Talyllyn Railway
Encyclopedia
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved
railway in Wales
running for 7.25 miles (11.7 km) from Tywyn
on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol
near the village of Abergynolwyn
. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate
from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys
to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway
by volunteers.
Since preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction
, expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. In 1976, an extension was opened along the former mineral line from Abergynolwyn to the new station at Nant Gwernol. In 2001, the preservation society celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in 2005 a major rebuilding and extension of Tywyn Wharf station
took place, including a much-expanded facility for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
.
The fictional Skarloey Railway
, which formed part of the Railway Series
of children's books by The Rev. W. Awdry, was based on the Talyllyn Railway. The preservation of the line inspired the Ealing Comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt
.
, which contains its eastern terminus, or it may come from Tal-y-llyn
, a large glacial ribbon lake
at the foot of Cadair Idris
3 miles (4.8 km) further east. The 2 in 3 in (685.8 mm) gauge
of the track
is unusual, and was shared by only three other public railways in the United Kingdom: the nearby Corris Railway
(which predated the Talyllyn), and the subsequent Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
and Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
.
began in the hills above Tywyn in the 1830s, but although many small quarries and test levels were established, only one major quarry was developed in the region, at Bryn Eglwys
, 7 miles (11.3 km) north east of the town. Underground working began in the early 1840s, and by 1847 the quarry was being worked by local landowner John Pughe. The finished slates were sent by packhorse
to the wharf at Pennal
, transferred to boats for a river trip to Aberdyfi
(then known as Aberdovey), and then finally loaded into seagoing vessels, a complex and expensive transportation arrangement which limited the quarry's output. In 1861 the outbreak of the American Civil War
cut off supplies of cotton
to the mills
of the north west of England and as a result a number of prosperous mill owners looked for new business opportunities to diversify their interests. One such owner was William McConnel
of Lancashire
who, in 1859, had purchased a house near Dolgellau
, north of Tywyn. In January 1864, McConnel formed the Aberdovey Slate Company, which leased the land including Bryn Eglwys from the landowner, Lewis Morris of Machynlleth
.
McConnel set about improving Bryn Eglwys to increase its output and in 1865 his company earmarked money for the construction of a narrow gauge railway connecting the quarry with the port of Aberdyfi. The standard gauge Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway
was expanding rapidly from its base at Machynlleth, however, and in 1863 had reached Tywyn, so McConnel decided to build his line from the quarry to Tywyn, as the nearest point where slate could be transferred to the standard gauge railway. This was despite the line's initial isolation from the rest of the system because of difficulties in bridging the estuary of the Afon Dyfi to the south. An Act of Parliament (28 and 29 Vict
, cap cccxv) allowing the company to operate passenger trains as a public railway was given Royal Assent
on 5 July 1865, and the company appointed James Swinton Spooner
as engineer for the construction. He laid out plans for a relatively straight line climbing steadily from Tywyn to the quarry and work quickly got underway. By September 1866 construction had advanced to the point where the Board of Trade
inspector Captain Henry Tyler
could make an initial inspection and report.
Tyler's report led to an unusual alteration, as it was discovered that the loading gauge
of the line was too small. The internal width of the overbridges was only 9 in 1 in (276.86 cm), but the railway's passenger carriages were 5 foot wide, leaving less than 2 ft (61 cm) clearance on either side, less than the minimum required clearance of 2 in 6 in (76.2 cm). To alleviate this problem, McConnel proposed that the doors on one side of each carriage be permanently barred and the track slewed off-centre beneath the bridges to allow adequate clearance at least on the side with doors, which would allow passengers to get out of the carriages if the train stopped underneath a bridge. Tyler agreed to this arrangement, and to this day all carriages on the Talyllyn have doors on one side only, an unusual feature for a public railway which is shared (albeit for different reasons) with the neighbouring Corris Railway. Tyler also required that improvements be made to the railway's first two steam locomotives, as locomotive No. 1 suffered from excessive "vertical motion" and No. 2 was said to suffer from "horizontal oscillation". No. 1 was returned to its manufacturer where a set of trailing wheel
s was added to reduce the rear overhang, and the springs on No. 2 were adjusted and the crank pin
s shortened to reduce its oscillation.
Tyler did not approve the opening until his listed improvements were completed. During the first half of 1866, the various changes required were made and construction of the line was finished, and in October 1866 the railway began an unofficial passenger service, despite not being authorised by the Board of Trade. Passengers were carried "at their own risk" and possibly free of charge until the line was officially sanctioned. In November of that year, Tyler returned to Tywyn and re-inspected the railway following which, subject to some further minor improvements, he approved its formal opening for passenger service. The first public passenger timetable was issued in December 1866, and the first purpose-built, steam-worked, narrow gauge public railway in Britain opened for service.
The railway opened with two locomotives, one carriage and several goods vehicles in use and was operated under a "one engine in steam" policy to ensure that two trains could not collide. Initially the working locomotive was housed in a wooden shed at Ty Dwr on the mineral line above Abergynolwyn station
, while the main engineering works at were constructed. The Pendre works opened on 17 February 1867 and from then on trains began working from Pendre instead of Abergynolwyn.
At the time of the line's opening, stations were provided at Pendre and Abergynolwyn. In 1867, the halt at opened, followed by and in 1873. Some time shortly after the opening of the railway a branch to Abergynolwyn village was provided. A steep incline
dropped from the mineral line east of Abergynolwyn station to the village below, where a series of tram lines radiated. Coal, building materials and general goods were delivered down the incline and the contents of the village cesspit
s were hauled back up for disposal along the lineside.
The railway used steam locomotive
s from the start, unlike its neighbour the horse-drawn Corris Railway. The original two engines, although of entirely different design, were both purchased from Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
of Whitehaven
in Cumbria
, and both are still in service, 140 years on, although so many of their parts have been replaced down the years that much of their present-day component metal is not original. The Talyllyn's rare gauge is thought to have been adopted to match that of the Corris Railway, and the line's two original steam locomotives were among the earliest engines built for such a narrow gauge. No. 1 Talyllyn
is an 0-4-2
ST (saddle tank) and No. 2 Dolgoch
is an 0-4-0
WT (well tank). The line carried slate from the quarry to the wharf at Tywyn and general goods along its length. Public passenger trains initially ran between Abergynolwyn, Dolgoch and Pendre stations only; quarrymen were carried on unofficial trains that continued on from Abergynolwyn to the foot of the Alltwyllt incline in Nant Gwernol gorge.
The line operated successfully during its early years, serving the quarry and the local district. By 1880, Bryn Eglwys employed 300 workers and was producing 8000 long ton of finished slate per year, all shipped via the railway. Passenger traffic was substantial, rising from 11,500 passengers carried in 1867 to over 23,000 (roughly equivalent to 40,000 passenger journeys) in 1877.
From the 1880s onwards the "Grand Tour
" was a popular option with tourists. This used charabanc
s to link the Talyllyn and Corris railways via Tal-y-llyn Lake and Cadair Idris, returning on Cambrian Railways
trains. The last two decades of the 19th century saw a decline in the demand for slate and many smaller quarries fell on hard times, including Bryn Eglwys, where by 1890 production had halved to 4000 long ton a year. In 1896, production at the Penrhyn Quarry
in north Wales, one of the largest producers of slate, was stopped due to labour disputes, resulting in a temporary increase in demand at other quarries. McConnel expanded production at Bryn Eglwys to take advantage of the sudden demand, but only with the aim of maximising profits during the remainder of his lease, which was to expire in 1910. He built new trial levels without proper provision for the removal of overburden
and pushed the limits of safe working in the existing chambers. As McConnel's lease drew to its close, there was no prospect of a further lessee coming forward and work began on dismantling the quarry's equipment.
purchased the company in 1910, the same year he was elected the Liberal
MP for Merioneth
, and reopened the quarry in January 1911. He did not have any capital to invest in the quarry, however, and the first workings reopened were on the "Broad Vein", which yielded relatively hard slate that was less popular and harder to sell. The lack of an available market for this output forced the quarry to switch to extracting softer slate from the "Narrow Vein" but, because Haydn Jones could not afford to open new workings into the Narrow Vein, he resorted to the dangerous practice of narrowing the columns that supported the roofs of the underground chambers. This practice had begun under McConnel's ownership and Haydn Jones continued it throughout his ownership of the quarry. A brief construction boom after the First World War saw production return to around 4000 long ton per year.
