In thanking Mr Vaughan, Gi l l inv itedquest ions and comments from members,which included:

---the poor qualit y of platformannouncements of Welsh stat ion namesassociated with the new CustomerInformation System (CIS): this would beinvestigated

---the fact that the additional stops atGowerton implemented in May this yearwere not included in the HWL timetablebooklet: this was because the stops weredecided upon late in the day when booklet 1had already gone to the printer – the stopswould be included in the next edition inDecember

---whether the impending re-organisation ofsecondary education in the Tywi valley could

Michael Vaughan from ATW addressing the AGM. [Photo © Peter Berry]

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter8

NeNeNeNeNews Fws Fws Fws Fws From the Heart ofrom the Heart ofrom the Heart ofrom the Heart ofrom the Heart of W W W W WalesalesalesalesalesLine FLine FLine FLine FLine ForumorumorumorumorumDavid EdwardsSince my last HoWLTA update the emphasisof our work has been to progress the Local /Community Management project so I willconcentrate on this, though many otherthings have also been covered. (Not least thehandling of queries about whether the ‘freetravel with a bus pass’ sheme is back). And incase you don’t know, the answer is ‘yes’, until30th March, for holders of Powys andCarmarthenshire cards.

To recap: our work is aimed at coming upwith a way of managing and running the linethat will provide a more suitable service andat the same time be better value for themoney that is already being spent. We arealso looking at the feasibility of some formof dedicated tourist train service, on both ourline and the Cambrian route.

We have also been assisted to carry out asurvey into what passengers and potentialpassengers think of the line, and this work isin parallel with a similar survey on theCambrian route.

The Main ProjectOur consultants have given us an interimprogress report of their research into marketopportunities. The key quote from it is thatin their view ‘there is a large, existing anduntapped market’ for more passenger journeyson the line. In their view if the timetable canbe developed to run trains targeted at themarkets thay have identified, considerablymore traffic will be generated.

They are now working to devise suitabletimetables and have been in touch withNetwork Rail (NR) to see what improve-

ments can be made to the infrastructure to(for example) reduce journey times. We havealso started discussions with NR about thefeasibility of establishing some sort of trainstabling point on the route, to eliminate thetrains that currently run almost emptybecause they do not operate whenpassengers need them.

We have also had helpful guidance on theproject from Prof Andrew McNaughton whohas been able to give us his views from anational ‘industry insider’ perspective.

The SurveyWe had to set this up at very short noticebut have been able to seek the views of thepublic at a good number of locations andhave also surveyed on trains and had an online presence. At the time of writing I do nothave the results to hand but I do know that– even before the survey closing date – wehave comfortably exceeded the number ofresponses specified by our consultants asbeing needed to make the work statisticallyvalid.

The Tourist TrainWork on this is being led for us by Prof PaulSalveson, and we are aware that Arriva TrainsWales have also been asked to come up withtheir own proposals. Paul has beenresearching the availablity of suitable rollingstock and defining an outline programme oftrips. We’ve also taken advice from PaulLewin, General Manager of the Ffestiniogand Welsh Highland Railways and from DeeReynolds of the tourist sector.

It’s clear that this isn’t going to be easy toset up. Rolling stock is in short supply. Thereis currently no portable ERTMS equipmentavailable to enable a tourist train to run onthe Cambrian lines. However we have also

17

meeting. It was then proposed by EileenMainwaring and seconded by Catherine Berrythat the Income & Expenditure statementshould be accepted, and this was agreed

5.2 Membership Secretary: no reportwas presented to the meet ing, butsubsequently information was received thatcurrently there are 1037 members and thatmembership of the “200 Club” stands at 373

5.3 Newsletter Editor: Peter Berr yrepor ted on the three edit ions of thenewsletter for which he had been responsibleand the changes that he had made to theformat. He said that these seemed to havebeen well received, but that he was alwaysopen to suggest ions for fur ther possibleimprovements. In addition, he encouragedall members to submit material forpublication. There was a discussion aboutwhether local members could be used to cutthe cost of distributing the newsletter and itwas stated that the Committee would lookat this in more detail. It was noted that acover price is shown, but that efforts areneeded to find sales outlets. Adoption ofPeter’s repor t was proposed by Ei leenMainwaring, seconded by Geoff Williams andcarried unanimously

