The Talyllyn Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a Vorlage:2ft3in 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 among 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. It 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.
Route
- Tywyn Wharf originally known as Towyn King's station. From 1865 to 1951 there was no passing loop or platform here. Passenger trains were propelled to Pendre where the loco ran round the train. A new station building and museum were opened by Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.
- Tywyn Pendre the locomotive works and carriage sheds for the line.
- Hendy Halt tiny halt serving Hendy farm
- Fach Goch Halt
- Cynfal Halt tiny halt serving Cynfal farm. This is the only one of the "halts" to have a platform.
- Rhydyronen the first intermediate station on the line, opened in 1867. A small slate quarry and manganese mine nearby once used the railway.
- Tynllwynhen Halt tiny halt serving Tynllwynhen farm.
- Brynglas serves the hamlet of Pandy. There is a passing loop just before the station.
- Dolgoch provides access to Dolgoch Falls, a popular series of waterfalls.
- Quarry Siding Halt serves a small ballast quarry. There is a passing loop here.
- Abergynolwyn the original passenger terminus of the line. From here onwards the railway was worked as a mineral line until 1949. Most trains stop here on the return journey for refreshments, as there are no facilities at Nant Gwernol. There is a passing loop here, and also the longest narrow-gauge platform in Britain.
- Nant Gwernol originally the terminus of the mineral line from Abergynolwyn. The passenger station was opened in 1976. From here a series of inclines and horse-worked tramways led up to Bryn Eglwys quarry. A number of walks have been built from Nant Gwernol in recent years, some going up the old inclines to the quarries.
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 survival 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 | Type | 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, ran under the name Pretoria for several years after the Boer War |
| 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 DM | 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 DH? | Ruston & Hornsby | 1964 | Superstructure replaced c.2000. Has a Dowty hydrostatic transmission |
| 9 | Alf | 0-4-0 DM | Hunslet Engine Co. | 1950 | ex-National Coal Board |
| 10 | Bryn Eglwys | 4w DH | Motor Rail | 1985 | ex-National Coal Board, arrived on the Talyllyn September 1997, was re-painted into TR livery summer 2005 |
- DH = Diesel-Hydraulic - Diesel loco with hydraulic transmission (incorporating a torque converter)
- DM = Diesel-Mechanical - Diesel loco with mechanical transmission
The line in fiction
The Talyllyn Railway is represented in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry as the Skarloey Railway, with most of the fictional locomotives being based on real-life equivalents. 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, and a number of the books contain full-page illustrations of Talyllyn locomotives. Locomotive No 6, Douglas is curently running as "Duncan", his Skarloey Railway counterpart. Sir Haydn and Edward Thomas have run with similar guises in the past.
The preservation of the Talyllyn Railway by volunteers was the inspiration for the film The Titfield Thunderbolt.
References
- Boyd, James I.C.: Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid Wales. The Oakwood Press, 1965.
See also
External links
- Talyllyn Railway website
- Map sources for Tywyn at Vorlage:Mmukscaled and Nant Gwernol at Vorlage:Mmukscaled.
- Kits for many of the passenger coaches are produced by Worsley Works