Vale of Rheidol Railway - A Passenger Experience of the Railway and the Famous Devil's Bridge Falls

Hi, I’m still recovering from an illness that caused me to spend much of last year in hospital and it’s likely to be several more months before I’m able to publish regular videos again. My daughter Abi, accompanies me on some of my trips including this one to film for her own YouTube Channel -    / @otiadventuretoller   . Abi works for Network Rail and she posts occasional railway videos although most of her videos feature scenic walks with her two dogs Oti and Merlin. Please click on this link to see Abi’s channel - Oti Adventure Toller and little legs Merlin! @OtiAdventureToller This video covers a return trip through the highly scenic Vale of Rheidol and a walk around the famous Devil's Bridge Water Falls. Bonus video - a trip on the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway. From Wikipedia – The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a 1 ft 1 3⁄4 in (603 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in Ceredigion, Wales, between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge, a journey of 1 3⁄4 miles (18.9 km). It opened in 1902 and from the withdrawal of main line steam on British Rail in 1968 until privatisation in 1989 it was the sole steam-operated line on the 1948 BR network. Unlike most other preserved railways in the United Kingdom, the Vale of Rheidol Railway did not have a period of closure between being part of the national rail system and becoming a heritage railway. A standard gauge railway in the Rheidol valley to the east of Aberystwyth was planned as part of the Manchester and Milford Railway route from Llanidloes to Strata Florida via Devil's Bridge. Also planned was a branch from Devil's Bridge to Aberystwyth to transport timber (for pit props in the South Wales valleys) and lead ore from the Rheidol Valley to the sea and the main line railway at Aberystwyth. Many lead mines in the Rheidol valley were producing ore at the end of the 19th century, but did not have a means of transporting large quantities of ore to the harbour in Aberystwyth. Due to financial and construction difficulties, the routes from Strata Florida to Llanidloes via Devil's Bridge and the branch to Aberystwyth were not built, instead in 1865 the Manchester and Milford Railway built an easier route via the Ystwyth valley to Aberystwyth. This left the Rheidol Valley and lead ore mines without a railway. An alternative scheme was proposed using a narrow gauge line to serve the Rheidol Valley. Initially a 2ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge was chosen similar to the nearby Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway. Following closure of that tramway, 1 ft 11 3⁄4 in (603 mm) was selected as the preferred guage. After obtaining an act of Parliament, the Vale of Rheidol (Light) Railway Act 1897, construction commenced in 1901. To save money, rock was hand-hewn rather than blasted. Construction was overseen by the chief engineer, Sir James Szlumper, although he left day-to-day affairs in the hands of the main contractor. It was during construction that the ex-Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway locomotive Talybont was re-gauged from 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) to 1 ft 113⁄4 in (603 mm) and renamed Rheidol for use in the construction the Vale of Rheidol railway, where it would remain for the rest of its life. By the time the railway was ready to open in 1902, lead mining in Ceredigion was in decline. However a significant growth in tourism was under way, and the carriage of passengers soon became the principal traffic of the railway. It opened for mineral traffic in August 1902 and for passengers on 22nd December 1902, using two 2-6-2T locomotives built by Davies and Metcalfe and the aforementioned Rheidol, built by Bagnall. The original stations were Aberystwyth (located adjacent to Maesyrafon and Park Avenue), Llanbadarn, Capel Bangor, Nantyronen and Devil's Bridge (Pontarfynach) with branch to Aberystwyth harbour. The final construction cost was reported as £60,000 (equivalent to £8,230,000 at 2023 prices). The line was moderately successful as a tourist railway although local passenger and freight traffic remained limited and the harbour branch saw little traffic. The railway worked hard to develop its tourist service over the summer seasons with the construction of open-sided carriages and such was the level of the tourist trade that locomotive Palmerston had to be hired from the Ffestiniog Railway over a number of summers pre-war (1912, 1913 and 1914) and again post-war (1921 and 1922). To continue reading this fascinating description of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, please click on this link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale_of... To find out more or to book your own VoR adventure, please click on this link - https://vor.wales/ Video recorded: 24th July 2023