The Society have been happy to report in the railway press and in our latest Newsletter the success of Steel, Steam & Stars III. It is calculated that with Gift Aid and other contributions the Society raised around £45,000 towards the construction of No. 6880.

Looking back at the event we can see from the following photographs that it didn’t rain every day and that an exciting line-up of locomotives were seen at their best in the beautiful Dee Valley.

The Society is grateful to all the staff and volunteers from the Society and the Llangollen Railway in making SSS3 a success.

The Betton Grange Society is holding ‘Steel, Steam & Stars III’ during the 9 days from Saturday 21st April until Sunday 29th April 2012 at the Llangollen Railway. The event will include visiting locomotives No. 60163 ‘Tornado’, No. 70000 ‘Britannia’, Coal Tank No. 58926, Super D No. 49395, GNR N2 Class No. 1744 and CR Jumbo No. 828. In addition there will be a supporting cast from the Llangollen Railway’s home fleet including GW Prairie Tank No. 5199 appearing in BR Black for the first time.

For the latest news see the SSS3 News Page

The Event poster is shown below

Follow this video link to see why SSS3 is not just for railway enthusiasts but for couples too

Steel, Steam & Stars III for couples too

Click here to buy tickets for SSS3 http://www.6880.co.uk/6880-shop/sss3-tickets

Click here to view the Public Poster PublicPosterSmall

 

Below is a video of Pete Waterman opening SSS2 in April 2009

 

Steel Steam and Stars 2009 from Rail TV UK on Vimeo.

The formula for the event is based on an imaginative and plentiful line up of locomotives, including guest locomotives and the Llangollen Railway’s impressive home fleet, plus a variety of attractions including a timetabled freight train with accommodation for passengers in three brake vans, a steam & vintage rally, a beer festival, a display or miniature steam and model engineering, and for 2012, trips along the newly extended railway towards Corwen.

The steam & vintage rally will be held in the field adjacent to the station at Glyndyfrdwy and will feature traction engines and vintage vehicles, along with a large marquee hosting a model railway exhibition. Meanwhile at Carrog there will also be a display of miniature steam engines including ride-on miniature railways of varying gauges.
The real ale beer festival will be in the Henry Robertson Suite at Llangollen Station and will be open from the Friday evening before the start of the gala, over ten days from 20th to 29th April, subject to beer availability. Souvenir glasses will once again be available.

It is also planned to once again have the Beavertail saloon from the Great Central Railway giving spectacular views of the beautiful Dee Valley from the comfort of its plush armchairs.
The gala should also be the first opportunity for visitors to travel along the new extension towards Carrog, with trains operated in push-pull or top and tail mode as far as we are able to get along the newly laid line.
More special attractions are being organised and details of these will be announced in due course, along with ticketing options and operating timetable for each of the days. The ‘quieter’ weekdays from Monday through until Thursday will be special themed days, with a selection of locomotives in operation offering different cameos each day.

Full details will be available on this site once the full line up is known, and our news page will be update as soon as we announce any information.

The objective of the gala is to raise £60,000 so that a new set of cylinders can be cast and machined for the new-build ‘Grange’, which is currently taking shape in the workshops at Llangollen.

 

If you missed either of the galas, or want to catch up, both are available on DVD from Belhurst Productions and can be purchased through our own shop.