Assets of Llangollen Railway go up for auction

* Some of the lots to go under the hammer at the auction.

The assets of crisis-hit Llangollen Railway have gone under the hammer in an online auction.

And the liquidators have told a newspaper that joint administrators for the heritage attraction remain in advanced negotiations with an interested party to acquire the business and certain assets.

On March 1 the board of the railway’s public limited company (PLC) asked its bank to call in receivers after it became insolvent to the tune of about £350,000 and could not legally continue trading.

A firm of liquidators was appointed with the aim of selling off the assets of the world-famous heritage attraction.

The Trust board, which remains completely solvent, has declared its intentions of buying as many of the railway's assets as possible and has already raised over £50,000 from a public appeal. https://llangollenrailway.enthuse.com/profile

By order of Alan Coleman and Jason Elliott, of Cowgill Holloway Business Recovery LLP, joint administrators of the PLC, an auction of its assets is currently being held online on Wednesday May 12.

Conducted on their behalf by the firm of Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), this includes a wide range of items, from rolling stock such as coaches to a diesel shunter and from a 56-ton rail-mounted crane to a boxvan bogie.

There are also lots from the workshops, from milling machines and lathes to vehicles such as Transit vans.

According to the LSH website, the auction will be held at the railway’s engine shed off Abbey Road.

Bid enquiries: MBA Accounts 023 8046 1643 mbaaccounts@lsh.co.uk

The full list of lots is:

Rolling stock – 10 x BR Mark 1 coaches, BREL Mark 3A function coach, Type 13 diesel shunter, Case/Rexquote Superailer 988-PSP2 road/ rail excavator (2003), Cowans Sheldon 56-ton rail mounted crane, BR type GUV box van bogie, Plasser Thurer 12-tonne general purpose rail crane and Lowmac 25-tonne wagon fitted with Atlas Terex hydraulic crane. Engineering - XYZ Proturn SLX 425 x 1.25m CNC lathe (2017), Newall 75 JMT vertical jig borer, Harrison M390 gap bed lathe, Colchester Mascot 1600 gap bed lathe, Prosaw Mega Machine Co Ltd BS-400SA horizontal bandsaw (1996), Colchester Triumph 2000TR SS and SC lathe, Morgan PBR2000 pyramid bending rolls, radial arm drills, milling machines, lathes, slotter, grinders, jibs etc. Handling equipment - Linde H30D diesel fork lift (2007) and JCB 520.50 Loadall telehandler (2011). Vehicles - Peugeot Partner 850 1.6 HDi 92 Professional van (15 plate), Ford Transit 330 MWB TDCi 115ps van (60 plate) and Ford Transit 260 SWB TDCi 100ps van (12 plate).

Meanwhile the Daily Post has quoted a spokeswoman for the administrators as saying: "Following the appointment of Alan Coleman and Jason Elliott both of Cowgills as Joint Administrators they remain in advanced negotiations with an interested party to acquire the business and certain assets.

"The remaining rolling stock and engineering assets have generated a lot of interest during the initial accelerated sales process.

"Upon advice from their agents, Lambert Smith Hampton, the remaining assets will be placed into an online auction https://www.lsh.co.uk/assetadvisory/online-auctions/llangollen-railway-plc-auction on May 12, 2021 to be held at Llangollen Railway Station."