Writing freelance for Railway Magazines takes us to the most glamarous places... this was back in South Wales, where a rainy afternoon (we weren't about to waste a nice beach day) saw me -Ben- along with a mate, and Elder Child, slogging our way around Solva looking for an industrial railway line I'd read about online.
A promising start, this rather sinister-looking tunnel under the hill beside the harbour.
The interior of the tunnel looked no less sinister, especially with the dead rats visible.
Up and over the hill, following as well as we could the paths that looked like they went in the right direction.
Again, all the nicest places. So; the Solva Waterworks Railway was an industrial narrow gauge line, built because it was the best way to service this site, which was built in the adjoining valley to the village it served. For many years it had a battery-electric vehicle, a kind of a cross between a locomotive, a goods wagon, and a delivery lorry, which shuttled back and forth along this length of line.
Apparently, a few years ago they stopped using the line, I've heard that there was a build up of dangerous gas in the tunnel through the ridge.
The railway looked in reasonably good order, but sadly there was no sign of the rugged little locomotive.
There was something rather nice about the railway leading away into the hillside.
Luckily, we were able to get some more glamourous railway pics in rather better weather, later in the holiday, and, it wasn't a completely wasted visit, as I got some ideas for a possible future article.
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