Funding secured to finish Llangollen railway steam project

Diggers have started work on filling the gap to complete the line

Money needed to complete 45-year project to build a railway line between two Denbighshire towns has been raised, volunteers have said.

Ten miles (16km) of the Llangollen steam railway line has been rebuilt between Llangollen and Corwen, with a platform created at the end.

But £10,000 was needed to fill a gap in the embankment between the new Corwen station and the rest of the line.

The gap was created to allow access to a sewage farm and must now be filled.

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George Jones, from the Llangollen Railway Trust, said: "This week we've got a contractor with a digger and a dumper truck bringing in spoil - 10 tonnes at a time - to spread at the base of the embankment to build up the area.

"It's got to rise to a height of 10 feet. When the gap is levelled we'll be able to connect the existing railhead with the rails in the new station."

When the work is done, steam trains will be able to travel down the full length of the track, possibly later this year.

Despite the full length not yet being open, people can still take trips, such as on the Santa Special

The line is almost complete with volunteers looking to complete the final piece of the jigsaw