Pant Loco No 1 13-10-22
This is a very short trip and we head along the M4 to Merthyr Tydfil where Jackie wishes to visit a clothing retailer whom she has been following online to enable her to see the product in person.
Sheep on the line 13-10-22
This enables me to take a trip on the Brecon Mountain Railway which utilises the trackbed of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway which later became part of the Great Western Railway on grouping in 1923. Freight services ended in the early sixties. Tony Hills bought 5 miles of the route and built a narrow gauge railway with the first services running in 1980 from Pant (which is a new station not quite on the site of the original Pant station) as far as Pontsticill. The route was extended in 1995 from the original northern terminus which was adjacent to the dam of the Pontsticill reservoir; after a further extension in 2014 the line is now about 4.25 miles long and provides an attractive run alongside the reservoir with the line terminating at Torpantau. There is a passing loop just before Dolygaer (the station is now closed although it was the terminus at one point). Torpantau is at the summit of the line some 1313 ft above sea level.
Torpantau Loco no 1 13-10-22
The line has been built to 1’ 113/4” gauge – so similar to some other lines in Wales. It is hard to believe that it has been in existence for very nearly 50 years and has seen a variety of locomotives over the years. The workshops have also undertaken work for other lines.
My visit is on a pleasant Autumn day with some wonderful sensorial colours as a backdrop. I have travelled on the line previously with the first trip being before the extensions. The line now appears to be mature and since our visit and the deaths of both Tony Hills and Peter Rampton, the line is now under the same management as the Vale of Rheidol railway which has seen significant investment, as has this line, over the years.
Pant after return 13-10-22
Operationally the train runs non-stop to Torpantau, a steady uphill climb. The BMR station is only a little way short of the former Torpantau station on a new track bed adjacent to the road which has been realigned. A little way on was Torpantau tunnel which was the highest tunnel on the UK network and the line then continued onwards to Talybont-on-Usk. At Torpantau he loco runs round and we return to Pontsticill where we stop and have time to inspect the shed and so on.
Santa Teresa Pant 13-10-22
We then complete the return to Pant which is on the alignment of L&NWR line / connection from Dowlais to Morlais Junction. A decent trip behind no 1 ‘Santa Teresa’ now a 2-6-2 rebuild (in 2019) of Baldwin which saw service at the Santa Teresa sugar mill. It returned to the UK in 1990 and moved to the BMR in 2002 before undergoing a heavy rebuild into the locomotive seen today.
It then seems to take an age to retrace my steps to Merthyr Tydfil just about as the rain is about to fall to collect Jackie. We then return along the M4 as we are spending the night at Lucknam Park to partake of the delights created by Hywel Jones in his restaurant of the same name. He has since upped his Michelin star count to 20 consecutively. We dine well and it is a fabulous place. One day I hope we will be able to revisit.