The 1920s also saw an upsurge in holiday traffic, as Britain recovered from the war and tourism gained in popularity. The Talyllyn saw summer passenger numbers grow significantly and regularly had to supplement its formal passenger stock with slate wagons fitted with planks as seats. An unusual tourist service offered by the railway was to hire a slate wagon, which would be left at Abergynolwyn. At the end of the day the tourists would return to Tywyn in the wagon, powered by gravity. This service was discontinued in the early 1930s. The additional income from the tourist trade defrayed some of the costs of operating the railway, but never enough for it to make a profit during Haydn Jones' ownership.
The lease on Bryn Eglwys expired in 1942, but was extended on an annual basis. The October 1942 Bradshaw's Guide shows two return passenger trains operating only on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, taking 45 minutes in each direction. No passenger service was provided on other days. In 1946 the weakened columns gave way in a significant collapse and the quarry was deemed unsafe and closed immediately. Haydn Jones had promised to continue operating the railway as long as he was alive and so, despite the closure of the quarry, the railway continued to run trains on a shoestring budget. In 1947 the British railway system was nationalised and the Talyllyn was one of the few operating railways not included. The reasons for this are unclear, but it is significant that all official mention of the railway had ceased several decades before and it is likely that the line was simply forgotten by officialdom. Between 1947 and 1949 the railway ran a passenger service two days a week. On 2 July 1950 Haydn Jones died and closure of the railway seemed inevitable, but the line continued to operate for the remainder of the summer season, ending on 6 October.
During the Second World War and in the period immediately afterwards several enthusiasts
, particularly from the Birmingham
area, had become aware of the narrow gauge railways of Wales and there had been suggestions that one of the lines, most probably the Ffestiniog Railway
, could be saved. In the summer of 1950, Tom Rolt
wrote a letter to the Birmingham Post
newspaper suggesting that a rescue of the Talyllyn be undertaken. He received sufficient positive response for a meeting of interested enthusiasts to be held on 11 October 1950 at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. Around 70 people attended the meeting and Rolt proposed the formation of a committee to look into the acquisition of the railway. With the support of the meeting, the committee met for the first time on 23 October and immediately entered into negotiation with Haydn Jones' executors.
The transfer of ownership to the committee was legally complex, but both parties agreed that all shares in the railway company would be transferred from Haydn Jones' estate to a new company called Talyllyn Holdings Ltd., whose board consisted of two directors from the executors and two from the committee. The transfer took place on 8 February 1951, at which point the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society effectively took control of the railway. The Society immediately began to publicise its efforts, hoping to raise funds and find further volunteers to help reopen the railway, and by May nearly 650 members had joined the society. The railway re-opened under the control of the Society for the first time on the Whit Monday
bank holiday, 14 May 1951, with trains running between Wharf and Rhydyronen stations. Regular trains began to run on 4 June and continued through the summer.
In the early years of preservation, the line struggled to operate using the original rolling stock. When the line was taken over in 1950 Dolgoch was the only operating locomotive and it was apparent that it was in need of a major overhaul. To enable operations to continue two further steam locomotives, Nos. 3 and 4, were purchased from the recently closed Corris Railway in 1951 and named Sir Haydn
and Edward Thomas
respectively. Because both railways were built to the unusual gauge of it was relatively easy to adapt the Corris locomotives to work on the Talyllyn. No. 3 became the first new locomotive to travel on the railway for over 90 years in 1951, but it frequently derailed
, and on inspection it turned out that the Talyllyn track was laid approximately half an inch (13 mm) wider than the official gauge, a deliberate policy by the old company to accommodate the long wheelbase
of Talyllyn. Both Talyllyn and Dolgoch had unusually wide wheel treads that allowed them to stay on the wide-of-gauge track. This problem was eventually cured by relaying the railway to its correct gauge and altering Talyllyns trailing wheels to allow them to swivel horizontally, shortening the locomotive's fixed wheelbase. No. 4 was unserviceable when it arrived, but John Alcock, the chairman of the Hunslet Engine Company
, was a member of the Preservation Society and had No. 4 overhauled free of charge at his works.
Another early addition to the locomotive fleet was No. 6 Douglas
, donated to the society by the Birmingham engineering firm Abelsons Ltd. This locomotive was built for the depot railway
serving RAF Calshot
where it worked until 1945, and, after rebuilding from its original gauge, it entered service in 1954. Through the 1950s the volunteers and staff members of the TRPS rebuilt the line and rescued it from its state of decay, during a period characterised by a "Boy's Own comic
spirit of adventure, involving enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility".
On 22 May 1957 the BBC
produced a live outside broadcast
from the railway, during which Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Huw Weldon commentated on a trip from Dolgoch to Abergynolwyn. The publicity from this broadcast drew substantial numbers of visitors to the railway that summer, with more than 57,500 passengers carried, and this increase in revenue in turn enabled the railway to continue to improve its infrastructure and provide tourists with a better experience. The following year locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn returned to steam after an extensive overhaul.
An important development during this period was the establishment of the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
at Tywyn Wharf station. The first exhibit for what was to become the museum was a locomotive donated in 1952 by Guinness
from their recently closed St. James's Gate Brewery
railway. In 1954 the Preservation Society agreed to start work on a formal museum and exhibits from around the United Kingdom were acquired to form the nucleus of the collection. In 1955 work started on converting the old gunpowder store
at Wharf station into a temporary museum building, and in 1956 the first exhibit arrived at Tywyn.
The 1960s proved to be a decade of consolidation for the Talyllyn. Pendre works underwent several much-needed expansions, adding additional covered storage for carriages and more workshop room. Modern machine tools, along with proper lighting and a new power supply were added. Substantial improvements to Tywyn Wharf station were also made, along with continued relaying and upgrading of the track to Abergynolwyn. Passenger numbers continued to climb after the BBC broadcast of 1957; in 1960, 67,000 passenger journeys were made, increasing to 78,500 in 1964. In response to this growing popularity the railway undertook a programme of new rolling stock construction.
By the early 1960s Tywyn Wharf station was in need of major improvements. Before preservation, the station had contained only a fan of sidings, which meant that there was no way for the locomotive of an arriving train to run round the carriages. As a result, trains were pushed from behind as far as Pendre, where the locomotive could be moved past the carriages to the front of the train. A loop
was installed at Wharf for the first time in August 1952, to avoid having to propel trains to Pendre, but in the winter of 1964/65 a major upgrade of the station was carried out. This improved the track layout and extended the original office building to provide covered accommodation for passengers and a shop.
As passenger numbers continued to grow during the late 1960s it became clear that further motive power was needed, especially as the rebuilt No. 1 was not performing well. The Talyllyn's unusual track gauge and restricted loading gauge meant that it was unlikely that a locomotive could be found that could work on the line unaltered, so in 1969 a gauge steam locomotive was purchased from the Bord na Mona
(Irish Peat Board) with a view to rebuilding it for use on the Talyllyn. This locomotive was unofficially known as Irish Pete, a nod to its original use.
The preservation society had long held ambitions to extend the railway along the former mineral extension from Abergynolwyn to the foot of the Alltwyllt incline, and as early as 1959 work had begun to trace the owners of the land that the extension traversed. Planning began in the mid-1960s, but construction did not start until 1968 when the winding house for the Abergynolwyn village incline was demolished. To bring the line up to passenger standards some of the curves needed to be eased, and this required blasting work, as the line runs on a narrow ledge on the hillside at this point. The extension and new station at Nant Gwernol were opened on 22 May 1976 by Wynford Vaughan Thomas who drove in the ceremonial "golden spike
" to complete the extension. Despite this official opening ceremony, minor work still remained to bring the extension to the standard required to run regular passenger trains, but regular train services began on 29 May 1976.
