Taken from the longest journey operated by tank locos thread.
Termed the Mid-Wales line in this film. (I thought that was the line which the Central Wales line crossed at Builth Rd.)
I have the feeling that names given to lines by various folk / outfits, are according to same's agendas; or, at times, lack of any such -- all rather "Humpty Dumpty" -- "when I name a line, I'll call it whatever I choose to"...
Rather poor quality, but very interesting film.
As you say -- it's IMO somewhat marred by the large "Huntley Film Archives" logo superimposed throughout. I've seen this elsewhere: films part of the stock of such, of the late John Huntley, seem for whatever reason, nowadays to prominently bear this "branding mark". I've posted about John Huntley previously on "Railway History and Nostalgia": a bod about whom, my opinions are divided -- he had and showed a great deal of wonderful railway film material (and other stuff too, I gather); but in the shows by him which I went to, I found his commentary irritatingly "copious and vacuous". I wish that he could just have shut up and let the films speak for themselves. Interesting how -- in my perception anyway -- the film morphs from black-and-white into colour, just for the last few seconds.
But it appears they used GWR locos on the southern end of the line on the passenger workings - at least to Llandeilo? It also looks as if there were a lot more passing loops back then too, but then, there would have been more goods traffic, I suppose.
By my understanding, the Central / Heart of Wales route was (messily) though largely LNWR becoming LMS, not totally so: Llandovery -- Llandeilo was LNW / GW joint (and the Llandeilo -- Carmarthen branch pure LNW -- "go figure"); Llandeilo -- Pontardulais was GW, with running powers for LNW; Pontardulais -- Swansea Victoria, once again pure LNW. As I'm often moved to comment -- only in Great Britain ! With divisions as per "Big Four" carrying on way into the era of nationalisation: a GWR-motive-power presence in the route's southerly reaches would seem not too surprising.
If I have things rightly, Central / HOW route was one of Britain's quite numerous secondary / tertiary main lines, which did (in, and lasting-after, the great days of ample passenger and freight traffic) a lot of swapping-and-switching in their route length, between double track; and single, with numerous passing loops.
Any idea what the timings were like Swansea Victoria to Shrewsbury?
Figures basically not my thing -- but I'd suspect: long enough to make the trip (other than for impassioned railway enthusiasts) -- in the celebrated words about the one-time Yugoslav narrow gauge, "something to have done, rather than something to do". Thoughts prompted, of the post in the "...our fathers that..." thread on this sub-forum, mentioning the poor devil who -- ill-advised by his grandson -- tried the trip from Yorkshire to Swansea on the overnight postal train via Llandrindod Wells etc., and was driven mad by the journey's seeming to take an eternity, and the endless shunting and messing-around at a great number of spots en route, ensuring his getting no sleep.
