 John Ridgewell was found guilty |
A miniature steam railway has opened for the summer season after one of its former members was jailed for setting fire to train carriages there. Operators of the mile-long Teifi Valley Railway near Llandysul in Carmarthenshire, say the �50,000 worth of damage caused by John Ridgewell has been painstakingly repaired.
The 59-year-old was jailed for two years after a jury found him guilty of arson.
The court heard he used oily rags, meant for cleaning the engines, to start the fire.
Forensic tests revealed fibres from curtains in the carriages were on his anorak.
Ridgewell, of Rhyd y Feinog, Hermon, near Cardigan, watched from a platform as firemen tackled the blaze in front of a crowd of narrow-gauge train buffs.
He had pleaded not guilty to the arson charge.
Senior engineer at the Teifi Valley Railway, Dave James, said the society was now keen to put the incident behind it and was looking forward to a busy summer season.
"We've repaired nearly all of the damage - that was the shed roof and all seven carriages," he said.
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