Although the extension of the railway was completed in 1976, work in the vicinity continued with the creation of footpaths connecting to the new station. A new footbridge was built crossing the Nant Gwernol gorge and connecting the station with the existing path on the east side of the river. The bridge and paths were opened on 3 May 1980 by Lord Parry
, the chairman of the Wales Tourist Board
. By the mid-1970s, it had become clear that passenger numbers were no longer increasing. After 1973, the peak year for passengers on the Talyllyn with 186,000 passenger journeys made, numbers were to decline consistently until the 1990s. Preliminary work on the conversion of Irish Pete for use on the Talyllyn, which had begun in the early 1970s, was put on hold in 1975 and the chassis and boiler were put into storage at Pendre.
With passenger numbers falling and the line extended to Nant Gwernol, the railway entered a period of consolidation. By 1987, the boiler
on locomotive No. 6 Douglas was life expired and in need of replacement. Consideration was given to reviving the project to build a new locomotive from the components of Irish Pete instead of purchasing a new boiler for Douglas and in early 1988 work recommenced on the rebuilding of the ex-Bord na Mona locomotive. A new design for a 0-4-2 side tank locomotive was prepared by the railway's Chief Engineer John Bate, which reused the chassis and boiler from the locomotive with a new superstructure and the addition of trailing wheels, and the new locomotive, officially named Tom Rolt
after the Preservation Society's first chairman, was put into service on 6 May 1991. During this period further expansions of both Tywyn Wharf and Pendre stations were undertaken and Abergynolwyn station, which had been rebuilt as part of the Nant Gwernol extension in the 1970s, was expanded further to provide an additional attraction at the eastern end of the line.
One major anomaly remained in the railway's operations: the 1889 Regulation of Railways Act
had required, amongst other measures, that all British passenger trains be fitted with continuous brakes. McConnel had secured an exemption for the Talyllyn Railway, on the basis that the low speed of operation meant they were unnecessary and that the cost of compliance would bankrupt the enterprise, but by the end of the 1990s the Railway Inspectorate
was insisting that the Talyllyn be brought into compliance with the act, a little over 100 years after it had passed. By 2001, the railway had fitted its entire passenger fleet with the necessary equipment, operated by air brake pumps
mounted on the locomotives.
and The Duchess of Cornwall
on 13 July 2005. The railway has seen a steady increase in passengers carried since the turn of the millennium
, with nearly 95,500 passenger journeys recorded in 2006, although this figure is still only around half the peak figure carried in 1973. In 2011, the railway celebrated 60 years of preservation, and received an Engineering Heritage Award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of its importance in Welsh industrial heritage.
The Talyllyn Railway remains a successful and popular tourist attraction. The original 1860s locomotives and passenger stock still run regularly alongside the roster of more modern rolling stock. The railway is promoted as one of The Great Little Trains of Wales, a joint marketing scheme launched in 1970 that encompasses ten narrow gauge railways in the country, mostly found in north and mid Wales. In 2006, nearly 51,000 passengers were carried.
In 2003 the railway employed 13 full-time staff, plus the equivalent of an extra six part-time staff in the summer and some 350 volunteers.
, which follows the railway track 7¼ miles (11.8 km) from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and back again. The challenge is for runners to complete the 14½-mile (23.3 km) cross country route faster than the train, which takes around 1 hour 45 minutes.
The main terminus of the line is at (originally known as King's Station, after a local landowner), where the railway's administrative headquarters and the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum are located. When the line carried traffic from the quarry, slates were transferred to the Cambrian Railway on the transhipment sidings. Leaving Wharf station, which stands at an elevation of 40 ft (12 m) above sea level, the line passes immediately under the A493 Machynlleth
to Dolgellau
road and enters a long cutting that climbs towards , at a maximum gradient of 1 in 60. On the left (north) side of the cutting there was once a long siding used for gravity shunting
of wagons into the sidings at Wharf station. The railway runs through the cutting for about half a mile (800 m), before passing under another road bridge and passing the locomotive and carriage sheds
and works at Pendre.
From Pendre, the railway passes over a gated level crossing
and runs beside an industrial estate before climbing up to Ty Mawr bridge and on to Hendy, the first of five minor halts, which serves the adjacent farm. The railway runs in an approximately north-easterly direction along the Fathew valley, mainly through fields of local farms on the valley floor, although this is where some of the steepest gradients on the line are to be found. The ruling gradient
of the line is 1 in 60.
More local halts follow at Fach Goch, and Cynfal, the latter having a small platform. The section from Cynfal to was relaid in 1951 using rail purchased from the Corris Railway after the latter line's closure in 1948, and is therefore known informally as the Corris Straight. Rhydyronen, now a request stop
, was the first intermediate station built on the line, opening in 1867. A siding at the station was removed in 1957. A short steep climb under a road bridge follows the station, followed by a slight downhill gradient. Unlike the Ffestiniog Railway, the Talyllyn was not designed to be worked as a gravity line, however this is the only downhill section between Pendre and Nant Gwernol. Another minor halt follows at Tynllwynhen, before the passing loop and station at .
Above Brynglas, the line crosses the Cwm Pandy stream and enters a shallow cutting, climbing as it goes. The cutting ends at a road overbridge after which the line runs through open countryside as it starts to ascend the valley side on a ledge. After approximately a quarter of a mile (400 m) it enters woodlands west of , climbing steadily, then curves to the south east and crosses the Dolgoch gorge on the Dolgoch viaduct, which carries the line 51 ft (15.5 m) above the Dolgoch ravine. Dolgoch station is immediately east of the viaduct, situated on a left-hand curve at 187 ft (57 m) above sea level, and is the main intermediate station on the line, being popular with tourists visiting the nearby falls
. The railway continues in a north easterly direction, curving through the woods and climbing the valley side. It shortly passes Quarry Siding, where a halt and passing loop are located, as well as a small former shale
quarry, the rock from which was used for ballasting
on the railway. The line continues its ascent towards Abergynolwyn station
, situated on a ledge cut into the hillside.
The original terminus of the statutory railway was Abergynolwyn, beyond which the railway continued as a mineral extension, now converted for passenger use. The extension was originally sharply curved, as the line turns south east into the steeply sided Nant Gwernol gorge but these curves were eased when conversion for passenger use took place in 1976. The whole section is within woods, now owned by the Forestry Commission
. Shortly after leaving Abergynolwyn station the line reaches Ty Dwr, where the original locomotive shed stood from 1865 until it was demolished after Pendre works opened in 1867, although the slate water tower continued in use into the 1950s.
About half way along the 0.75 miles (1.2 km) extension is the site of the Village Incline. From here the line runs into the gorge, high above the river on a narrow ledge, ending at the foot of the first incline leading to the Bryn Eglwys quarry. The original line fanned out into a set of three sidings, used to marshal trains of loaded slate wagons coming down from the quarry and empty wagons waiting to ascend. Nant Gwernol station
, the eastern terminus of the line, was built on the site of the sidings.
The village of Abergynolwyn
was built to house the quarrymen of Bryn Eglwys and their families, and to serve the village an incline
and short branch were laid from a point about half way along the mineral extension. The winding house for the incline stood on the narrow ledge, with the mineral line passing through it. The two-track incline dropped 150 ft (46 m) over a distance of 363 ft (111 m). At its foot, the line crossed the Nant Gwernol on a girder bridge. Immediately after the bridge, short lines branched off to the east from a wagon turntable
to the coal yard and smithy of Pandy Farm and west to a writing slate
factory (later a carpenter's yard). The main branch then split to form a storage loop, with a further wagon turntable and a longer branch serving the houses and school to the north east. The main branch continued north, crossing the main road then passing between the two main terraces in the village before ending in a turntable and a final short line connecting to the Capel Jerusalem chapel. The village incline was lifted during the early years of preservation, to provide much needed rail to replace the existing track. The winding house was demolished in 1968 to allow realignment of the railway to form the extension to Nant Gwernol.
