Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway
Blaenavon's Heritage Railway - A family day out, whatever the weather!
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From late 2009, membership of the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway Company costs £14 per year for adults and £7 per year for family members (other members at same address). Junior members (under 18) become members of the supporting Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway Society.
Each member receives a copy of our regular magazine "Top Line" (published three times a year) and "Bottom Line" (our cheep and cheerful newsheet, published six times a year) and full Company members receive six free rides a year on the passenger service. Membership is essential if you are interested in becoming a working volunteer on the Railway. We tend to ignore train rides made by regular working volunteers - especially if they buy tea on the train!
The Railway is managed and operated exclusively by volunteers who are all members of either the railway company or railway society There is a page dedicated to our volunteers with pictures of them doing what they enjoy. . Volunteers on the Railway are split broadly into the following categories, though there is frequently a lot of overlap especially when it comes to the operation of the railway:
- Operations
- Permanent Way
- Locomotive Department
- Carriage & Wagon Department
- Civil Engineering Department
- Development team
At present our main concerns are the extension to Big Pit and the construction of the Station Buildings at Blaenavon (High Level) and Furnace Sidings. If you have experience in the construction – or even if you haven’t - you would be very welcome to join this team.
We are a small railway, and it doesn’t take long if you are committed and have a bit of savvy to get invited onto the Management Team or even to the Company board.
Operations
This is the department involved in the actual operation of the passenger services at Blaenavon on running days. You can learn to fire and drive the Steam Locomotives, drive Diesel Locomotives, become a Guard, help in the on-train Buffet or, perhaps most importantly off all, sell tickets. Training is given both in the classroom and ‘on-the-job’, usually by our more experienced members.
| The operation of the railway requires a number of key roles to be filled. For instance, to run the normal service
(Top and Tail Steam & Diesel), the following are required:
On the left we have a couple of happy volunteers working 71515. |
Permanent Way
This department looks after the maintenance of the railway track on the current operating section of the railway. Recently, it has also responsible for the upgrading of the extension to passenger standards and the laying of new trackwork in connection with teh Big Pit Branch. Come along and see us, "Track Bashing" can be fun and rewarding, especially if you look good in dayglow orange clothing.
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Over the last few years, the Permenant Way department have relaid most of the track from Furnace Sidings to Blaenavon (High Level) with nothing more than
1 mini-digger, some shovels, some bars and a lot of brute force and determination.
Even though the extension is now operational there is still work to be done. There is work to be done on the branch to Big Pit, maintenance of the running line and now the bridge over
Varteg Road is inplace there is the possibility of a southwards extenstion. The more people involved here, ther longer and better the railway will become.
On the left we see members working on the crossing south of Forgeside Road Bridge |
Locomotive Department
This department looks after the maintenance of the Steam and Diesel Locomotives on the railway, as well as the engines and underbody equipment on Diesel Multiple Units. Tasks range from routine maintenance tasks such as oil changes, general examinations, etc. to major rebuilds and restoration. The department is currently engaged on a number of restoration initiatives and is finding it hard to find sufficient bodies to do the work. So why not get some oil on your hands and come along and help us.
Carriage & Wagon Department
The railway has a large and varied collection of rolling stock looked after by this department. The coaching fleet is
made up mainly of ex-BR Mark 1 carriages although ther are a few old GWR coaches on site being restored, not to mention the ongoing interior restoration of our thumper unit.
There are also a
large number of wagons also in various states of restoration.
The image to the left shows the current progress on our M&M carriage which is currently under restoration.
Civil Engineering Department
Nothing makes a railway more like a railway than its buildings and structures. This is the "bricks and mortar" and "nuts and bolts" department of the railway and is always overloaded. If you're a bit of a "handy Andy" we would very much like to meet you.. This is a very small team, and with so little infrastructure, there are many building challenges ahead. If you’ve got some 'oomph' in you, you could be a big fish in a small pond very quickly. We’ve just finished installing sewerage and water supplies, and with the top shed ripe for extension, huts to bring back into use, etc., this department has more work than it can handle.
How To Join
Company Membership is available to British nationals of 18 and over. In the event of the Company being wound up, members may be liable to contribute not more than £10 in order to meet any debt of the Company. To make this agreement binding, it is necessary for the signature on an application to be witnessed. It doesn’t matter who the witness is provided they are not a close relative. Please do not send in application forms that are not witnessed for Company membership – we cannot process them further if you do. Members of the Company have free membership of the supporting Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Society.
Young persons under 18 and foreign nationals or others not wishing to become Company members may join the Society, in which case no witness to the application is required, however applicants who are under eighteen must have their parents approve the application, and the applicant must add their date of birth. Additional parental approval will be needed for young members who wish to undertake activities on the railway.
We stress that Company membership is the recommended route for adults to get involved with the railway, and affords them the greatest range of privileges and opportunities.
Annual subscriptions:
Adult Company or Adult Society membership..................................£14.00
Family Membership.....................................................................£7.00
Society membership for young people under 18 .............................£7.00
Life Membership...........................................................................£280.00
Both Company and Society members may work on site subject to Company rules. Company members receive a discount on train tickets of 50% of the standard fare. All members, other than family members, receive our magazine 'Top Line' and the newsletter Bottom Line.
Membership forms are available in the form of a PDF file. Click HERE to see and print an application form.
To open the PDF you will require a PDF Reader, such as Acrobat Reader by Adobe.