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The Talyllyn Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway line running for 7¼ miles (11.67km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol. Despite its name it does not quite reach Tal-y-llyn Lake, a large glacial finger lake at the foot of Cadair Idris.
History
The line was opened in 1865 to serve the Bryn Eglwys slate quarry above the village of Abergynolwyn. It used steam locomotives from the start, unlike its neighbour the horse-drawn Corris Railway. The original two engines were purchased from Fletcher, Jennings & Co. of Whitehaven in Cumbria, and both are still in service, 140 years on, but 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 unusual gauge is thought to have been adopted because of the Corris.
The line's two original steam locomotives were some of the earliest engines built for such a narrow gauge. No 1 Talyllyn is an 0-4-2ST and No 2. Dolgoch is an 0-4-0WT. The line carried both slate from the quarry to the wharf at Tywyn and passengers. The railway rarely made money and was kept going by successive quarry owners to serve the transport needs of the isolated Bryn Eglwys quarry.
The line survived almost unchanged through the Victorian era and both world wars. During this time it retained its original locomotives and passenger carriages, never needing new or replacement stock. By the end of the 1940s the line had fallen into a parlous state of repair with only one working locomotive, and trains had become rare and unreliable. The line was owned by the local member of Parliament, Sir Henry Haydn Jones, who paid for the railway's losses from his own pocket. When he died in 1950 it seemed certain the line would close.
Preservation
A group of enthusiasts led by L. T. C. Rolt decided that the Talyllyn was a unique piece of Welsh heritage and should be saved. They formed the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society (TRPS) and acquired the line. In 1951 they reopened the railway, thus being the first volunteer group to preserve an existing railway of any kind.
Through the 1950s the dedicated volunteers and staff members of the TRPS rebuilt the line and rescued it from its state of decay. They purchased the two remaining locomotives from the recently closed Corris Railway, and scoured the country for new carriages. Slowly the line revived.
The Talyllyn Railway is now a successful and popular tourist attraction. The two original locomotives from the 1860s still run regularly along with the Corris engines and several other steam locomotives. This delightful line continues to attract many visitors and its survivial seems assured for many years to come.
Locomotives
The line has six steam locomotives for passenger trains and four diesel locomotives that usually only haul works trains. Because of the unusual gauge, there has only been one visitor - Motor Rail Simplex diesel No. 5 "Alan Meaden" from the Corris Railway.
| No. | Name | Wheel arrangement | Builder | Date built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talyllyn | 0-4-2ST | Fletcher, Jennings & Co., Whitehaven | 1864 | Original locomotive |
| 2 | Dolgoch | 0-4-0WT | Fletcher, Jennings & Co., Whitehaven | 1866 | Original locomotive |
| 3 | Sir Haydn | 0-4-2ST | Hughes, Falcon Works, Loughborough | 1878 | ex-Corris Railway locomotive, bought 1951 |
| 4 | Edward Thomas | 0-4-2ST | Kerr Stuart, Stoke on Trent | 1921 | ex-Corris Railway locomotive, bought 1951 |
| 5 | Midlander | 4w | Ruston & Hornsby | 1940 | Bought 1954 |
| 6 | Douglas | 0-4-0WT | Andrew Barclay, Kilmarnock | 1918 | ex-RAF locomotive. Donated to the Talyllyn in 1953, regauged from 60cm |
| 7 | Tom Rolt | 0-4-2T | Talyllyn Railway | 1991 | Built by TR from components from a Bord na Mona Andrew Barclay locomotive. |
| 8 | Merseysider | 4w | Ruston & Hornsby | 1964 | Superstructure replaced c.2000 |
| 9 | Alf | 0-4-0 | Hunslet Engine Co. | 1950 | ex-National Coal Board |
| 10 | Bryneglwys | 4w | Motor Rail | 1985 | ex-National Coal Board, arrived on the Talyllyn September 1997, was re-painted into TR livery summer 2005. |
The line in fiction
The Talyllyn Railway is represented in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry as the Skarloey Railway. Rev. Awdry visited the line on a family holiday and became involved as a volunteer soon afterwards. Several of the stories on the Skarloey Railway come from real-life experiences at the Talyllyn. Locomotive No 6, Douglas is curently running as "Duncan", his Skarloey Railway conterpart. Sir Haydn and Edward Thomas have run with similar guises in the past.
See also
- Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at Tywyn
- List of British heritage and private railways
- List of British Narrow Gauge Railways
External links
- Talyllyn Railway website
- Map sources for Tywyn at and Nant Gwernol at .
- Kits for many of the passenger coaches are produced by Worsley Works
"Talyllyn Railway"