Brecon Mountain Railway 2/11/12
Posted on: 27/06/13
Updated on: 27/06/13
Updated on: 27/06/13
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The delightful one foot eleven and three quarter inch gauge Brecon Mountain Railway runs on the formation of the now closed standard gauge Brecon & Merthyr branch line offering a seven mile round trip with spectacular views of the Brecon Beacons and the 1927 Taf Fechan reservoir which the line skirts along the edge of. The line is quite new, opening in 1980, and provides a home for a variety of interesting foreign locos including machines from Germany and South Africa. When I visited Arn Jung 0-6-2WT 'Graf Schwerin-Lowitz', built for the now closed Mecklenburg - Pommersche Schmalspurbahn in eastern Germany was in operation and making plenty of noise! The carriages, built by the railway, it pulled were very good too as they had quite large windows giving passengers an excellent view, particularly as the end panels were also partly glass. The adventurous could brave the elements out on the verandas and so, if you were in the right carriage, get the full effect of the loco slogging up the gradients.
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Arn Jung 0-6-2WT 'Graf Schwerin-Lowitz' rests at Pontsticil
Care for passengers extends off the train as well; the commodious all in one station building, shop, café and workshops (which visitors can look inside - always fascinating to see the amount of work that goes into keeping a railway running) at Pant add to the overall experience. It was nice to see some display boards in the station giving some background to the railway and its locomotives. From them I discovered, for example, that the 0-6-2WT sustained damage to its funnel from a low bridge on the way to the BMR in 1973.
Trains do not stop at the intermediate station at Pontsticill on the way up to the loop at Dol-y-Gaer but stop there for 20 minutes before continuing back to Pant. Here converted BR luggage vans provide a café and toilets.
Trains do not stop at the intermediate station at Pontsticill on the way up to the loop at Dol-y-Gaer but stop there for 20 minutes before continuing back to Pant. Here converted BR luggage vans provide a café and toilets.
Conclusions
The Brecon Mountain Railway offers something different to the other narrow gauge lines in Wales and a full day out with a variety of walks possible around the railway.
