Llangollen Railway 29th July 2012

A1A Locomotives Class 31, 31162, had been at the Llangollen Railway for almost two full seasons and this had been the first time I’d managed to make the trip for it, having been out of the country or at work for every other occasion.

Thanks to a bit of good fortune, in that 37240 was out of service, 31162 was rostered 4 round trips (0925, 1125, 1325 & 1525 ex Llangollen) on day that would normally only see it do 2 round trips. A massive bonus, especially as I’d not been able to make any of the “diesel” turn days where ‘162 had worked the whole diagram on its own.

I even took my girlfriend along for the day and we made a weekend of it, going via Peak Rail on the Saturday before arriving on Saturday night. We stayed at the Royal Hotel, which is just over the bridge from Llangollen railway station.

31162 performed faultlessly, as expected, and sounded very good indeed. I still maintain that ‘162 is the best of the A1A Locomotives fleet…….