6. Appointment of President & Vice-Presidents: the meeting noted that theCommit tee, exercising it s powers undersection 5(f) (2) of the Constitution, hadreappointed the Pre sident and Vice-Presidents whose names were listed in theagenda and which would be published in thenewsletter as usual

7(1). Election of Committee members for2013-14It was proposed by Alan Belcher, secondedby Patrick Tilley and carried unanimously thatthe following be elected:

Chairman: Gillian Wright

Vice-Chairman (vacancy)

Secretary & Membership Secretary: Hazel Touch

Treasurer (vacancy)

Publicit y Co-ordinator: David Edwards/Newsletter Editor: Peter Berry

Commit tee Members: Ray Davies, BrianDotson, Len Elliott, Chris Horrocks, GwynIrving, Kevin Knell, Roger Price, BruceRoberts and Mike Watson

Gill informed the meeting that she haddecided to stand down at the next AGM andthat she understood that Hazel would followsuit. Mike Watson added that he and DavidEdwards also were minded to stand down atthat time

7(2). Election of auditor: no formalproposal was put to the meeting, so in effectthe Committee was left to decide who shouldaudit the 2013-14 accounts, the implicationbeing that Rober t Chr ist ie would beapproached in view of his offer to check theaccounts for 2012-13 (see 5.1 above)

8. President’s Address: Prof. Cole referredto the preliminary findings by consultantsworking for the HoWL Forum that there waspotential to increase the current passengerfigures (198k per annum) to 900k, providedthat a more suitable timetable, better rollingstock and faster trains were provided. He feltthat this might need significant infrastructureimprovements. In addition, a different wayof managing the line might be needed, whichcould be implemented when the present ATWfranchise ends in 2018. At one extreme themanagement could stay as it is, that is withmost power being centred in Cardiff in thecase of both ATW and Network Rail, whileat the other extreme there could be aseparate company to run the line under itsown “mini-franchise” from the WelshGovernment, though that might have risksattached to it if major problems arose. Henoted that the Forum had had quite a positivemeeting with the Minister (Edwina Hart AM)and said that the long term development ofthe line must be the focus of the consultants’

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter 9

found that there is a great potential supportfor what would be a very innovative tourisminitiative. (The survey results are echoing this).Further work will be done so that we canput forward a proposal for Ministerialconsideration.

Next StepsEarly in November – before you read this butafter the Newsletter copy deadline – therewill be a meeting to consider the final draftrepor t and to consider whatrecommendations are to be submitted to theMinister. It is not yet clear what these willbe, and even if we knew, political protocolmeans that the Minister needs to have firstsight of them!

We’re confident that we will have produceda robust piece of work. We already know thatthe demand for more use of the line exists,and there are a number of practical ideas forchanges to the status quo, both in the shortterm and also after the 2018 franchise change.I look forward to sharing them with you in

the next issue!

News from ArrivaTrains WalesRevenue Protection CampaignArriva Trains Wales has just launched a newbilingual advertising campaign to warn pas-sengers that they are putting themselves atrisk of being prosecuted and fined up to£1,000 if caught without the correct ticket tocover their train journey.The quirky advertising campaign aims to re-mind passengers of the consequences of nothaving a ticket and advises on the range ofmethods available to purchase their ticket.Arriva Trains Wales employs experiencedRevenue Protection Teams to patrol trainsand stations at random to check that passen-gers have the correct ticket for their journey.In recent months, over 1,400 cases have beentaken to court, recovering over £10,000 inavoided fares.

Awards SuccessSwansea Station, operated by Arriva TrainsWales - and the southern end of our line -was awarded the ‘Medium Station of the Year’at the prestigious National Rail Awards, atGrosvenor House in London on 19th Sep-tember. This follows on from the station de-velopment project, delivered by Arriva TrainsWales, which resulted in a leap from 50% to93% customer satisfaction with the stationaccording to the Passenger Focus NationalPassenger Survey.

