Decades-old locomotives on Welsh lines as Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway celebrates 40th birthday

This weekend the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway celebrated its 40th anniversary in style with a steam gala event. The railway's home fleet was supplemented by three special guest locomotives which arrived at the railway over the week by low-loader.

It included Furness Railway's No.20, a locomotive also celebrating a milestone birthday at 160 years, making it the oldest operational train in the UK. It has stayed in Wales for the summer having received repairs following failure in service in May.

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London and North Western Railway ‘Coal Tank’ No.1054 also made a welcome return to Blaenavon having last visited for the 30th anniversary in 2013. This engine is based at Abergavenny shed just five miles down the road and is an example of the type of engine that worked trains on the Blaenavon extension of the heads of the valley line in the late 1800s.

The third visitor was the diminutive Keighley Gas Works No.2 from Tanfield Railway in County Durham. This locomotive is typical of the industrial workhorses found all over south Wales up until the late 1970s.

Over the weekend the railway ran an intensive passenger service with demonstration coal trains running on Saturday and Sunday. According to organisers, despite the setbacks of the Covid pandemic the railway continues to go from strength to strength with its highest ever passenger numbers recorded over the 2023 season so far.