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When I lived in Keighley, the house overlooked the town and we had a wonderful view of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. I kept meaning to visit, but inevitably work got in the way and it was in the final weeks living in Yorkshire that I ‘got round to it’.
While I have visited quite a lot of the heritage railways in North Wales as well as the local Gwili Valley Railway the VOR had always escaped attention. Perhaps because it’s comparatively close to home. However, on a recent holiday in Borth we visited Aberystwyth and had a trip out on the Vale of Rheidol Railway. As it’s getting towards the end of the season, parking was easy and while the train was busy it wasn’t too crowded
Having seen the restored 1st carriage on the VOR website I bit the bullet and we travelled first class. The coach restoration is absolutely amazing as will be seen from the photos. The detail both in terms of the fabrics and the timber work is exceptional and it was completely worth the additional cost.
The trip from Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge goes through amazing countryside and the line hugs the hillside as it climbs 700 feet from sea level up to its destination just under 12 miles away. The line has a very long and interesting history and it’s worth having a look on the Wikipedia page.
I tried to take landscape photographs as potential guidelines to the back scene for the West Wales O Gauge Group’s Cambrian Road layout. I’m still not quite sure how we can capture the grandeur of the scenery in 1/43 scale!
Devils Bridge provided an opportunity for excellent coffee and gluten-free carrot cake. There was also a noteworthy Artisan chocolate shop close to the station with an opportunity to see how handmade chocolates are produced. Unfortunately, no free samples but the quality was excellent as we can vouch for by taste-testing our purchases.
That wasn't all chocolate...
The locomotive ran around before we travelled back and those in the 1st class car had a close-up of the locomotive and crew in action. Given the steepness of the inclines (up to 1 in 50) they certainly earned their keep.
It was an excellent trip totalling 3 hours. One hour there, one hour back and one hour at Devils Bridge. If you are rather more mobile than I am then there is all sorts of interesting places within walking distance.
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