Until the closure of the quarries in 1946, the line east from Abergynolwyn was worked as a mineral tramway – only slate and goods trains serving Bryn Eglwys ran on this section. The quarry lay about a mile (1.6 km) south-east of Nant Gwernol station and 300 ft (100 m) above it, with a further mineral tramway connecting the quarry with the railway. What is now Nant Gwernol station was the terminus of the Talyllyn Railway proper. Here the line fanned out into a set of sidings where inbound trains were left and outbound slate trains assembled. The sidings were located on a narrow ledge in the side of the Nant Gwernol gorge.
Rising south-east from the end of the sidings was the 633 ft (192.9 m) long, double track gravity operated, Alltwyllt incline, from the top of which the Galltymoelfre Tramway ran south-east towards the quarry for about 0.5 miles (804.7 m). The tramway was laid in light bridge rail and worked for its entire existence using horses. The tramway ended at the foot of the Cantrybedd Incline, a 440 ft (134.1 m) long double track, gravity operated incline. This final incline rose to the north edge of Bryn Eglwys quarry, reaching a height of 612 ft (186.5 m) above sea level.
The railway is single track
, so special measures have to be taken to prevent collisions. Before preservation, the railway operated a "one engine in steam" policy, but with growing passenger numbers it became necessary to install passing loops and a more stringent method of single line control was introduced. The line is worked by tokens
, which authorise the driver to enter a single line section, and these are interlocked to prevent more than one token being withdrawn for a section at any one time. A loop is at Pendre, which was used from the opening of the railway for shunting purposes, and further loops were installed at Brynglas in 1953 and Quarry Siding in 1963. When the Nant Gwernol extension opened in 1976, Abergynolwyn also became a passing loop.
Each passing loop is controlled by a small signal box
, known as a block-post. These house the lever frames that control the points, the token equipment and telephones. The railway has few signals; instead it has stop boards at each loop, and the blockman
allows trains to proceed by use of flags. When the block-post is unstaffed, it is the responsibility of the locomotive crew to change the token before proceeding.
books by the Reverend W. Awdry
and the spin-off TV series Thomas and Friends as the Skarloey Railway
; most of the fictional locomotives are based on real-life equivalents. Awdry visited the line on a family holiday in the early days of preservation and became involved as a volunteer soon afterwards. Several of the stories in The Railway Series
come from his real-life experiences at the Talyllyn, and some of the books contain full-page illustrations of Talyllyn locomotives.
The preservation of the Talyllyn Railway by volunteers was the inspiration for the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt
, an Ealing Studios
comedy about a group of villagers attempting to run a service on a disused branch line
after closure. T. E. B. Clarke
, the script writer for the film, had heard about the preservation of the Talyllyn and spent a day on the railway in 1951, and some of the early incidents in preservation were incorporated into the film. In the book Railway Adventure Tom Rolt recalled that he had hoped the film might be produced on the Talyllyn, but in the end it was filmed on the recently closed Camerton branch of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway
branch line along the Cam Brook
valley in Somerset
.
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
railway in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
running for 7.25 miles (11.7 km) from Tywyn
Tywyn
Tywyn is a town and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd , in north Wales. The name derives from the Welsh tywyn and the town is sometimes referred to as Tywyn Meirionnydd...
on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol
Nant Gwernol railway station
Nant Gwernol railway station is the eastern terminus of the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 7 miles, 28 chains from ....
near the village of Abergynolwyn
Abergynolwyn
Abergynolwyn is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni.Historically, the village was part of Merionethshire and its main industry was slate quarrying and the village was founded in the 1860s to house workers at the nearby Bryn...
. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys
Bryn Eglwys
Bryn Eglwys was a remote slate quarry located near Abergynolwyn in Gwynedd mid-Wales.- History :The quarry was first worked on a small scale in the early 1840s. In 1864 William McConnel leased the quarry, forming the Aberdovey Slate Company Limited. McConnel planned to increase production at Bryn...
to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
by volunteers.
Since preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
, expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. In 1976, an extension was opened along the former mineral line from Abergynolwyn to the new station at Nant Gwernol. In 2001, the preservation society celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in 2005 a major rebuilding and extension of Tywyn Wharf station
Tywyn Wharf railway station
Tywyn Wharf railway station is the western terminus and principal station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales.-History:Originally called King's station after a local landowner, it was not a passenger station at first, but a place for transhipment of slates from the narrow gauge...
took place, including a much-expanded facility for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow gauge railways situated at the station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales....
.
The fictional Skarloey Railway
Skarloey Railway
On the fictional Island of Sodor in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, the Skarloey Railway is a narrow gauge railway which runs from the main line at Crovan's Gate to the passenger terminus at Skarloey. Beyond Skarloey the line continues to a slate quarry.In the stories, the railway is run by...
, which formed part of the Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
of children's books by The Rev. W. Awdry, was based on the Talyllyn Railway. The preservation of the line inspired the Ealing Comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
.
Name and gauge
The origin of the railway's name is uncertain: it may refer to the parish of TalyllynTalyllyn
Talyllyn or Tal-y-llyn can refer to:* the former parish in southern Merionethshire in Wales, and included the villages of Abergynolwyn and Corris*Tal-y-llyn Lake, a glacial ribbon lake east of Abergynolwyn...
, which contains its eastern terminus, or it may come from Tal-y-llyn
Tal-y-llyn Lake
Tal-y-llyn Lake, also known as Talyllyn Lake or Llyn Mwyngil, is a large glacial ribbon lake formed by a post-glacial massive landslip damming up the lake within the glaciated valley...
, a large glacial ribbon lake
Ribbon lake
A ribbon lake or loch is a long and narrow, finger-shaped lake, usually found in a glacial trough. Its formation begins when a glacier moves over an area containing alternate bands of hard and soft bedrock...
at the foot of Cadair Idris
Cadair Idris
Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in Gwynedd, Wales that lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hikers, is composed largely of Ordovician igneous rocks, with classic glacial erosion features such as...
3 miles (4.8 km) further east. The 2 in 3 in (685.8 mm) gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
of the track
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
is unusual, and was shared by only three other public railways in the United Kingdom: the nearby Corris Railway
Corris Railway
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....
(which predated the Talyllyn), and the subsequent Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a gauge narrow gauge railway in Cardiganshire in Mid Wales. It ran from Llanfihangel station on the Cambrian Railways via the village of Talybont and the valley of the Afon Leri into the foothills of Plynlimon Fawr...
and Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Kintyre, Scotland, between the towns of Campbeltown and Machrihanish...
.
Origins and construction: up to 1866
Slate quarryingSlate industry in Wales
The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...
began in the hills above Tywyn in the 1830s, but although many small quarries and test levels were established, only one major quarry was developed in the region, at Bryn Eglwys
Bryn Eglwys
Bryn Eglwys was a remote slate quarry located near Abergynolwyn in Gwynedd mid-Wales.- History :The quarry was first worked on a small scale in the early 1840s. In 1864 William McConnel leased the quarry, forming the Aberdovey Slate Company Limited. McConnel planned to increase production at Bryn...
, 7 miles (11.3 km) north east of the town. Underground working began in the early 1840s, and by 1847 the quarry was being worked by local landowner John Pughe. The finished slates were sent by packhorse
Packhorse
.A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid such as a horse, mule, donkey or pony used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. ...
to the wharf at Pennal
Pennal
Pennal is a village on the A493 road in southern Gwynedd, Wales, on the north bank of the Afon Dyfi/River Dovey, near Machynlleth.It lies in the former county of Merionethshire/Sir Feirionnydd, and is within the Snowdonia National Park.-Roman Fort:...
, transferred to boats for a river trip to Aberdyfi
Aberdyfi
Aberdyfi , or Aberdovey is a village on the north side of the estuary of the River Dyfi in Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales....
