It was discovered some weeks ago that the "home built" loco that was on display at Quarry Tours, Llechwedd had disappeared.

After various enquiries, a search, and further enquiries, it has now been established that the loco "has vanished"!

Is this another case of an artefact from the Blaenau Ffestiniog area being stolen by a collector?

I gather from Llechwedd (I had a meeting there yesterday) that they received an anonymous tip off saying where the Maen Offeren slate wagon and Wrysgan steam cylinder block could be found. They passed this on to North Wales Police. I am sure you can imagine the enthusiastic response that was received by! :guns: :guns:

I will have a further word with my local BBC contact.

it would be nice to know how they got that down from wrysgan ,local collector or from further away ?

i can not recall seeing the pillar drill at wrysgan when i was there
Wednesday either

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Man that sucks, so selfish of people to take things without a consideration of other peoples' appreciation of the archaeology. In truth I think such a thing would be hard to track down...

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If there's one thing I can't stand it's thieving cnuts. It'd put me off telling people about mines in case they get looted.

this is the drill that i did not see this time
[photo]Wrysgan-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-032[/photo]

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Such a luverly thing, just what I wanted to drill holes in my shed at home.

Or maybe to add some weight to my pick-up for scrap??

You have got to be desparate either way though to fetch it from there!

From info gleaned at the time (which I did post on here) the cylinder block didn't come down the incline, so I assume it was lowered down hillside and got out via the dirt track up to Cwmorthin.

I was up at Maen Offeren on Saturday (with permission) showing someone round who had business with Llechwedd earlier in the day.

I have found that more items have grown legs!

In the workshop (and they were still there a few weeks ago!) on shelves there were a number of cylinder heads and cylinder blocks for the Lister engines that the early Ruston locos had. There were two or three of each.

Also gone from in there (I think, it may have been under snow) was a cast iron point crossing.

Again from in there, two Ruston gearbox gearbox selector castings (both broken) (again maybe under snow).

So, the Lister spares have definitely gone and three other railway items may have gone.

Must have been for a collector as there is such a lot of other cast iron around there it is too much of a selection to have just been for scrap.

Anyone who wishes to publicise this in railway circles or elsewhere including the previous items, please do!

Are the owners of the mine actually bothered about the place? It seems that they are happy to watch the place be robbed out to save the hassle of them worrying about it.

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Yes - they most certainly are! What is so frustrating is they know the identities of the people that stole some of the earlier items. They passed this on to N Wales Police who did nothing.

They passed this on to N Wales Police who did nothing.

Surely something to be brought to the attention of the new Police and Crime Commissioner?

They might burst into tears if you criticise them.

like i said before ,the locals know who took the copper from maen offeren . if somebody does not get off their arxses we will have nought left to show future generations 😠

The copper from Maen Offeren is a different issue. You are correct though, the locals and the police know who took the copper.

The police are also aware who took the GWR slate wagon parts from Maen Offeren and the Cylinder block from Wrysgan (I have seen the information Llechwedd had and passed on to the police, it was very explicite) but if the police won't do anything with that much info, what can you do?

Just had a totally off the wall mad idea.

How about the Thursday nighters (plus me) visit Blaenau police station one Thursday evening, maybe a mass visitation will show jusy how much people are concerned about this.

How about the Thursday nighters (plus me) visit Blaenau police station one Thursday evening, maybe a mass visitation will show jusy how much people are concerned about this.

Judging by the North Wales Police website, the Blaenau team seem to be Friday nighters rather than Thursday nighters.

Date: 12/04/2013
Start Time: 17:00:00
End Time: 19:00:00
Location:
Bydd Tîm Plismona Cymunedol Blaenau Ffestiniog a'r gael yn Swyddfa Heddlu Blaenau Ffestiniog i drafod unrhyw broblemau. The Blaenau Ffestiniog Neighbourhood Policing Team will be available at Blaenau Ffestiniog Police Station to discuss any issues.

Date: 19/04/2013
Start Time: 17:00:00
End Time: 19:00:00
Location:
Bydd Tîm Plismona Cymunedol Blaenau Ffestiniog a'r gael yn Swyddfa Heddlu Blaenau Ffestiniog i drafod unrhyw broblemau. The Blaenau Ffestiniog Neighbourhood Policing Team will be available at Blaenau Ffestiniog Police Station to discuss any issues.

Date: 26/04/2013
Start Time: 17:00:00
End Time: 19:00:00
Location:
Bydd Tîm Plismona Cymunedol Blaenau Ffestiniog a'r gael yn Swyddfa Heddlu Blaenau Ffestiniog i drafod unrhyw broblemau. The Blaenau Ffestiniog Neighbourhood Policing Team will be available at Blaenau Ffestiniog Police Station to discuss any issues.

I think one or two carefully selected Welsh speaking locals would probably create a better impression than a motley crew of mine explorers. 🙂

I did say it was a totally mad idea! 😉

The police website also indicates that Blaenau has only one constable, and since he is apparently unwilling to get involved it seems that the matter will have to be taken to a higher level if you want any action.

this is the drill that i did not see this time
[photo]Wrysgan-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-032[/photo]

I think it would have been safer to be a miner than using that drill lol 😉