ABERYSTWYTH’S Vale of Rheidol Railway has welcomed a new addition to its fleet after an 800-mile journey from Switzerland.

The arrival of the NG G13 Beyer Garratt locomotive No 60 ‘Drakensberg’ last week marked the completion of three years of careful negotiations and a long journey from Switzerland to mid Wales.

The move started on 12 July with a police escort through the centre of Basel, continuing through Germany overnight and arriving at Antwerp on Friday ready to board a ferry.

After arriving in Hull at 7am on Saturday, the locomotive continued to Birmingham and then on to the Vale of Rheidol by Monday, 17 July.

The locomotive is privately owned but is on loan to the railway for a prolonged period of time.

After some restoration work, No 60 will be available to bolster the operational fleet if required, offering extended service periods for the current locomotives.

No 60 will not be replacing the iconic Rheidol tanks but just spreading the load on the existing fleet. It is most likely that No 60 will operate some heavy summer trains and special charter trains.

Llyr ap Iolo, the railway’s general manager said: “We are looking forward to having another locomotive join our fleet, it will offer more flexibility and back up in our operation and something different for those who are interested.

“It has been a long time in the making and our work begins over the next 12 to 18 months, preparing her to work the VoR with a 10-year ticket on the boiler.

“We are very grateful to the owner for allowing the VoR to have a long-term loan of the locomotive on the railway.”

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