(then known as Aberdovey), and then finally loaded into seagoing vessels, a complex and expensive transportation arrangement which limited the quarry's output. In 1861 the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
cut off supplies of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
to the mills
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
of the north west of England and as a result a number of prosperous mill owners looked for new business opportunities to diversify their interests. One such owner was William McConnel
William McConnel
William McConnel was an industrialist and mill-owner from Lancashire, England. He founded the Aberdovey Slate Company that ran the Bryn Eglwys slate quarry from 1863 onwards and oversaw the construction of the associated Talyllyn Railway....
of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
who, in 1859, had purchased a house near Dolgellau
Dolgellau
Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
, north of Tywyn. In January 1864, McConnel formed the Aberdovey Slate Company, which leased the land including Bryn Eglwys from the landowner, Lewis Morris of Machynlleth
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
.
Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway
The Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway was a standard gauge railway built in 1863 connecting major towns on the Welsh coast.- History :...
was expanding rapidly from its base at Machynlleth, however, and in 1863 had reached Tywyn, so McConnel decided to build his line from the quarry to Tywyn, as the nearest point where slate could be transferred to the standard gauge railway. This was despite the line's initial isolation from the rest of the system because of difficulties in bridging the estuary of the Afon Dyfi to the south. An Act of Parliament (28 and 29 Vict
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, cap cccxv) allowing the company to operate passenger trains as a public railway was given Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on 5 July 1865, and the company appointed James Swinton Spooner
The Spooners of Porthmadog
The Spooners of Porthmadog refers to the Spooner family of Porthmadog, North Wales who made important contributions to the development of narrow gauge railways both locally and throughout the world. James Spooner, together with his sons James Swinton and Charles Easton and other members of their...
as engineer for the construction. He laid out plans for a relatively straight line climbing steadily from Tywyn to the quarry and work quickly got underway. By September 1866 construction had advanced to the point where the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
inspector Captain Henry Tyler
Henry Whatley Tyler
Sir Henry Whatley Tyler was a British Inspector of Railways, Railway Company director and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1892.-Early life:...
could make an initial inspection and report.
Tyler's report led to an unusual alteration, as it was discovered that the loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
of the line was too small. The internal width of the overbridges was only 9 in 1 in (276.86 cm), but the railway's passenger carriages were 5 foot wide, leaving less than 2 ft (61 cm) clearance on either side, less than the minimum required clearance of 2 in 6 in (76.2 cm). To alleviate this problem, McConnel proposed that the doors on one side of each carriage be permanently barred and the track slewed off-centre beneath the bridges to allow adequate clearance at least on the side with doors, which would allow passengers to get out of the carriages if the train stopped underneath a bridge. Tyler agreed to this arrangement, and to this day all carriages on the Talyllyn have doors on one side only, an unusual feature for a public railway which is shared (albeit for different reasons) with the neighbouring Corris Railway. Tyler also required that improvements be made to the railway's first two steam locomotives, as locomotive No. 1 suffered from excessive "vertical motion" and No. 2 was said to suffer from "horizontal oscillation". No. 1 was returned to its manufacturer where a set of trailing wheel
Trailing wheel
On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels was usually located on a trailing truck...
s was added to reduce the rear overhang, and the springs on No. 2 were adjusted and the crank pin
Crank pin
In a reciprocating engine, the crankpins, also known as crank journals are the journals of the big end bearings, at the ends of the connecting rods opposite to the pistons....
s shortened to reduce its oscillation.
Tyler did not approve the opening until his listed improvements were completed. During the first half of 1866, the various changes required were made and construction of the line was finished, and in October 1866 the railway began an unofficial passenger service, despite not being authorised by the Board of Trade. Passengers were carried "at their own risk" and possibly free of charge until the line was officially sanctioned. In November of that year, Tyler returned to Tywyn and re-inspected the railway following which, subject to some further minor improvements, he approved its formal opening for passenger service. The first public passenger timetable was issued in December 1866, and the first purpose-built, steam-worked, narrow gauge public railway in Britain opened for service.
Prosperity under McConnel: 1866–1880s
Abergynolwyn railway station
Abergynolwyn railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway at Abergynolwyn near Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 6 miles, 44 chains from ....
, while the main engineering works at were constructed. The Pendre works opened on 17 February 1867 and from then on trains began working from Pendre instead of Abergynolwyn.
At the time of the line's opening, stations were provided at Pendre and Abergynolwyn. In 1867, the halt at opened, followed by and in 1873. Some time shortly after the opening of the railway a branch to Abergynolwyn village was provided. A steep incline
Cable railway
A cable railway is a steeply graded railway that uses a cable or rope to haul trains.-Introduction:...
dropped from the mineral line east of Abergynolwyn station to the village below, where a series of tram lines radiated. Coal, building materials and general goods were delivered down the incline and the contents of the village cesspit
Cesspit
A cesspit, or cesspool is a pit, conservancy tank, or covered cistern, which can be used to dispose of urine and feces, and more generally of all sewage and refuse. It is a more antiquated solution than a sewer system. Traditionally, it was a deep cylindrical chamber dug into the earth, having...
s were hauled back up for disposal along the lineside.
The railway used steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s from the start, unlike its neighbour the horse-drawn Corris Railway. The original two engines, although of entirely different design, were both purchased from Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
Fletcher, Jennings & Co. was an engineering company at Lowca near Whitehaven, Cumbria, England.-Overview:Fletcher and Jennings took over the business of Tulk and Ley in 1857...
of Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, and both are still in service, 140 years on, although so many of their parts have been replaced down the years that much of their present-day component metal is not original. The Talyllyn's rare gauge is thought to have been adopted to match that of the Corris Railway, and the line's two original steam locomotives were among the earliest engines built for such a narrow gauge. No. 1 Talyllyn
Talyllyn (locomotive)
Talyllyn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. It was built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. in 1864 and is one of the oldest locomotives still in active service...
is an 0-4-2
0-4-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
ST (saddle tank) and No. 2 Dolgoch
Dolgoch (locomotive)
Dolgoch is a narrow gauge 0-4-0 well tank steam locomotive. It was built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. in 1866 and is one of the oldest locomotives still in active service. It was delivered to the Talyllyn Railway in 1866 and continues to run on this railway....
is an 0-4-0
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
WT (well tank). The line carried slate from the quarry to the wharf at Tywyn and general goods along its length. Public passenger trains initially ran between Abergynolwyn, Dolgoch and Pendre stations only; quarrymen were carried on unofficial trains that continued on from Abergynolwyn to the foot of the Alltwyllt incline in Nant Gwernol gorge.
The line operated successfully during its early years, serving the quarry and the local district. By 1880, Bryn Eglwys employed 300 workers and was producing 8000 long ton of finished slate per year, all shipped via the railway. Passenger traffic was substantial, rising from 11,500 passengers carried in 1867 to over 23,000 (roughly equivalent to 40,000 passenger journeys) in 1877.
Declining fortunes: 1880s–1910
Corris Railway Grand Tour
The Corris Railway's Grand Tour was a tourist service that ran between 1886 and 1930. It involved a journey on the Corris Railway, a charabanc connection to the Talyllyn Railway and a return via the Cambrian Railways line between Tywyn and Machynlleth....
" was a popular option with tourists. This used charabanc
Charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year...
s to link the Talyllyn and Corris railways via Tal-y-llyn Lake and Cadair Idris, returning on Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904...
trains. The last two decades of the 19th century saw a decline in the demand for slate and many smaller quarries fell on hard times, including Bryn Eglwys, where by 1890 production had halved to 4000 long ton a year. In 1896, production at the Penrhyn Quarry
Penrhyn Quarry
The Penrhyn Slate Quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda in north Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has since been superseded in size by slate quarries...
in north Wales, one of the largest producers of slate, was stopped due to labour disputes, resulting in a temporary increase in demand at other quarries. McConnel expanded production at Bryn Eglwys to take advantage of the sudden demand, but only with the aim of maximising profits during the remainder of his lease, which was to expire in 1910. He built new trial levels without proper provision for the removal of overburden
Overburden
Overburden is the material that lies above an area of economic or scientific interest in mining and archaeology; most commonly the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. It is also known as 'waste' or 'spoil'...
and pushed the limits of safe working in the existing chambers. As McConnel's lease drew to its close, there was no prospect of a further lessee coming forward and work began on dismantling the quarry's equipment.