The Bookshop inThe Bookshop inThe Bookshop inThe Bookshop inThe Bookshop inAmmanford ArcadeAmmanford ArcadeAmmanford ArcadeAmmanford ArcadeAmmanford ArcadeA happy discovery, made when spending timeat Ammanford Co-op doing our passengersurvey, was College Street Books inAmmanford. Tim Savage runs the shop,which offers a wide range of new and secondhand publicatibns with a distinct bias to localtitles, transport, and history. As a result ofmy visit it now also has copies of the Heartof Wales Travellers Companion! If you wantto check opening hours or stock availablityTim’s contact details are:

collegestreetbooks@btconnect.com

tel. 01269-592140

The shop is definitely worth a visit, as is thearcade itself. (The sentence ‘what a little gem’passed through my mind as I walked up it.)A fuller report will be submitted for inclusionin the next Newsletter. College Street is a10 minute walk from our Ammanford stationand is next to the bus station. DE

16

Heart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart of W W W W Wales Line Trales Line Trales Line Trales Line Trales Line Travavavavavellers Associaellers Associaellers Associaellers Associaellers Associationtiontiontiontion

DrDrDrDrDraft Minutesaft Minutesaft Minutesaft Minutesaft Minutes of of of of of the 32nd A the 32nd A the 32nd A the 32nd A the 32nd AGMGMGMGMGMheld at the Belle Vue Hotel, Llanwrtyd Wells on Saturday September 21st 2013

However, the accumulated net assets stoodat £42333.20. Members asked why, in thelight of the loss for the year, the Committeehad not proposed to increase the membershipsubscription: it was explained that as the netassets are substantial and at present there isno costed business plan, it had not been feltappropriate to suggest an increase. Amember also asked why charitable status hadnot been sought: Gill replied that this hadbeen considered on several occasions overthe years, but there were disadvantages aswell as advantages and on balance on eachoccasion the Committee had decided not toapply. She apologised for the fact that theaccounts had not been audited. Our long-standing auditor, John Bateman, had stooddown at the 2012 AGM and the Committeehad been tasked by that meeting with findinga replacement. Robert Christie had recentlyagreed to take on that role and he told themeeting that he would check the accounts inthe near future: this was accepted by the

1. Introduction and welcome by theChairman: Gill Wright welcomed about 25members to the meeting, together withMichael Vaughan of Arriva Trains Wales.

2. Apologies for absence: were receivedfrom Brian Dotson, Len El l iot t, ChrisHorrocks, Mary Iliff, Ainsley Jones, KevinKnel l, Wyn Mainwaring, Bruce Rober ts,George Scarfe and Hazel Touch.

3. Adoption of the minutes of the 31stAGM, held on September 15th 2012:the minutes were adopted unanimously(proposed by John Norris, seconded by RobChristie).

4. Constitutional amendments: it wasreported that no proposals to amend theConstitution & Rules had been received.

5. Officers’ reports5.1 Treasurer: Gill presented the Income& Expenditure statement, copies of whichwere distributed to members present. Thisshowed a net loss for the year of £2561.33.

David Edwards, Prof. Stuart Cole , Gill Wright and Mike Watson at the AGM. [Photo © Peter Berry]

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter10

Post Bag

Letters for possible inclusion on the Post Bagpages can either be posted to me at Twin Oaks,Castle Close, Llangadog SA19 9AH or emailed topsberry@tiscali.co.uk

Your letter, if selected forpublication, may be subjectto editor abridgment.

Please include your fulladdress, although this willnot usually be published.

Peter Berry

Two RemindersA reminder that the free travel onArriva trains has re-started for OAP's

until next March.

Also I have taken the liberty of askingGeraint Morgan - who is the Arrivamanager responsible for looking afterthe Adopters - to pen a few words ofcomfort for the Adopters in theHOWLTA news letter. So, you may, ormay not, receive a few lines from him.Interesting to see how he reacts as notmany Adopters have a clue who he is.I think his proper and official title is'Community Affairs Manager'.

