Talyllyn Railway

Talyllyn Railway Rheilffordd Talyllyn
Route length:	11.67 km
Gauge :	686 mm
Legend Bremsberg from the Bryn Eglwys quarry Nant Gwernol Funicular to Abergynolwyn Abergynolwyn Quarry siding Dolgoch Dolgoch Viaduct Brynglas Tynllwyn Hen Rhydyrons Cynfal Subject Goch Hendy Tywyn Pendre (workshops) Tywyn Wharf (Central Station) Tywyn Station on the Cambrian Line

The Talyllyn Railway ( Welsh : Rheilffordd Talyllyn ) is a single-track, non-electrified, narrow-gauge railway that is operated as a museum railway. The route is 11.67 km long and runs from Tywyn (until 1975 English "Towyn" written) on the coast of Mid Wales to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The railway line was built in 1866 to transport slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn. It was the first narrow-gauge railway in Great Britain that was allowed to transport people using steam traction.

In 1951, it became the world's first museum railway operated by volunteers . It has been a tourist attraction since that time . Over the years, several historic locomotives and wagons have been acquired or rebuilt based on historical models. Since 1976, passenger trains have been running on the section from Abergynolwyn to the new terminus Nant Gwernol, which was previously only used as an industrial line. In 2005, Tywyn Wharf Station was renovated and expanded. The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, which was previously only temporarily housed, was given a new building.

Name and gauge

The origin of the name of the railway line is not exactly traceable. Possibly it comes from the municipality of Talyllyn, in which the east end of the railway is located, or from Tal-y-llyn, a cirque lake at the foot of the Cadair Idris mountain about 4 km further to the east. The 686 mm (2 ft 3 in) gauge is unusual and was used by only three other railways in the UK - the nearby Corris Railway , older than the Talyllyn Railway , a short stretch of which is now also a heritage railway , as well as the former Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway , which were later created and no longer exist.

history

Beginnings and construction of the line until 1866

Locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn on the Dolgoch Viaduct about 1867

Surface slate mining began in the hills above Tywyn in the 1830s. Small quarries and test floors were dug, but only one large quarry was built in the region : that of Bryn Eglwys , 11 km northeast of town. Underground mining began in the early 1840s. In 1847 the slate quarry was operated by the local landowner John Pughe. The finished slabs of slate were strapped to pack horses and brought to the pier at Pennal. From there they were brought to Aberdyfi (also spelled Aberdovey) on river boats and finally loaded onto seaworthy ships for onward transport. This cumbersome and expensive transport stood in the way of expanding the quarry. In 1861 the American Civil War cut off supplies to cotton mills in northwest England. As a result, a number of spinning mill owners were looking for new business ideas to diversify their businesses. One of these industrialists, William McConnell of Lancashire , had bought a house in the Dolgellau area north of Tywyn in 1859 and founded the Aberdovey Slate Company in January 1864. To this end, he leased land from the Machynlleth landowner Lewis Morris, including the Bryn Eglwys quarry.

The remains of the Bryn Eglwys quarry in 2008

McConnel set about increasing the production of Bryn Eglwys and in 1865 provided money for the construction of a narrow-gauge railway that would connect the quarry with the port of Aberdyfi. In the meantime, the standard gauge Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway , starting from Machynlleth, reached Tywyn in 1863. Therefore McConnel decided to build his train to Tywyn. This was the closest point his slate could be reloaded onto a standard gauge railway.

On July 5, 1865, the company was given permission by a resolution of parliament to operate passenger trains as a public railway. The engineer James Swinton Spooner was commissioned with the planning and implementation of the railway construction. He designed a relatively straight and steadily rising line from Tywyn to the quarry, and construction work could soon begin. In September 1866 the work had progressed so far that the appraiser, Captain Henry Tyler of the Board of Trade , was able to prepare an initial appraisal .

Doorless side of a train

In this it was found that the clearance profile of the route was too small. The clear width under the bridges was 280 cm, but the passenger cars were 161 cm wide. These conditions only left a distance of about 60 cm on each side instead of the required 76 cm. To solve this problem cheaply, McConnel suggested that the doors of the passenger cars should be permanently closed on one side and that the rails under the bridges should not be laid completely in the middle. This enabled passengers to get off even if a train had to stop under a bridge. Tyler agreed to the proposal, and so the Talyllyn Bahn passenger cars still have doors on one side only. A quality that it shares with the nearby Corris Railway, albeit for different reasons. Tyler also asked for improvements to the two locomotives.