Haydn Jones era: 1911–1950
The Bryn Eglwys quarry was the primary employer in the Abergynolwyn district, so its closure caused significant distress. Local landowner Henry Haydn JonesHenry Haydn Jones
Sir Henry Haydn Jones was a Welsh Liberal Party politician.- Upbringing :Henry Haydn Jones was born in Ruthin, Wales. He was the son of Joseph David Jones , a schoolmaster in the town and a respected Welsh musician and composer...
purchased the company in 1910, the same year he was elected the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP for Merioneth
Merionethshire
Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...
, and reopened the quarry in January 1911. He did not have any capital to invest in the quarry, however, and the first workings reopened were on the "Broad Vein", which yielded relatively hard slate that was less popular and harder to sell. The lack of an available market for this output forced the quarry to switch to extracting softer slate from the "Narrow Vein" but, because Haydn Jones could not afford to open new workings into the Narrow Vein, he resorted to the dangerous practice of narrowing the columns that supported the roofs of the underground chambers. This practice had begun under McConnel's ownership and Haydn Jones continued it throughout his ownership of the quarry. A brief construction boom after the First World War saw production return to around 4000 long ton per year.
The 1920s also saw an upsurge in holiday traffic, as Britain recovered from the war and tourism gained in popularity. The Talyllyn saw summer passenger numbers grow significantly and regularly had to supplement its formal passenger stock with slate wagons fitted with planks as seats. An unusual tourist service offered by the railway was to hire a slate wagon, which would be left at Abergynolwyn. At the end of the day the tourists would return to Tywyn in the wagon, powered by gravity. This service was discontinued in the early 1930s. The additional income from the tourist trade defrayed some of the costs of operating the railway, but never enough for it to make a profit during Haydn Jones' ownership.
The lease on Bryn Eglwys expired in 1942, but was extended on an annual basis. The October 1942 Bradshaw's Guide shows two return passenger trains operating only on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, taking 45 minutes in each direction. No passenger service was provided on other days. In 1946 the weakened columns gave way in a significant collapse and the quarry was deemed unsafe and closed immediately. Haydn Jones had promised to continue operating the railway as long as he was alive and so, despite the closure of the quarry, the railway continued to run trains on a shoestring budget. In 1947 the British railway system was nationalised and the Talyllyn was one of the few operating railways not included. The reasons for this are unclear, but it is significant that all official mention of the railway had ceased several decades before and it is likely that the line was simply forgotten by officialdom. Between 1947 and 1949 the railway ran a passenger service two days a week. On 2 July 1950 Haydn Jones died and closure of the railway seemed inevitable, but the line continued to operate for the remainder of the summer season, ending on 6 October.
Rescue: 1951–1960
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
, particularly from the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
area, had become aware of the narrow gauge railways of Wales and there had been suggestions that one of the lines, most probably the Ffestiniog Railway
Ffestiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
, could be saved. In the summer of 1950, Tom Rolt
L. T. C. Rolt
Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford...
wrote a letter to the Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
newspaper suggesting that a rescue of the Talyllyn be undertaken. He received sufficient positive response for a meeting of interested enthusiasts to be held on 11 October 1950 at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. Around 70 people attended the meeting and Rolt proposed the formation of a committee to look into the acquisition of the railway. With the support of the meeting, the committee met for the first time on 23 October and immediately entered into negotiation with Haydn Jones' executors.
The transfer of ownership to the committee was legally complex, but both parties agreed that all shares in the railway company would be transferred from Haydn Jones' estate to a new company called Talyllyn Holdings Ltd., whose board consisted of two directors from the executors and two from the committee. The transfer took place on 8 February 1951, at which point the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society effectively took control of the railway. The Society immediately began to publicise its efforts, hoping to raise funds and find further volunteers to help reopen the railway, and by May nearly 650 members had joined the society. The railway re-opened under the control of the Society for the first time on the Whit Monday
Whit Monday
Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter....
bank holiday, 14 May 1951, with trains running between Wharf and Rhydyronen stations. Regular trains began to run on 4 June and continued through the summer.
In the early years of preservation, the line struggled to operate using the original rolling stock. When the line was taken over in 1950 Dolgoch was the only operating locomotive and it was apparent that it was in need of a major overhaul. To enable operations to continue two further steam locomotives, Nos. 3 and 4, were purchased from the recently closed Corris Railway in 1951 and named Sir Haydn
Sir Haydn (locomotive)
Sir Haydn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by Hughes' Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Ltd of the Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1878. It operated on the Corris Railway in Wales, until closure in 1948, and since 1951 has operated on the nearby Talyllyn Railway...
and Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas (locomotive)
Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then...
respectively. Because both railways were built to the unusual gauge of it was relatively easy to adapt the Corris locomotives to work on the Talyllyn. No. 3 became the first new locomotive to travel on the railway for over 90 years in 1951, but it frequently derailed
Derailment
A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
, and on inspection it turned out that the Talyllyn track was laid approximately half an inch (13 mm) wider than the official gauge, a deliberate policy by the old company to accommodate the long wheelbase
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...
of Talyllyn. Both Talyllyn and Dolgoch had unusually wide wheel treads that allowed them to stay on the wide-of-gauge track. This problem was eventually cured by relaying the railway to its correct gauge and altering Talyllyns trailing wheels to allow them to swivel horizontally, shortening the locomotive's fixed wheelbase. No. 4 was unserviceable when it arrived, but John Alcock, the chairman of the Hunslet Engine Company
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...
, was a member of the Preservation Society and had No. 4 overhauled free of charge at his works.
Douglas (locomotive)
Douglas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. It was built by Andrew Barclay & Co. Ltd. in 1918. It was originally used by the Air Service Constructional Corps then was bought in 1949 by Abelson & Co. Ltd...
, donated to the society by the Birmingham engineering firm Abelsons Ltd. This locomotive was built for the depot railway
British military narrow gauge railways
These are narrow gauge railways at military establishments and former UK Government-owned explosives sites. These locations were often subject to the Official Secrets Act and other government restrictions, so many of them are less well documented....
serving RAF Calshot
RAF Calshot
RAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly an RAF marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hampshire, England, at...
where it worked until 1945, and, after rebuilding from its original gauge, it entered service in 1954. Through the 1950s the volunteers and staff members of the TRPS rebuilt the line and rescued it from its state of decay, during a period characterised by a "Boy's Own comic
Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
spirit of adventure, involving enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility".
On 22 May 1957 the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
produced a live outside broadcast
Outside broadcasting
Outside broadcasting is the electronic field production of television or radio programmes from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly transmission...
from the railway, during which Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Huw Weldon commentated on a trip from Dolgoch to Abergynolwyn. The publicity from this broadcast drew substantial numbers of visitors to the railway that summer, with more than 57,500 passengers carried, and this increase in revenue in turn enabled the railway to continue to improve its infrastructure and provide tourists with a better experience. The following year locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn returned to steam after an extensive overhaul.
An important development during this period was the establishment of the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow gauge railways situated at the station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales....
at Tywyn Wharf station. The first exhibit for what was to become the museum was a locomotive donated in 1952 by Guinness
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
from their recently closed St. James's Gate Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed via the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product produced at the brewery is Guinness Draft.Leased for 9,000 years in 1759 by...
railway. In 1954 the Preservation Society agreed to start work on a formal museum and exhibits from around the United Kingdom were acquired to form the nucleus of the collection. In 1955 work started on converting the old gunpowder store
Gunpowder magazine
A gunpowder magazine is a magazine designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications required storage magazines...
at Wharf station into a temporary museum building, and in 1956 the first exhibit arrived at Tywyn.