Dennis Harrison (by e-mail)

[Editor : Nothing had arrived fromMr Morgan at the time of going topress. In the next issue perhaps...?]

Greater Connectivity?The Association emphasizes the needfor more trains, faster trains, andcomfortable trains on the Heart ofWales Line. It is to be hoped that theOfficials will also insist upon the needfor greater connectivity and felixibilityin railway operations beyond theextremities of the line.

Over the years I have often travelledfrom Banbury to Dublin by way ofShrewsbury and Holyhead. The singleline between Wrexham and SaltneyJunction near Chester is a seriousconstraint upon operations, and theHeart of Wales Line is one of severalroutes certain to receive benefit from aredoubling, if not throughout (short-sightedly, a new overbridge left roomfor but one track), then in part. A long‘dynamic’ loop would much increasecapacity.

The Welsh Government’s NationalTransport Plan of 2010 included aproposal to double parts of the linebetween Wrexham and Saltney. How-

ever, the undertaking has been puton hold, and there have beenserious delays. There is no doubtthat redoubling would yield goodvalue.

I beg the Officials of HOWLTA tourge the Welsh Transport Ministerto recognise the need for greatertrack capacity between Wrexhamand Saltney and to take prompt andappropriate action.

(Prof) George Huxley, Oxon.

15

Heart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart of W W W W Wales Line Trales Line Trales Line Trales Line Trales Line Travavavavavellers’ellers’ellers’ellers’ellers’AssociaAssociaAssociaAssociaAssociation tion tion tion tion –––– HO HO HO HO HOWLWLWLWLWLTTTTTAAAAAOfficialsPresident Professor Stuart Cole CBEVice-Presidents Peter Black AM Alun Cairns AM

Martin Caton MP Alun Davies AMByron Davies AM Geraint Davies MPKeith Davies AM Suzy Davies AMPhilip Dunne MP Rebecca Evans AMNia Griffith MP Mike Hedges AMJulie James AM Sian James MPDaniel Kawczynski MP Rhodri Glyn Thomas AMSimon Thomas AM Joyce Watson AMKirsty Williams AM Roger Williams MP

Committee MembersChairman : Gill Wright, Cynghordy (01550-750261; gillwright.glandwr@gmail.com)Vice-Chairman : ––––Secretary : Hazel Touch, Cynghordy (01550-750257; hazel51cyng@yahoo.co.uk)Treasurer : ––––Minutes Sec : Mike Watson, Swansea (alunwatson@hotmail.com)Newsletter Editor : Peter Berry, Llangadog (01550-777980; psberry@tiscali.co.uk)Publicity Co-ordinator : David Edwards, Llangennech (david.edwards5@which.net)CommitteeMembers : Chris Horrocks, Church Stretton (chris@jhorrocks.go-plus.net)

Ray Davies, Bucknell (01547-530443)Brian Dotson, Llandrindod (01597-824408; brian@dotson.fsnet.co.uk)Roger Price, Llanelli (01554-750045)Len Elliot, Beulah (maesywawr@btopenworld.com)Bruce Roberts, Swansea (brucer@swanseabiz.net)Gwyn Irvine, Llandybie (moira.hamm@btinternet.com)Kevin Knell, Llandrindod Wells

Address for Correspondence :HOWLTA, Llandovery Station, Llandovery SA20 0BG

HOWLTA is affiliated to Railfuture and Better Transport

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter 11

[ Photo © David Rowe]

HOWLTA JourneyQuestionnaireMany thanks for completing and sending inyour questionnaires (but don’t stop if you stillhave unused copies!). These will now be ana-lysed and, hopefully, used to help improveeveryone’s travel ling experience on theHoWL. Thanks for your assistance.

Members’ Help WantedWe will be holding a “stuffing” session at TheLevel Crossing, near Llandovery Station from11.30am on either 19th or 20th February2014. This is neither as festive nor as fear-some as it may sound - it is simply to under-take the time consuming task of inserting thenext issue of the HOWLTA Newsletter (plusany accompanying inserts) into envelopes be-fore posting them off to our members.

