Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On the morning of July 21, 2022, I headed southwards along the beautiful coast of Cardigan Bay to the seaside town of Aberystwyth, Wales to see the Vale of Rheidol Railway. A narrow gauge line once owned by the Great Western Railway, the VOR climbs from the coast up the side of the Rheidol Valley to the Devil's Bridge, a unique collection of three bridges built one atop the other between 1075 and 1901 directly above a deep and narrow ravine. I had been hoping to see the newest addition to their locomotive fleet, South African Railways 60 "Drakensburg," an NGG13 class 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt that was scheduled to pull its first public passenger trains that week. Unfortunately, during the record-breaking heatwave that hit the country on the 18th & 19th a wildfire ignited along the Rheidol and the railway had to be closed for several days to assist firefighters. The VOR reopened on the 21st, however the planned two-train operation was cut down to one train pulled by Great Western 8 "Llewellyn," a 2-6-2T built for the line in 1923. Despite not getting to see the Garratt I was glad to see one of the GWR's Rheidol Tanks running on the line it was built for 99 years ago, and I learned a lot for my next visit (whenever that may be.) I was also pleased to see an unexpected second steam loco at the Devil's Bridge station, as Hunslet 0-4-0T "Margaret" was running up and down a siding offering footplate courses. I would have liked to have spent some more time in Ceredigion, however without the Garratt running I decided to head back north to spend the afternoon on the Talyllyn.
On the morning of July 21, 2022, I headed southwards along the beautiful coast of Cardigan Bay to the seaside town of Aberystwyth, Wales to see the Vale of Rheidol Railway. A narrow gauge line once owned by the Great Western Railway, the VOR climbs from the coast up the side of the Rheidol Valley to the Devil's Bridge, a unique collection of three bridges built one atop the other between 1075 and 1901 directly above a deep and narrow ravine. I had been hoping to see the newest addition to their locomotive fleet, South African Railways 60 "Drakensburg," an NGG13 class 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt that was scheduled to pull its first public passenger trains that week. Unfortunately, during the record-breaking heatwave that hit the country on the 18th & 19th a wildfire ignited along the Rheidol and the railway had to be closed for several days to assist firefighters. The VOR reopened on the 21st, however the planned two-train operation was cut down to one train pulled by Great Western 8 "Llewellyn," a 2-6-2T built for the line in 1923. Despite not getting to see the Garratt I was glad to see one of the GWR's Rheidol Tanks running on the line it was built for 99 years ago, and I learned a lot for my next visit (whenever that may be.) I was also pleased to see an unexpected second steam loco at the Devil's Bridge station, as Hunslet 0-4-0T "Margaret" was running up and down a siding offering footplate courses. I would have liked to have spent some more time in Ceredigion, however without the Garratt running I decided to head back north to spend the afternoon on the Talyllyn.