In the first half of 1866 the necessary changes were made and the construction of the railway line completed. In October 1866, the railway began unofficial passenger traffic, although this had not yet been approved by the Board of Trade. Until the line was officially approved, people were transported “at their own risk” and possibly for free. In November of the same year, Tyler came back to Tywyn, approved the line, suggested a few small improvements and approved the official opening of the line for passenger use. The first timetable was then published in December 1866.

Flowering under McConnel: 1866-1880

The funicular going down to Abergynolwyn around 1880

When it opened, the railway had two locomotives, a passenger car and a number of freight cars. In order to avoid collisions, only one locomotive was allowed to be under steam (“one engine in steam”). The locomotive on duty was originally in a wooden shed in Ty Dwr on the freight line above Abergynolwyn station while the workshop in Pendre was being built. This was opened on February 17, 1867, and from then on the trains started in Pendre and no longer in Abergynolwyn.

Since opening, the stations in Pendre and Abergynolwyn have been served. Rhydyrones since 1867 and Brynglas and Dolgoch since 1873. Soon after the opening, a branch line to the village of Abergynolwyn was built: A little east of the Abergynolwyn train station, a steep funicular was built to the village below. Starting at its valley station, the place was opened up by branch lines on which coal, building materials and other goods were transported. In the opposite direction, the contents of the Abergynolwyn septic tank were pulled up by funicular and disposed of along the route.

In contrast to the neighboring Corris Railway, which began as a horse-drawn railway, the Talyllyn Railway used steam locomotives from the start. The first two locomotives, although both of Fletcher, Jennings & Co., of different design, Whitehaven ( Cumbria been prepared). They are still in operation today and are among the oldest built for such a narrow track. Since many components had to be replaced in 140 years, a large part of their metal parts are no longer original. The rare gauge may have been taken over by the Corris Railway. Both locomotives are tank locomotives. No. 1 Talyllyn is a saddle tank locomotive , while No. 2 Dolgoch has a frame water tank . The railroad carried slate from the quarry to the loading point in Tywyn and goods of all kinds to the locations along the route. Public passenger trains ran between Pendre and Abergynolwyn. For the slate workers, unofficial trains also drove to the end of the route and thus to the foot of the Alltwyllt- Bremsberg in the Nant-Gwernol valley.

The railway line also had economic success in its early years. She operated the quarry and the surrounding villages. In 1880 the Bryn Eglwys quarry employed 300 workers and 8,100 tons of ready-to-use slate were transported by rail. Passenger traffic was also important for the railway, developing from 11,500 passengers in 1867 to over 23,000 (around 40,000 individual journeys) in 1877.

Changing years: 1880–1910

Talyllyn at the foot of the Alltwyllt-Bremsberg, where the Nant Gwernol train station is today, 1890

From the 1880s, the Corris Railway Grand Tour became fashionable for tourists. This was a round trip of the Talyllin, Corris and Cambrian Railway . The stretch between the endpoints of the Talyllyn Railway and the Corris Railway on Tal-y-llyn Lake near Cadair Idris was covered with so-called charabancs . These were a type of open-top horse-drawn omnibus popular in Britain at the time.

The last two decades of the 19th century were marked by a decline in demand in the slate industry. Difficult times began for many smaller quarries such as Bryn Eglwys. Production halved to 4,100 tons per year by 1890. Due to labor disputes, the Penrhyn quarry in North Wales, one of the largest slate producers, ceased production in 1896 , which led to a temporary increase in demand in the other slate quarries. Due to the sudden demand, McConnel increased the production of slate in Bryn Eglwys. However, he was only interested in short-term income during the remaining term of his lease, which ended in 1910. He had new levels built without making provisions for the removal of the spoil, and he pushed the boundaries for safe work in the existing excavation chambers by thinning the supporting pillars between the chambers. After the end of the lease there was no new prospect willing to lease the quarry and the dismantling of its technical facilities began.

