Lyd in Service at the Welsh Highland Super Power Weekend !

Dateline Saturday 11th September 2010

We were privileged to be invited to join the Lyd Supporters special train on the WHR yesterday, which was the first passenger-carrying train hauled by Lyd.

The last of overnight rain was just clearing up as we got to Dinas around 8.15. Lyd was in steam, on display in the yard with Taliesin, being admired by many of those who had helped finance the construction. Obviously not all could be there, but it was interesting to meet and chat with some those present. I am sure some others were also L&B members.

After disappearing to shunt stock, Lyd entered the platform with our train, made up of four vintage FR coaches. We took our seats - it was not unpleasantly crowded, and the atmosphere was very friendly.

Then, promptly at 8.55, we set off. Once past the WHR engine sheds, Paul Lewin opened the engine up, and the run to Waunfawr - through varied scenery of woods, small streams, fields and distant hills not dissimilar to that of the L&B, would best be described as "spirited". Lyd has quite a distinctive soft exhaust beat, and we sped round the many reverse curves at what seemed like a cracking pace, the engine riding stably throughout. The engine now has two whistles, the "authentic" Manning Wardle one, which is disappointingly shrill and a bit weedy, and a larger one which seems to be used from preference at Whistle boards. The engine seems like a bit of a greyhound, with relatively large driving wheels.

After taking on water at Waunfawr, we set off for Rhyd Ddu. Just after Plas Halt, the engine encountered a round wooden fence post and some wire fencing lying on the track, probably the result of there having been Highland cattle on the line here the previous day. Lyd's cowcatcher neatly rolled the post along in front of the train for some distance before Paul spotted it, and stopped the train. After he and James Evans inspected the engine for any signs of damage, we were under way again, climbing through the more open landscape and slowing to round the curves approaching Rhyd Ddu. There we passed a diesel-hauled train, and continued over the summit of the WHR and down through the horseshoe curves in Beddgelert Forest. We stopped short of Beddgelert station, Lyd was detached, and Garratt K1 took over the train into the station and then on for a public service to Pont Croesor.

The Lyd supporters, and many other visitors to the WHR Superpower Weekend, gathered on Beddgelert platform for the naming ceremony. Paul Lewin introduced the team who have made Lyd happen, and who are evocatively commemorated on the engine's maker's plate "Lewin, Yates, Evans & Whalley", and paid tribute to the wives and partners who are the unsung heroes of any such enterprise. Paul's and James's better halves then officially named Lyd, and Paul's daughter Millie presented the new engine with a brush, to help keep it neat and tidy. The supporters then adjourned to the nearby Royal Goat Hotel for coffee.

We joined a later mixed train of two vintage WHR coaches, three bogie open wagons and a bogie van, which Lyd took over at Beddgelert, for a run through the spectacular Aberglaslyn Pass, and down to the flat fields of the Glaslyn estuary, where we sped to Pont Croesor. This, I suppose, was Lyd's first service train working. After a brisk turnound, Lyd took us back to Beddgelert.

In the refreshment marquee at Beddgelert station, the NW Group of the L&B had provided display boards about the Lynton & Barnstaple past and present, with additional displays about Exmoor Enterprise, the heritage carriage work in Essex and the 762 Club. This display created a lot of interest over the weekend, as people paused between trains for teas, coffees and excellent homemade cakes, and we were able to provide membership forms, and other information to WHR visitors.

Informal comments over the weekend suggest that engine crews are beginning to learn the little tricks needed to get the best from Lyd, and that the engine is "capable" and "forgiving". Certainly, it does not seem that, at least after a few Boston Lodge "tweaks", some pundits' earlier predictions about the Manning Wardle design's poor ride and performance are turning out to be justified.

Bob Barnard

...and if you have ten minutes to spare, you might enjoy this short video...