The Vale of Rheidol steam loco Prince of Wales resting after its long haul up from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge
I have already written about Devil’s Bridge in Ceredigion, but this is the reason we went there, to catch the tourist train down to Aberystwyth.
The so-called Vale of Rheidol line opened in 1902 and is a narrow-gauge railway, the little locos still running on steam. The track is just under 2 feet wide (603mm), although the carriages are, of course, much wider.
The Prince of Wales loco was originally built for the Great Western Railway in 1924 and rebuilt at the Pant works for the Brecon Mountain Railway in 1990. And now it is operating on the Vale of Rheidol line…
The old brown and cream carriages await their passengers…
After its rest between trips the Prince of Wales goes back down the line a way…
…so it can come back up to join what is now the front of the train
And we’re off! The weather wasn’t great, so going down to Aberystwyth we sat in a closed carriage, which limited the pictures I could take…
The Vale of Rheidol – the high slopes are wooded…
The train drops 700 feet (200 metres) on its way down to Aberystwyth, which is getting on for 12 miles away. The line was originally built to carry timber and lead ore down to the sea and mainline railway station at Aberystwyth, although the lead industry was waning even before it opened. It soon became a mainly passenger line and has remained open except for during World War II.
The land opens up to show a glint of the River Rheidol down below in the valley…
Aberystwyth station…
The weather brightened, so we got into an open-sided carriage for the journey back from Aberystwyth, wrapped up warm and breathed in the fresh air…
On our way again…
View from the open-sided carriage – of the back of the Ceredigion County Council offices in Aberystwyth, or perhaps the Welsh Government offices, as they are next to each other…
I’m not sure about the meaning of this. Do you actually pick up a white lantern and a whistle from somewhere, or do you wait until you see a white light and blow your train’s whistle?
It’s green and pleasant farmland here at the bottom of the Vale of Rheidol…
Small Welsh black cattle…
Into the woods…
White Welsh mountain sheep may safely graze…
Vale of Rheidol from a stop on the line…
A steam loco, of course, has to take on a lot of water…
The trees here are mostly greenwood trees, but higher up the valley there are conifers…
Grey horse and sheep in a field…
One of many level crossings on the line…
A narrow road winds through the floor of the valley…
The track starts to rise above the river…
The river through trees – including a mountain ash (rowan) heavy with orange-red berries…
I wonder what it’s like to live in this little farmhouse on a bend in the river…
A narrow ribbon of water runs down between rocks covered in purple heather…
The valley starts to close in and heather appears on the rocks around the train…
Trees – in such woodland I saw a red kite when I was last here 10 years ago. This time we saw only their distinctive shapes in the sky…
Is this the scar of an old lead mine?
High up the valley the greenwood turns to coniferous forest
Rosebay willowherb and conifers – pine? fir? spruce? I’m not very good at identifying conifers…
Journey’s end at Devil’s Bridge…
And goodbye to the Prince of Wales…
The Squirrelbasket 
I want to ride on this train! I want to press the plunger. I want to see if I can whistle loud enough. I want to see the views. I want to go up and down, up and down all day!
Ah, what bliss that would be… although I’m not sure I would want to be the person shovelling all those tons of coal into the boiler all day!
Best wishes 🙂
The fire is in the firebox, where you shovel the coal, not a boiler. You can’t have fire where there is water.
I stand corrected. I must admit I was groping around for the right word at the time…
Hi Pat,Thanks for this excursion I and my partner well remember because we once lived on the Welsh borders, The scenery is spectacular amongst the mountains. The wooded area’s give off that lovely smell from the trees. Thanks for the memories.
Glad I brought back memories for you 🙂
I have just been over to your blog and I see you have been busy! I intend to tweet your posts about Ingrid Bergman and silk-flower cigarette cards.
Best wishes…
Lovely. My husband is a heritage railway fanatic and this is one of the very few in Wales that we haven’t done yet. Must do it soon. We did the Caernarvon-Beddgelert run recently and that was great.
I do hope you get there. If you are going by car, it seems more convenient to park at Devil’s Bridge and do the return trip from there. Personally we always had trouble finding parking in Aberystwyth. But if you are staying in Aber, then of course that’s different.
Best wishes 🙂
Glad you enjoyed yourself on the railway!
I can explain the mysterious “plunger” sign. The plunger activates the level crossing and the ‘white light’ is a signal we can see which tells us the level crossing is working properly and we can cross the road. Whistle . . . well that doesn’t need explaining!
Some very nice photos. – Come and see us again some point!
All the best,
Will
VoR
Ah, I see! I was very impressed how many times the Rheidol railway managed to stop the road traffic on its way down! The power…
Keep up the good work – and hopefully we will visit again 🙂
The sign in the 12th photograph is referring to a level crossing.
The driver must press a button (plunger) which will activate the level crossing lights. Once the level crossing lights are flashing red, then the white light will flash at the train and the train can safely proceed. However although road vehicles are supposed to stop by law, some drivers do break the law and drive over the level crossing when the red lights are flashing.
Thank you for the explanation. Car drivers must be crazy to take a risk on a level crossing!
I think one of my favourite level crossings is in the High Street in Poole, Dorset. It always seems a special event when the barriers come down, even though it happens many times in a day…
Best wishes 🙂
The driver (or fireman) presses the plunger which causes the crossing gates to shut and the lights to flash, then a white light the other side of the crossing comes on to show it’s OK for the train to proceed. Of course, you still get idiots who think that their car is stronger than a train, and although they’re narrow gauge those locos are not lightweights, a few years ago someone got their car written off on that crossing by arguing with the train…
I really can’t imagine what is in someone’s mind when they drive over a crossing like that! I get nervous even when there’s no train in sight!
The narrow gauge really is narrow, isn’t it? The carriages are quite wide to be balancing on a track just a couple of feet across. I love the sounds the train makes going over the track, though, very soothing at times on the steep stretches.
Thanks for the explanation and best wishes 🙂
My aunt lives in Aberystwyth so I’ve visited a few times, it’s a very lovely part of the world in the surrounding countryside. Your Rosebay Willowherb is carrying on later than ours down here in London.
Yes, Aberystwyth is great – but it’s a shame it’s a bit remote on public transport.
As for the rosebay willowherb, it is one of my favourite wild flowers, in both colour and shape. I see the Americans call it “fireweed” because it grows on derelict ground as well as in the countryside…
Best wishes 🙂
Thanks for another entertaining and educational post Pat. Love the photographs.
Thank you for the kind comment – and for converting me to a Kindle. I am reading far more books now, and several of them from your recommendations on Jera’s Jamboree…
All the best 🙂
Thank you Pat! I hope you’re enjoying the reads as much as I am. Have been so lucky this year to have read some brilliant … often thought-provoking books!