The Vale of Rheidol Railway has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Bluebell Railway that will see GWR ‘Dukedog' No. 9017 visit them for display in their new museum.
Usually, 9017 is based in Sussex at the Bluebell Railway, but has been out of service since 2011 when it came out of traffic for repairs.
9017 has been based in Sussex for sixty years, and is nicknamed a Dukedog due to it being based on an under-frame of a Duke locomotive and a boiler of a Bulldog locomotive.
9017 was built in 1938 at Swindon Works and spent its working life hauling trains on the Cambrian Line and remained in use until the 1950s as it was light enough to work trains over Barmouth Bridge.
The locomotive being on display has significant meaning for the Vale of Rheidol as the locomotive will be on display in the very shed that it would have been based in and worked out of in the 1950s.
The locomotive and other exhibits will be available to view when the museum opens from the 23rd March 2024.
Llŷr ap lolo, Managing Director of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, said: “We are very excited to announce the loan of this locomotive to go on public display here in Aberystwyth. As part of the project to construct our new museum, standard gauge track was laid to facilitate this kind of visit: the ‘Dukedog' seemed the perfect choice to be the first standard gauge locomotive to be put on display. I am very grateful to the board of the Bluebell Railway for making this loan possible”.
Neil Glaskin, Operations and Commercial Director of the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, said: “We are really pleased to be able to work with The Vale of Rheidol Railway to bring the Dukedog back to Aberystwyth. Since 2011 the locomotive has been stored undercover but this has meant limited chances for the public to see it, by displaying the loco in the new museum everyone will have the chance to admire this fascinating machine.”
John ‘Abergynolwyn' Davies (95) still lives in Aberystwyth, and worked on the ‘Dukedog' locomotives when they were based in Ceredigion in the 1950s. He said: “I spent a glorious week in the summer of 1955, firing No.9017 with driver Tom Phillips. We worked the 9.55am ‘all stations' from Aberystwyth to Welshpool each day, where we serviced the engine: our return working was the Cambrian Coast Express, all the way to Aberystwyth. Working with Tom felt like a ‘holiday job', because of his light handling of the loco”.
John recalled: “We were climbing Talerddig bank with No.9017, when Tom said: “shall I show you how to get the best out of a Dukedog?”. I stood in the driving position, as he gave me a demonstration of the easiest way to fire it. The loco performed well all week: it was one of the best working weeks of my life”
I remember talking to a very old visitor to Bridgnorth just before our “Cambrian” themed gala. The Dukedog was a guest, along with “our” Manors. Very Welsh, he had tears in his eyes as he told me that he’d worked at Machynlleth shed at the time the Bluebell bought her. He said they loaded the tender with all the spares they could muster because they knew “she was going to a good home”. Will never forget that conversation and the obvious emotions he felt.