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Monday, August 30, 2021

Spray paint attack was planned in advance, says railway

* Owner of the diesel unit George Fletcher and driver John Joyce are seen cleaning some left over blemishes off the carriage window whilst the train was stopped at Carrog. Pictures by George Jones.


* Driver John Joyce prepares to take the railcar away from Carrog.

Llangollen Railway believes that the recent spray-painting of its historic diesel railcar was part of a well-planned attack by a group of vandals who came prepared for their handiwork.

And it says police are currently examining CCTV footage in a bid to track down the culprits.

As llanblogger revealed last week, the 1960s-style British Railways diesel carriages had their smart green livery over-sprayed by multi-coloured aerosol paints between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

But thanks to the hard work of a team of volunteers to clean off the paint was able to get back on track carrying passengers this weekend.    


* The carriages pictured just after the vandal attack.

A press release from the railway says: "Llangollen Railway is pleased to announce the heritage diesel railcar which was paint-sprayed by vandals last week was back in use in time for the Bank Holiday weekend train services.

"The two-car diesel unit was again working resplendent in its 1960s style British Railways green livery after hard work by volunteers removed the multi-coloured spray paint applied by vandals in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"It is evident the incident was not a spontaneous action by an individual, but rather a well-co-ordinated attack by a group which had specifically identified a target for their handy work and came to the railway well prepared for their night-time activity. 

"The police are reviewing CCTV footage and gathering forensic evidence to identify the perpetrators of this damage. 

"If their intention was the railcar would have to run displaying their so-called artistic endeavours then it has been frustrated by some hard work by the volunteers using a lot of elbow grease to remove it." 

Reviewing the paintwork whilst the unit was at Carrog station on Saturday, head of the railcars department John Joyce said: "Following the discovery of the mindless vandalism on Wednesday morning, volunteers set about removing the graffiti the same day. 

"Experimentation with different methods revealed that it could be removed with relatively little damage to the paintwork underneath, although some repairs will be needed once the running season is finished.

“We have been heartened by all the support shown to both the railcar department, and the railway as a whole, including some very generous offers of assistance and donations. 

"Visitors to the railway who rode on the railcar were pleased to learn that the paint had been removed and the affected bodywork was none the worse for the damage.” 

Owner of the railcar, George Fletcher, came over from Derby to inspect his vehicles and was relieved to see the unit back in action. 

He said, “As a 60-year-old train set it is of some historic importance and has been in preservation since the early 1990s.

“I like to see it is well looked after by the Llangollen railcars group. It looks the part when seen in operation on the Llangollen line and I am pleased visitors like riding in it as a memory of earlier rail travel. 

“After all that the railway has been through over the last 18 months, a few cans of cheap spray paint couldn't be allowed to hold us back." 

The railcars affected are once more available for passengers to enjoy the panoramic views of the Dee Valley scenery as summer turns into autumn over the coming weeks.

* A post of the railcars group's Facebook page says: "Many people have asked us how they can help defer the cost of the recent damage to our units caused by vandals.

"Contributions can now be made using one of the railway Trust's donation systems for which the details are:

Account no 79532454
Sort Code 53-81-03
Account Name Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd

Reference (important) - Railcar Fund." 

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