The Haydn Jones era: 1910–1950

Tywyn Wharf Station, the starting point of the railway line, 2008

The Bryn Eglwys quarry was the main employer in the area and its closure created major problems. Local landowner Henry Haydn Jones bought the mining company in 1910. In the same year he was also elected to parliament for the Liberal Party for Merioneth . He reopened the quarry in January 1911 but had no capital to invest in the quarry's facilities. The work in the quarry was first resumed in the "Broad Vein" area. Relatively hard slate was mined there, which was not very popular and therefore more difficult to sell.

Since this slate was hardly salable, an attempt was made to mine softer slate from the "Narrow Vein" area. Since Haydn Jones was financially unable to move to new excavation chambers in this area, he began again with the dangerous method of slimming the supporting pillars that supported the ceiling of the excavation chambers. This had already been practiced under McConnel, and Haydn Jones continued to do so while he owned the quarry. After the First World War, a brief construction boom increased production again to 4,100 tons per year.

A Talyllyn Railway train travels up the Fathew Valley between Brynglas and Dolgoch

Tourism developed in the 1920s: Britain was recovering from World War I and travel became increasingly popular. The number of rail passengers grew considerably in the summer months and the railroad had to supplement its regular passenger cars with slate transport cars equipped with seats and benches in order to cope with the influx of visitors. An unusual offer for tourists was the rental of slate transport vehicles to passengers. These were pulled up to Abergynolwyn in the morning, and in the evening the tourists were able to drive back in the car, powered solely by gravity. However, this offer was discontinued in the early 1930s. The additional income from tourist transport made a certain contribution to covering the costs of the railway. Nevertheless, during the entire time that Haydn Jones owned the railway, they were not enough to make the railway profitable.

The lease for the Bryn Eglwys quarry expired in 1942, but was initially extended year after year. In 1946 the weakened pillars gave way, which led to the collapse of considerable parts of the quarry. This has now been classified as unsafe and closed immediately. Haydn Jones had promised to keep the railroad running while he was alive. Therefore, despite the closure of the quarry, the railway continued to run for the time being, albeit with a significantly reduced budget.

When the British Railway System was nationalized in 1947, the Talyllyn Railway was one of the few operating railways that was excluded. The reasons for this are not known. It is noticeable, however, that the railway had lost its public importance decades earlier and that it was therefore probably simply forgotten by the bureaucracy. Between 1947 and 1949 the railroad ran two days a week. Haydn Jones died on July 2, 1950, and the line's closure seemed inevitable. The train operated for the time being for the rest of the summer season, which ended on October 6th.

conservation

Rescue of the railway line: 1951–1960

Locomotive No. 2 Dolgoch in Abergynolwyn 1951

During the Second World War and the immediately following period, railway enthusiasts, especially from the Birmingham region, became interested in the Welsh narrow-gauge railways . There were proposals to get one of the lines - preferably the Ffestiniog Railway . In the summer of 1950, Tom Rolt wrote a letter to the Birmingham Post with a proposal to save the Talyllyn Railway . It received enough positive feedback to hold a meeting on October 11, 1950 at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. About 70 people attended this meeting, and Rolt proposed that a committee be set up to acquire the railroad. The committee met for the first time on October 23 and immediately began negotiations with the estate administrators of Haydn Jones.

Locomotive No. 3 Sir Haydn 1985

No. 6 Douglas , dressed up as Duncan for Children's Day

No. 4 Eduard Thomas in the Pendre workshop, 2009

The Guinness Brewery Locomotive, the first object for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

The transfer of ownership to the committee was legally difficult, but both parties agreed that all of the railroad's shares should be transferred from the Haydn Jones estate to a new company called Talyllyn Holdings Ltd. should be transferred. Its board of directors consisted of two representatives of the estate administrator and two representatives of the committee. The transfer of ownership took place on February 8, 1951, and since that day the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society has owned the railway line. In the hope of being able to reopen the railway line soon, she immediately started public relations to find donations and other volunteers. As early as May, the society had almost 650 members. The reopening of the railway took place on Whit Monday, May 14, 1951. The trains drove between Wharf and Rhydyronen. Scheduled operations began on June 4th and lasted until the end of the summer season.

In the first years of the museum railway operation, the operators had to cope with the original rolling stock. When the line was taken over, only one locomotive, Dolgoch, was operational, and this also needed a general overhaul. In order to maintain the museum railway operation, two more steam locomotives, No. 3 and No. 4, were acquired from the recently decommissioned Corris Railway and named after the names of the previous owners of the line Sir Haydn and Edward Thomas in 1951 . Since both railways had the same gauge, it was relatively easy to adapt the new locomotives for use on the Talyllyn-Bahn.

In 1951, locomotive No. 3 was the first new locomotive on the line in over 90 years. Unfortunately, she derailed quite often. A review found that the Talyllyn line's rail spacing was about 13mm wider than the official gauge. The reason for this was the long wheelbase of the Talyllyn locomotive . Both original locomotives, Talyllyn and Dolgoch , had unusually wide treads that allowed them to run on a track that was a little too wide. The problem was eventually solved by re-gauging the route to the correct gauge. At the same time, the Talyllyn wheels were laterally displaceable, thereby shortening the fixed wheelbase of the locomotive.

No. 4 was not operational after the purchase, but John Alcock, the chairman of the board of directors of the Hunslet Engine Company , was a member of the Society for the Maintenance of the Railway and made it possible for No. 4 could be overhauled free of charge in his company.

Another early addition to locomotives was No. 6 Douglas , operated by the Birmingham company Abelsons Ltd. was donated. The locomotive was built for what was then the British air base RAF Calshot , where it was used until 1945. After the originally 610 mm gauge had been changed, the locomotive was used from 1954. In the 1950s, paid and voluntary employees of the TRPS overtook the initially desolate railway systems for a motivation that consisted of adventure, enthusiasm and ingenuity.

On May 22, 1957, the BBC broadcast a live broadcast direct from the railroad. Two well-known Welsh reporters, Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Huw Weldon, reported on a trip from Dolgoch to Abergynolwyn. As a result of this broadcast, the number of visitors to the railway rose to more than 57,500 passengers this summer. The associated additional income allowed the railway company to improve the infrastructure and thus increase the experience value for tourists. In the following year, locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn , one of the two original locomotives , returned to the line after a general overhaul.

The construction of the narrow-gauge railway museum at Tywyn Wharf station, the starting point of the railway line, also fell during this period. The first exhibit was a locomotive donated by the Guinness Brewery in 1952 to the recently decommissioned St. James's Gate Brewery Railroad. From 1954 the museum railway company worked on building a “real” museum. Exhibits have been gathered from across the UK to build the core of a future collection. In 1955, work began on converting the former explosives store at Wharf Station into a makeshift museum, and in 1956 the first exhibits came to Tywyn.

Securing the infrastructure: 1960–1969

Tywyn Wharf in 1964 after improvements to the track plan

The 1960s were a time of consolidation for the Talyllyn Railway. The base in Pendre was expanded several times in order to set up covered parking spaces for rolling stock and other workshops. Modern machines, appropriate lighting and a new energy supply were purchased. Substantial improvements have also been made at Tywyn Wharf station, and the line to Abergynolwyn has been overhauled or relocated piece by piece. The number of passengers rose continuously even after the BBC broadcast of 1957: in 1960 67,000 passengers were carried, in 1964 there were already 78,500. Due to the increasing popularity of the railroad, a plan was also drawn up for the construction of new rolling stock.

In the early 1960s, Tywyn Wharf station had to make major improvements: Before the museum railroad era, the station consisted only of a fan of tracks, which means that a locomotive on a retracted train could not drive around the wagons. As a result, the wagons were pushed from behind to Pendre and the locomotive could only be put back at the head of the train there. To avoid the slide trains to Pendre was in August 1952, a passing loop at the station Wharf built. A major structural change was carried out in the winter of 1964/65: the rail system was improved, and a lounge for passengers and a shop were built into the original office building.

As passenger numbers continued to rise in the late 1960s, additional locomotives were needed. There was also the problem that locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn did not run properly even after it was restored. The unusual gauge of the railway and the limited clearance profile made it unlikely to find a locomotive that could be used unchanged on the line. Therefore, in 1969 a 914 mm gauge locomotive was bought from Bord na Móna with the aim of converting it for operation on the Talyllyn Railway. This locomotive was unofficially called the Irish Pete - a reference to its earlier use.

Route extension to Nant Gwernol: 1969–1980

The upper end of the Alltwyllt-Bremsberg 2008

The Museum Railway Association had long planned to expand its operations via the former freight line from Abergynolwyn to the foot of the Alltwyllt-Bremsberg. Preparatory work began as early as 1959 to identify the landowners whose land was affected by the expansion. Specific planning began in the mid-1960s, but construction did not begin until 1968, after the mountain station of the former funicular to Abergynolwyn had been demolished.

In order to adapt the tracks to the standards for passenger traffic, it was necessary to straighten some curves. Since the railway had previously run on some rocky outcrops, blasting work was also necessary. The extension and the new Nant Gwernol station were opened on May 22, 1976 by Wynford Vaughan Thomas. He also hit the symbolic “last nail” at the opening ceremony. Regardless of the opening, minor work was still necessary to make the railway line fit for regular passenger traffic. This began on the extension section on May 29, 1976.

The footbridge over the Nant Gwernol

When the extension of the railway line was completed in 1976, work in the area continued: a new footbridge was built over the gorge of the Nant Gwernol River and connected to the existing hiking trail on the east side of the river. The bridge and footpaths were opened on May 3rd, 1980 by Gordon Parry, chairman of Visit Wales ' tourism marketing association . From the mid-1970s it became apparent that passenger numbers were not going to increase any further. The peak was exceeded in 1973 with 186,000 passengers. Thereafter, the number of passengers continued to decrease until the 1990s. The main reason was the rise of cheap air travel to seaside destinations in the Mediterranean and the associated crisis in seaside tourism in Wales.

Preparatory work on the conversion for Irish Pete's use on the Talyllyn Railway began in the early 1970s. They were put on hold in 1975 and the chassis and boiler were stored in the workshops in Pendre.

Consolidation: 1980-2001

Locomotive No. 7 Tom Rolt at Tywyn Wharf Station

The falling passenger numbers and the completion of the extension to Nant Gwernol brought a phase of consolidation for the railway. In 1987 the boiler time limit for locomotive No. 6 Douglas had expired and the boiler had to be replaced. It was considered whether it would not make more sense to build a new locomotive from the parts from Irish Pete than to purchase a new boiler for Douglas . In 1988 work on the ex “Bord na Mona” locomotive was resumed. A plan for a 0-4-2 side tank locomotive was drawn up by Chief Engineer John Bate. He used the chassis and boiler of the locomotive, gave it a new structure and additional running wheels . The locomotive was named after the first chairman of the museum association, Tom Rolt , and was put into service on May 6, 1991. During this time, the stations at Tywyn Wharf and Pendre were also expanded. Abergynolwyn station, which was rebuilt as part of the extension of the line to Nant Gwernol in the 1970s, was also expanded again to provide an additional attraction at the east end of the line.

One special feature remained for a long time: the Regulation of Railways Act of 1889 stipulated, among other things, that all British passenger trains were to be equipped with a continuous braking system. McConnel had made an exception for his Talyllyn train, however. To justify this, he cited the low speed of the railway and the amount of costs that would have driven the company into bankruptcy. At the end of the 1990s, however, Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate insisted that the Talyllyn Railway should also implement this regulation - just over 100 years after it was enacted. By 2001, all of the Deutsche Bahn's passenger cars had been fitted with air brakes.

The new museum: 2001 – today

In 2001 the museum railway association celebrated its 50th anniversary. In this context, a new project was launched: a further expansion and improvement of the facilities at Tywyn Wharf station. For many years the narrow-gauge railway museum was housed in temporary rooms. The plans included a new two-story building for the museum and an extension to the existing building for a café and ticket office.

The first phase of the work began in January 2002. In 2003 the railway received a grant of £ 682,500 from the Heritage Lottery as a grant towards the cost of £ 1,170,000 for the renovation of the station. The renovated train station and new museum were officially opened by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on July 13, 2005. Since the turn of the millennium, the railway has again had a steady increase in passengers. In 2006, almost 95,000 journeys were sold, even if this is only about half as many as in the peak year 1973.

Play media file A ride on the museum train part 1 (2009)

Play media file A ride on the museum train part 2 (2009)

present

Museum railway operation

No. 1 Talyllyn catching water at Dolgoch station

Dolgoch at the Brynglas level crossing

The Talyllyn Railway continues to be a popular tourist attraction. The original steam locomotives and passenger cars from the 1860s are still running regularly, supplemented by modern rolling stock. The train is marketed as one of the Great Little Trains of Wales , a common trademark of currently (2009) ten narrow-gauge railways, mainly in Central and North Wales. In 2006 almost 51,000 passengers were carried.

In 2003, the railway employed 13 full-time employees, in the summer a further six part-time employees and around 350 volunteers.

In addition to six steam locomotives, the railway company also owns four diesel locomotives, which are mainly used to pull the work trains. Normally, not all steam locomotives can be used at the same time, as at least one of the locomotives is usually in a scheduled overhaul. The Talyllyn Railway owns 23 passenger and freight cars, including the brakeman's car and all the passenger cars of the old Talyllyn Railway.

The train runs on a single-track route . Therefore, special measures to secure train journeys are necessary to prevent collisions. Before the time as a museum railway, there was never more than one locomotive in use at the same time (“one engine in steam”). With the growing number of passengers, it became necessary to set up switches and to introduce technical train protection.

The railway line is secured by a tension rod system . A pull rod ( English: token) authorizes you to drive on a certain route section. The tension rods are removed from electrically coupled devices at the escape points. Only one token can be withdrawn for a certain section of the route, so that only one train can travel between two stations. There are siding in Pendre, which has been used as a marshalling yard since the line opened, Brynglas (since 1953) and Quarry Siding (since 1963). In the course of the extension to Nant Gwernol in 1976, Abergynolwyn also got an alternative. Each turnout is controlled by a small signal box called a block post. There are the levers with which the points can be set, the devices for the tension rods and a telephone. The railway has only a few signals. Instead there are stop signs at every turnout. Driving on at this point is only allowed after a signal from the marshals. If the marshals are unoccupied, it is the task of the locomotive personnel to replace the pull rod.

Special events

The museum railway organizes a number of special events throughout the year. These include the Tom Rolt Steam and Vintage Rally , Duncan Days for children, and Tywyn Victorian Week . Since 1984 there has been the annual Race the Train , a run along the route from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and back. The challenge for the runners is to cover the distance faster than the train. This takes about 1 hour 45 minutes for the 23.3 km.

Young Members Group

The Young Members Group includes club members aged between 14 and 25. During the high season there is an occasional “Young Members Day”. Here, the youngest members qualified for the task at hand take over the operation of the railway.

The railway as a model for literature and film

Pastor Wilbert Vere Awdry was a volunteer for the Talyllyn Railway in the 1950s. Many episodes of his famous railway stories about Thomas, the little locomotive refer to events and people there. The line, locomotives and wagons of the fictional Skarloey Railway on the equally fictional island of Sodor are modeled on the Talyllyn Railway.

Sir Haydn dressed as Sir Handel, 2008

Since 1983, with Awdry's approval, some of the Talyllyn locomotives have been redesigned to look like their respective Skarloey Railway twins. The first locomotive was Sir Haydn , which became Sir Handel , later followed by Edward Thomas as Peter Sam and Douglas as Duncan . Since then, Duncan has delighted children as a locomotive with a face on several weekends in the season and several days of the week in August and September. At Children's Day Duncan further, mostly child-related activities take place. At the end of 2007, Duncan had to go to the workshop for a general overhaul, and Sir Handel, also face to face, took over the drives. Unfortunately, Sir Handel had to drop out in 2009 due to technical problems and was replaced by Peter Sam .

For the first season of the television adaptation of the Railway Series books, the sound effects for the steam locomotives on the Talyllyn were recorded. When the narrow gauge locomotives were introduced to the CGI series in 2012, the animation studio revisited the Talyllyn Railway to closely examine and measure the locomotives.

The maintenance of the Talyllyn Railway by volunteers was the main idea behind the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt by Ealing Studios . The story shows how a group of villagers tries to get rail traffic going again on a disused branch line. The screenwriter TEB Clarke spent a day on the Talyllyn in 1951, and some events from the early days of the heritage railway were incorporated into the film. The film itself was not shot on the Talyllyn Railway, but on the recently disused branch line of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway through the Cam Brook valley in Somerset .

