Steaming up for weekend
The 50th anniversary of the dismantling of a railway since partly restored by volunteers, will be marked with a gala event at the weekend.
Llangollen railway will run both steam and diesel locomotives from Friday to Sunday to show how British Railways changed from one to the other in the 1960s.
There will be four steam and two diesel locomotives running between Llangollen and Corwen and three demonstration freight trains running to Carrog each day.
A major volunteer effort has provided the crews, station staff and signalmen for the operation of the railway and the trains.
Event organiser, Matt Davies said: "The railway will set out to show how the Western Region of British Railways dealt with the change over period around1965 when steam was replaced by shiny new diesels.
"Whilst many railways are aiming to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of steam in 1968, at Llangollen Railway we are aiming to remember the era in a different way - after all 1968 was year when the scrap man moved in and dismantled the Ruabon to Barmouth route which had closed in 1965.
"We will be using our four Western Region based steam locomotives to create an event which will show the changeover period in 1965 as diesels arrived to replace steam, a sad era many recall and others never experienced.
"Our plans are to have all four steam locomotives in heavily weathered conditions along with two diesels in pristine condition. Trains will contrast the different power and carriages and show how British Railways operated a mixed fleet for a few short years."
