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We’ve had a busy day here in the middle of nowhere so there was no point in trying a rolling blog. I’m writing this at the end of the day instead.

Having made it to Cardiff I managed a decent half-night’s sleep before pressing on this morning in order to get to Neath. Fortunately all the trains heading in my direction were running, so I had time to get a few shots of the changing nature of the Transport for Wales train fleet in this neck of the woods.

Old meets new. One of the BR built diesel Class 150s from the 1980s sits next to a brand-new tri-mode Class 756 from Stadler at Cardiff Central.
Reaching the end of the line. The Class 150/2s will soon be cascaded or sent for scrap. Here’s 150267 at Cardiff Central with the 07:52 to Bargoed.
Many services to Barry Island are being taken over by the new Stadler built Class 231 bi-modes. Here’s 230003.

Having got to Neath my next trick was to get to GCRE, which isn’t the most accessible place in the world right now. The only way for me to make the journey was by taxi, which took half an hour. Unless you know the area you don’t appreciate just how isolated it is. The test track and other facilities are being built on the site of a vast opencast mine, which closed in 2021. It hadn’t run out of coal, but its license to mine had expired and wasn’t being renewed. The whole site is bigger than Gibraltar. In essense, imagine building a circular 7km long test track (with some serious gradients) around the base of a huge, hollowed-out hill.

Now GCRE have taken over the site as well as the old railhead at Onllwyn. Today they were having an open day for guests who were invited to see the site and learn about two of the groups who’re carrying out work here. Both are looking at how to cuts the costs of two major fixed assets on the railways. Signalling and electrification.

Dr Sam Bemment, CE of start-up Universal Signalling talks about their systems which could drastically reduce the costs of resignalling our railways.
Noel Dolphin from Fueer and Frey talks visitors through their system for adjusting catenary contact wire heights to prove whether bridges may (or may not) need to be replaced to allow for electrification. Potentially a massive cost saving for the railways.
Rob gives visitors a run through of how the F&F adjustable catenary works.

After the presentations and demonstrations we were given a short tour of the site by Land Rover. This really gave people a sense of how vast, isolated (and high up) the site is.

Part of the opencast coal workings which have been filled in and landscaped. One of the old coal seams can be seen to the left. The area’s still rich in coal, but it’s best for the planet that it stays were it is. One of the long term plans for the site inside the test track is a solar and wind farm.
Three former Heathrow Connect class 360/2’s are on site. The intention is to use them as mobile test platforms in the future. In the foreground is test track 4. at just over 400m long (and with a steep gradient) this could be used for testing vehicles such as RRVs.
A long way from Heathrow…

Right, it’s late and I’m due back at the GCRE site along with colleagues from F&F in the morning. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, then I’ve got to travel back to West Yorkshire. Hopefully, there’s no buses involved! So, it’s time for bed.

See you tomorrow.

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