Engine back from Romania for railway Gala

The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway will welcome back a familiar locomotive for its Steam & Diesel Gala on August 29-31.

Manning Wardle 0-6-2T No.1877 was built in 1915 for service in Kent, initially on a Naval railway and later at a paper mill. Now owned by the Flour Mill Workshop in the Forest of Dean, the loco began an 11-year residency on the Welshpool line in 2010, featuring at two previous Gala events, finally leaving in 2021 for overhaul works when its boiler ticket expired.

In 2023, the loco departed for a two-year stint in Romania where it has since been a major attraction at steaming days on the Sibiu Agnita Railway. This is an enthusiast project to restore part of a former Romanian narrow-gauge railway and has attracted much assistance from UK enthusiasts.

Manning Wardle 1877 is expected to play a full role in the Welshpool & Llanfair Gala, working passenger trains alongside resident steam locomotives ‘The Earl’ and ‘Sir Drefaldwyn’ and the line’s fleet of diesel locomotives on an intensive timetable over the three days. The event is also planned to feature the first public trains operated by visiting diesel DL-34, on loan from the Alishan Forest Railway in Taiwan.

The Gala will feature all of the attractions that have made it such a popular event with enthusiasts, including at Welshpool classic cars and a model railway exhibition in the display sheds, and at Llanfair road steam and vintage transport. Cloverlands Model Car Museum will also be open at Llanfair throughout the event.

This year will also see a revitalised Garden Railway Show at Llanfair High School on Saturday, August 30. Now organised by two of the railway’s members, the show will feature several layouts mostly running live-steam models and more than 30 traders. While there is a separate entry fee of £6 adults, £3 under-16s to the show, anyone holding a Gala Rover travel ticket for Saturday will be admitted free.

More details of the Steam & Diesel Gala, and advance ticket booking facilities, can be found on the railway’s website at www.wllr.org.uk/events, with further updates due to be announced on the railway’s social media channel @WelshpoolSteamRailway over the coming weeks.