Securing the infrastructure: 1960–1969
By the early 1960s Tywyn Wharf station was in need of major improvements. Before preservation, the station had contained only a fan of sidings, which meant that there was no way for the locomotive of an arriving train to run round the carriages. As a result, trains were pushed from behind as far as Pendre, where the locomotive could be moved past the carriages to the front of the train. A loop
Passing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
was installed at Wharf for the first time in August 1952, to avoid having to propel trains to Pendre, but in the winter of 1964/65 a major upgrade of the station was carried out. This improved the track layout and extended the original office building to provide covered accommodation for passengers and a shop.
As passenger numbers continued to grow during the late 1960s it became clear that further motive power was needed, especially as the rebuilt No. 1 was not performing well. The Talyllyn's unusual track gauge and restricted loading gauge meant that it was unlikely that a locomotive could be found that could work on the line unaltered, so in 1969 a gauge steam locomotive was purchased from the Bord na Mona
Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna , abbreviated BNM, is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company is responsible for the mechanised harvesting of peat, primarily in the Midlands of Ireland...
(Irish Peat Board) with a view to rebuilding it for use on the Talyllyn. This locomotive was unofficially known as Irish Pete, a nod to its original use.
Extension to Nant Gwernol: 1969–1980
Golden spike
The "Golden Spike" is the ceremonial final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory...
" to complete the extension. Despite this official opening ceremony, minor work still remained to bring the extension to the standard required to run regular passenger trains, but regular train services began on 29 May 1976.
Gordon Parry, Baron Parry
Gordon Samuel David Parry was a Welsh Labour politician. He was created a Life Peer as Lord Parry of Neyland on 21 January 1976 by the Prime Minister Harold Wilson....
, the chairman of the Wales Tourist Board
Visit Wales
Visit Wales is the Welsh Assembly Government's tourism team within the Department for Heritage to promote Welsh tourism and assist the tourism industry....
. By the mid-1970s, it had become clear that passenger numbers were no longer increasing. After 1973, the peak year for passengers on the Talyllyn with 186,000 passenger journeys made, numbers were to decline consistently until the 1990s. Preliminary work on the conversion of Irish Pete for use on the Talyllyn, which had begun in the early 1970s, was put on hold in 1975 and the chassis and boiler were put into storage at Pendre.
Consolidation: 1980–2001
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
on locomotive No. 6 Douglas was life expired and in need of replacement. Consideration was given to reviving the project to build a new locomotive from the components of Irish Pete instead of purchasing a new boiler for Douglas and in early 1988 work recommenced on the rebuilding of the ex-Bord na Mona locomotive. A new design for a 0-4-2 side tank locomotive was prepared by the railway's Chief Engineer John Bate, which reused the chassis and boiler from the locomotive with a new superstructure and the addition of trailing wheels, and the new locomotive, officially named Tom Rolt
Tom Rolt (locomotive)
Tom Rolt is a narrow gauge steam locomotive constructed by the Talyllyn Railway using parts from an Andrew Barclay locomotive built in 1949 for Bord na Móna.-Bord na Móna:...
after the Preservation Society's first chairman, was put into service on 6 May 1991. During this period further expansions of both Tywyn Wharf and Pendre stations were undertaken and Abergynolwyn station, which had been rebuilt as part of the Nant Gwernol extension in the 1970s, was expanded further to provide an additional attraction at the eastern end of the line.
One major anomaly remained in the railway's operations: the 1889 Regulation of Railways Act
Regulation of Railways Act 1889
The Regulation of Railways Act 1889 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
had required, amongst other measures, that all British passenger trains be fitted with continuous brakes. McConnel had secured an exemption for the Talyllyn Railway, on the basis that the low speed of operation meant they were unnecessary and that the cost of compliance would bankrupt the enterprise, but by the end of the 1990s the Railway Inspectorate
HM Railway Inspectorate
Established in 1840, HM Railway Inspectorate was the British organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain's railways and tramways...
was insisting that the Talyllyn be brought into compliance with the act, a little over 100 years after it had passed. By 2001, the railway had fitted its entire passenger fleet with the necessary equipment, operated by air brake pumps
Air brake (rail)
An air brake is a conveyance braking system actuated by compressed air. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1872. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell...
mounted on the locomotives.
New museum: 2001–present
The Preservation Society celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2001, and as part of the year of celebrations a major new project was launched to once more extend and improve facilities at Tywyn Wharf station. For many years the station had been home to semi-permanent buildings housing the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, but the new plans for the station included the construction of a new two-storey building to house the museum and the extension of the existing station building to house a new cafe and booking office. Work began on the first phase of the project in January 2002. In 2003 the railway received a £682,500 Heritage Lottery grant towards the £1,170,000 cost of redeveloping Wharf station, and the new station and museum were officially opened by Prince CharlesCharles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and The Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and is the current holder of the titles of Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay and Countess of Chester...
on 13 July 2005. The railway has seen a steady increase in passengers carried since the turn of the millennium
3rd millennium
In contemporary history, the third millennium is a period of time that commenced on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31, 3000, of the Gregorian calendar. This is the third period of one thousand years in the Anno Domini...
, with nearly 95,500 passenger journeys recorded in 2006, although this figure is still only around half the peak figure carried in 1973. In 2011, the railway celebrated 60 years of preservation, and received an Engineering Heritage Award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of its importance in Welsh industrial heritage.
Today
In 2003 the railway employed 13 full-time staff, plus the equivalent of an extra six part-time staff in the summer and some 350 volunteers.
Special events
The railway operates a programme of special events throughout the year. These include the Have-A-Go Gala, Tom Rolt Steam and Vintage Rally, children's Duncan Days and Tywyn Victorian week. Since 1984 there has been an annual running event called Race the TrainRace the Train
Race the Train is an annual cross country running event that takes place in Tywyn, Mid Wales. The race is organised by Tywyn Rotary Club, and attracts runners from all over the world. In the main event, runners compete to beat a steam train on the preserved Talyllyn Railway over a distance of...
, which follows the railway track 7¼ miles (11.8 km) from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and back again. The challenge is for runners to complete the 14½-mile (23.3 km) cross country route faster than the train, which takes around 1 hour 45 minutes.
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group (YMG) are the members of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society between the ages of 14 and 25. On occasions during the peak season, the Talyllyn Railway has held a Young Members Day in which the youngest qualified people available that day run the railway.Original passenger line
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
to Dolgellau
Dolgellau
Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
road and enters a long cutting that climbs towards , at a maximum gradient of 1 in 60. On the left (north) side of the cutting there was once a long siding used for gravity shunting
Shunt (railway operations)
Shunting, in railway operations, involves the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete train sets or consists. The United States terminology is "switching"....
of wagons into the sidings at Wharf station. The railway runs through the cutting for about half a mile (800 m), before passing under another road bridge and passing the locomotive and carriage sheds
Motive power depot
Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
and works at Pendre.
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
and runs beside an industrial estate before climbing up to Ty Mawr bridge and on to Hendy, the first of five minor halts, which serves the adjacent farm. The railway runs in an approximately north-easterly direction along the Fathew valley, mainly through fields of local farms on the valley floor, although this is where some of the steepest gradients on the line are to be found. The ruling gradient
Ruling gradient
The term "ruling grade" is usually used as a synonym for "steepest climb" between two points on a railroad. But if the steepest climb is, say, a quarter-mile of 2% upgrade preceded and followed by 1.5% grade the "ruling grade" can only be defined arbitrarily....
of the line is 1 in 60.
More local halts follow at Fach Goch, and Cynfal, the latter having a small platform. The section from Cynfal to was relaid in 1951 using rail purchased from the Corris Railway after the latter line's closure in 1948, and is therefore known informally as the Corris Straight. Rhydyronen, now a request stop
Request stop
In public transport, a request stop or flag stop describes a stopping point at which trains or buses stop only on an as-need or request basis; that is, only if there are passengers to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, infrequently used stopping points can be served efficiently.Trains save...
