On 28 March 1996 the Chuffington and Oval Light Railway Preservation
Society was founded by the General Manager.
In the autumn of 1996 the Preservation Society proved its worth and
railway maintenance was taken over by the
Star Preservationist.
Shortly afterwards the Chuffington and Oval Light Railway opened a new
office at
Geocities.
In summer 1997 the virtual tour operator
ChuffingtonTours
began operations.
On November 5th, 1997, disaster struck the Chuffington and Oval Light
Railway. The Star
Preservationist had been experimenting with a homemade firework known
as the Perlscript and it exploded unexpectedly, destroying the bottom
section of the line (from Rhydychen to St. James').
From November 6th the General Manager started working hard trying to
restore the line. Trains continued to run on the top section of the line
on the branch lines from St. James'.
The first milestone was reached on December 11th with the opening of
Rhydychen station, the new southern terminus
of the Chuffington and Oval Light Railway. A limited service between
Rhydychen and Aberystwyth was operated, with a bus link between Aberystwyth and St. James'.
An exciting new JavaScript development in the town of Chuffington saw the opening of the Chuffington Maze in the autumn of 1998. This has proved a popular tourist attraction, although only one visitor is known to have found his way out so far. Perhaps you will be the second?
In November 2003 the line underwent a total rebuild and was relaunched with a different, more autobiographical, route. St. James' Park and Porthmadog Harbour stations were closed and new stations opened at Oxford, Poplar and Dundee.
![[Crest]](crest.gif)
