The Charitable Trust which runs the Statfold Barn Railway and Museum has decided to donate its ‘Lynton' coaches to the Bala Lake Railway.
Originally built by Alan Keef for the narrow-gauge railway at Thorpe Park, the four coaches were acquired by the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in the early 1990s.
The Railway rebuilt them into their current form, and they transferred to the Statfold Barn Railway in 2014.
Statfold Barn, which is located in the Statfold Country Park, acquired three ex-South Tynedale Railway coaches in 2022. As a result, it has used the Lyntons less often over the last year.
The Statfold Barn Railway is a narrow-gauge railway based near Tamworth, Staffordshire. The coaches' new home, the Bala Lake Railway, is around one hundred miles away, and runs for four-and-a-half miles along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust Chairman Graham Lee said “We took the decision to donate the coaches to our friends at the Bala Lake Railway to help ensure that they have sufficient passenger capacity for their extension into Bala Town.
“The coaches have served us at Statfold well, but with their little use it was time for them to go and to be enjoyed by the visitors of the Bala Lake Railway.”
Shame it’s not going on the Lynton to Barnstaple railway
They left Lynton and Barnstaple some years ago when they were replaced by the current Heritage coaches!! So why would they go back???
Let’s hope the Welsh planning authorities, who are currently blocking the extension to Bala town on the grounds that it might encourage too much tourism which is not environmentally friendly, can be made to see sense and allow this much needed extension to the railway.
The Bala lake extension was pushed back because the railway hadn’t addressed a number of environmental concerns; the authority wasn’t opposed in principle but the extension needs to meet requirements. Developments – railways included – don’t get carte blanche to do what they like just because some people think it’s a nice idea.
Excellent news. I visited Statfold for the first time a couple of months ago and was very impressed by the setup there.
And as a former volunteer on the BLR I will always have a soft spot for the railway and try to donate a little to the Red Dragon project when I can as the extension into the town centre should transform the railway.
It’s been a long time coming (it always seemed to be “just around the corner” in the 80s when I was volunteering, so to actually see it get there will be fantastic, especially with nice new rolling stock.
I look forward to travelling the full line once it’s finally open.
Fantastic news and a great encouragement to help the Bala Lake railway reach Bala town.