, was the first intermediate station built on the line, opening in 1867. A siding at the station was removed in 1957. A short steep climb under a road bridge follows the station, followed by a slight downhill gradient. Unlike the Ffestiniog Railway, the Talyllyn was not designed to be worked as a gravity line, however this is the only downhill section between Pendre and Nant Gwernol. Another minor halt follows at Tynllwynhen, before the passing loop and station at .
Dolgoch Falls
Dolgoch Falls are a series of three waterfalls near Tywyn in Gwynedd, Mid-Wales. The falls are part of the Nant Dol-gôch stream, which flows into the River Fathew, and form a popular walk from the nearby Dolgoch station on the Talyllyn Railway....
. The railway continues in a north easterly direction, curving through the woods and climbing the valley side. It shortly passes Quarry Siding, where a halt and passing loop are located, as well as a small former shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
quarry, the rock from which was used for ballasting
Track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...
on the railway. The line continues its ascent towards Abergynolwyn station
Abergynolwyn railway station
Abergynolwyn railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway at Abergynolwyn near Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 6 miles, 44 chains from ....
, situated on a ledge cut into the hillside.
Abergynolwyn to Nant Gwernol
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
. Shortly after leaving Abergynolwyn station the line reaches Ty Dwr, where the original locomotive shed stood from 1865 until it was demolished after Pendre works opened in 1867, although the slate water tower continued in use into the 1950s.
About half way along the 0.75 miles (1.2 km) extension is the site of the Village Incline. From here the line runs into the gorge, high above the river on a narrow ledge, ending at the foot of the first incline leading to the Bryn Eglwys quarry. The original line fanned out into a set of three sidings, used to marshal trains of loaded slate wagons coming down from the quarry and empty wagons waiting to ascend. Nant Gwernol station
Nant Gwernol railway station
Nant Gwernol railway station is the eastern terminus of the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 7 miles, 28 chains from ....
, the eastern terminus of the line, was built on the site of the sidings.
Abergynolwyn
Abergynolwyn is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni.Historically, the village was part of Merionethshire and its main industry was slate quarrying and the village was founded in the 1860s to house workers at the nearby Bryn...
was built to house the quarrymen of Bryn Eglwys and their families, and to serve the village an incline
Cable railway
A cable railway is a steeply graded railway that uses a cable or rope to haul trains.-Introduction:...
and short branch were laid from a point about half way along the mineral extension. The winding house for the incline stood on the narrow ledge, with the mineral line passing through it. The two-track incline dropped 150 ft (46 m) over a distance of 363 ft (111 m). At its foot, the line crossed the Nant Gwernol on a girder bridge. Immediately after the bridge, short lines branched off to the east from a wagon turntable
Turntable (railroad)
A railway turntable is a device for turning railroad rolling stock. When steam locomotives were still in wide use, many railroads needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many...
to the coal yard and smithy of Pandy Farm and west to a writing slate
Slate (writing)
A writing slate is a piece of flat material used as a medium for writing.In the 19th century, writing slates were made of slate, which is more durable than paper and was cheap at the time when paper was expensive. It was used to allow children to practice writing...
factory (later a carpenter's yard). The main branch then split to form a storage loop, with a further wagon turntable and a longer branch serving the houses and school to the north east. The main branch continued north, crossing the main road then passing between the two main terraces in the village before ending in a turntable and a final short line connecting to the Capel Jerusalem chapel. The village incline was lifted during the early years of preservation, to provide much needed rail to replace the existing track. The winding house was demolished in 1968 to allow realignment of the railway to form the extension to Nant Gwernol.
Galltymoelfre Tramway
Rising south-east from the end of the sidings was the 633 ft (192.9 m) long, double track gravity operated, Alltwyllt incline, from the top of which the Galltymoelfre Tramway ran south-east towards the quarry for about 0.5 miles (804.7 m). The tramway was laid in light bridge rail and worked for its entire existence using horses. The tramway ended at the foot of the Cantrybedd Incline, a 440 ft (134.1 m) long double track, gravity operated incline. This final incline rose to the north edge of Bryn Eglwys quarry, reaching a height of 612 ft (186.5 m) above sea level.
Operation
The line has six steam locomotives for passenger trains and four diesel locomotives, which are primarily used to haul works trains. It is unusual for all steam locomotives to be operable at the same time, as at least one is normally scheduled for overhaul. The railway also owns 23 carriages and vans, including all of the original carriages and the brake van built for the railway.The railway is single track
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
, so special measures have to be taken to prevent collisions. Before preservation, the railway operated a "one engine in steam" policy, but with growing passenger numbers it became necessary to install passing loops and a more stringent method of single line control was introduced. The line is worked by tokens
Token (railway signalling)
In railway signalling, a token is a physical object which a locomotive driver is required to have or see before entering onto a particular section of single track. The token is clearly endorsed with the name of the section it belongs to...
, which authorise the driver to enter a single line section, and these are interlocked to prevent more than one token being withdrawn for a section at any one time. A loop is at Pendre, which was used from the opening of the railway for shunting purposes, and further loops were installed at Brynglas in 1953 and Quarry Siding in 1963. When the Nant Gwernol extension opened in 1976, Abergynolwyn also became a passing loop.
Each passing loop is controlled by a small signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
, known as a block-post. These house the lever frames that control the points, the token equipment and telephones. The railway has few signals; instead it has stop boards at each loop, and the blockman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
allows trains to proceed by use of flags. When the block-post is unstaffed, it is the responsibility of the locomotive crew to change the token before proceeding.
In fiction
The Talyllyn Railway is represented in the Railway SeriesThe Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
books by the Reverend W. Awdry
W.V. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE , was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, better known as the Reverend W. Awdry and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.-Life:Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage near Romsey, Hampshire in 1911...
and the spin-off TV series Thomas and Friends as the Skarloey Railway
Skarloey Railway
On the fictional Island of Sodor in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, the Skarloey Railway is a narrow gauge railway which runs from the main line at Crovan's Gate to the passenger terminus at Skarloey. Beyond Skarloey the line continues to a slate quarry.In the stories, the railway is run by...
; most of the fictional locomotives are based on real-life equivalents. Awdry visited the line on a family holiday in the early days of preservation and became involved as a volunteer soon afterwards. Several of the stories in The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
come from his real-life experiences at the Talyllyn, and some of the books contain full-page illustrations of Talyllyn locomotives.
The preservation of the Talyllyn Railway by volunteers was the inspiration for the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
, an Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
comedy about a group of villagers attempting to run a service on a disused branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
after closure. T. E. B. Clarke
T. E. B. Clarke
Thomas Ernest Bennett "Tibby" Clarke was a movie scriptwriter who wrote several of the Ealing Studios comedies. His scripts always feature careful logical development from a slightly absurd premise to a farcical conclusion...
, the script writer for the film, had heard about the preservation of the Talyllyn and spent a day on the railway in 1951, and some of the early incidents in preservation were incorporated into the film. In the book Railway Adventure Tom Rolt recalled that he had hoped the film might be produced on the Talyllyn, but in the end it was filmed on the recently closed Camerton branch of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway
Bristol and North Somerset Railway
The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with towns in the Somerset coalfield. The line ran almost due south from Bristol and was 16 miles long.-The main railway:...
branch line along the Cam Brook
Cam Brook, Somerset
The Cam brook is a small river in Somerset, England.It rises near Hinton Blewitt, flows through Cameley, Temple Cloud, Camerton, Dunkerton and Combe Hay...
valley in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
See also
- British narrow gauge railwaysBritish narrow gauge railwaysThere were more than a thousand British narrow gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways...
- List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways
- List of British heritage and private railways
- Tourism in WalesTourism in WalesWales is an emerging tourist destination, with 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Welsh Tourist Board destinations in 2002. The industry has been estimated to have an annual turnover of £3.5 billion....
External links
- Talyllyn Railway website
- Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
- Railway with a Heart of Gold, a slightly tongue-in-cheek documentary about the railway, filmed in the early 1950s by American film-maker Carson Davidson.