If you are prepared to give 3 or 4 hours ofyour time to help please let Peter Berry orMike Watson know beforehand (see page 15).It really is a case of “Many hands make lightwork”....!

New Books on theNew Books on theNew Books on theNew Books on theNew Books on theHeart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart ofHeart of W W W W Wales Lineales Lineales Lineales Lineales LineGHAL Publicat ions of Ledbury produceillustrated books deal with the interesting andmore unusual aspects of local transport andindustry. New books on the Heart of WalesLine look at the Victorian architecture ofstations, crossing keeper cottages and theimpressive viaducts on the line together witha fascinating history of the signalling andoperation of the line from early days to thepresent no signalman required system. Athird book examines the unique history ofBuilth Road, a community the railway createdin the middle of Wales where the lines oftwo Victorian railway companies crossed. Wehope to review these books in future issuesof the Newsletter.

Another of their books examines GreatWestern Railway architecture in South Wales,from the original Brunel buildings atChepstow and Bridgend through to the1930’s rebuilding of stations at Newport,Swansea and the superb art deco styling of

Cardiff Central. All books are illustrated withphotographs.

GHAL has also been closely involved withthe Heart of Wales Line Forum in thecompilation of our new book The Heart ofWales Line Travellers Companion whichdraws together a series of articles on history,landscape, wildlife, folklore, place names andother fascinating aspects of this unique railwayline. Further details can be obtained from theHeart of Wales Line Forum and the Heart ofWales Line Travellers Association *.

Book can be obtained direct from GHAL andgenerally retail at £3.50 to £4.50 (pluspostage). Discounted terms are offered fororders of ten or more. Further informationfrom :

GHAL, 5 Biddulph Way, Ledbury,Herefordshire, HR8 2HPTel. 01532-633594 or 07980-273764or email: ghal@btinternet.com

[* Editor : Copies of this useful stocking-fil ler can be obtained direct fromHoWLTA, price £5 plus postage.]

RAILWAY BOOKS(Bought & Sold)

Over 4000 listed on my websitewww.nigelbirdbooks.co.uktelephone 01974 821281

14

Book Reviews

THE NEXT STATION STOPFifty Years by Train

PETER CATONA 10,000 mile tour of Britain’s

railways(Includes Heart of Wales Line)

£9.99 250 pages 60 photoswww.petercatonbooks.co.uk

The Next Station Stop(distributed by Orca Book Services,2013) by Peter CatonISBN 9781783060504. 288pp(234mm x 156mm), illustrated, 60colour photographs.Paperback £9.99This very readable book possesses a keyfeature guranteeing it a mention in ournewsletter: one chapter features theHeart of Wales line! This original journeywith us was in the ‘70’s and the othertrip was in the last year or so.

The overall premise of the book is that,inspired by finding a childhood notebook,the author revisits the locations of familyholidays, looking at how the journeysand places have changed, and wonderingwhy his parents chose such unlikelydestinations.

In the main ‘a goodread’, the book also

enables Peter todescribe h isfrustrations withm i s s e dc o n n e c t i o n s ,i n f l e x i b l ec o m p u t e r s ,a n n o y i n g

passengers (and some nice ones), andof an encounter with a machine-guncarrying policeman (not on our line!).

With Christmas on its way, this book isworth bearing in mind as a gift that willkeep its recipient happily engaged for apleasant few hours. DE

ADVERTISE HEREADVERTISE HEREADVERTISE HEREADVERTISE HEREADVERTISE HEREA 1/16th page advert like this costs just£15 for one issue (or £40 for a year).See page 23 for full advertising rates.

HOWLTA NewsletterHOWLTA Newsletter12 13

The Magic of Steam - an atmospheric view of the LMS Black Five steamhauled charter train on Cynghordy Viaduct on 22nd April 2013.

[Photo © Charles Jenkin-Jones]

HOWLTA Newsletter