Others

The railway is a member of the Great Little Trains of Wales .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Boyd 1965, p. 85.
2. ↑ Mitchell and Eyres 2005, p. 7.
3. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 44.
4. ↑ Thomas 2002, p. 32.
5. ↑ Ransom 1996, p. 139.
6. ↑ Johnson 1999, p. 27.
7. ↑ Boyd 1965, pp. 61-62.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Richards 1999, p. 195.
9. ↑ Boyd 1965, pp. 62-63.
10. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 9.
11. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 45 and Potter, p. 11.
12. ↑ Boyd 1965, p. 65.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Boyd 1965, pp. 68-70.
14. ↑ Woodcock 1938, p. 197.
15. ↑ Rolt 1998, p. 13.
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Boyd 1965, p. 71.
17. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 149.
18. ↑ Rolt 1965, pp. 82-83.
19. ↑ Rolt 1998, pp. 5-6.
20. ↑ Boyd 1965, p. 118.
21. ↑ Rolt 1998, pp. 24-25.
22. ↑ ^{a b c} Boyd 1965, pp. 72-73.
23. ↑ Ransom 1996, p. 130.
24. ↑ Boyd 1965, pp. 116-117.
25. ↑ Boyd 1965, pp. 73-74.
26. ↑ Boyd 1965, p. 74.
27. ↑ Rolt 1965, pp. 52-53.
28. ↑ Rolt 1965, pp. 54-55.
29. ↑ Potter, p. 78.
30. ↑ Rolt 1965, p. 56.
31. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 260.
32. ↑ Rolt 1998, picture opposite p. 109.
33. ↑ Johnson 1997, p. 57.
34. ↑ Boyd 1965, pp. 99-100.
35. ↑ Goddin 2002, p. 46.
36. ↑ Rolt 1965, pp. 61-62.
37. ↑ Mitchell and Eyres 2005, p. 25.
38. ↑ Rolt 1965, pp. 112-114.
39. ↑ Bate 2001, chapter 5
40. ↑ Rolt 1965, p. 99.
41. ↑ Boyd 1965, p. 77.
42. ↑ Mitchell and Eyres 2005, p. 19.
43. ↑ Mitchell and Eyres 2005, p. 87.
44. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 155.
45. ↑ Thomas 2002, p. 34.
46. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 181.
47. ↑ Bate 2001, pp. 184-185.
48. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 189.
49. ^ Narrow Gauge News Center . In: Railway Times . tape June 18 , 1980, p. 11 .
50. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 169.
51. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thomas 2002, p. 35.
52. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 234.
53. ↑ Bate 2001, pp. 234-237.
54. ↑ ^{a b} Facelift for 'Thomas' station. BBC News, March 14, 2003, accessed March 16, 2008 . 
55. ^ Royal couple on track at station. BBC News, July 13, 2005, accessed May 14, 2009 . 
56. ^ ^{A b} John S. Robinson: The annual TRPS Council Meeting report, 2006. (No longer available online.) Talyllyn Railway Company, July 26, 2007, archived from the original on September 25, 2011 ; Retrieved August 3, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
57. ↑ Bate 2001, p. 157.
58. ^ Bruce Yarborough: The Great Little Trains of Wales. Retrieved April 6, 2008 . 
59. ↑ Karen Higginson: 100% Availability! (No longer available online.) Talyllyn Railway Company, August 29, 2007, archived from the original on December 21, 2014 ; Retrieved August 3, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
60. ↑ Potter, pp. 130-131.
61. ↑ Potter, pp. 132-133.
62. ↑ Potter, p. 222.
63. ↑ Rolt 1965, p. 102.
64. ↑ Race the Train website. Tywyn Rotary Club, accessed April 6, 2008 . 
65. ↑ Young Members. (No longer available online.) Talyllyn Railway Company, archived from the original on Aug. 23, 2009 ; Retrieved August 3, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
66. ^ The Awdry Connection. Talyllyn Railway Company. Retrieved October 5, 2009 . 
67. ