THE Vale of Rheidol Railway’s (VoR) new museum at Aberystwyth was officially opened on May 3 – showcasing a number of exhibits which have been out of the public eye for several years.
Following introductory speeches, Steffan Roberts, deputy director, culture, sport and tourism at the Welsh Government, cut the red tape which formally opened the building. The invited guests then travelled on a special train to Devil’s Bridge for the traditional buffet lunch provided on such occasions.
In the weeks prior to this official opening, further changes were made to the exhibits. Two further small locomotives, previously at the Brecon Mountain Railway, have also been added to the displays at Aberystwyth. De Winton 0-4-0VBT Pendyffryn, built in 1894 for the Pen-yr-Orsedd slate quarry and saved for preservation in 1965, is now in the main display area while 2ft gauge 0-4-0VBT Redstone is in the glass entrance atrium.
Redstone dates from 1905 and was built by the foreman fitter, Mr Redstone, of the Penmaenmawr granite quarry as a 2ft gauge model of a 3ft gauge Penmaenmawr De Winton loco for use on the quarry owner’s garden railway to entertain his children. Both Pendyffryn and Redstone secured boiler tickets in 2014 but saw little, if any, use in the following decade before the certificates expired.
‘Collection X’items
The most significant additions since the building opened to the public at the beginning of the season were Couillet 0-6-0T (1140/1895) and a four-wheel Hulleras de Sabero Railway Directors Coach, the first time these items had been seen in public since being saved and brought to Britain in 1969 by the late Peter Rampton.
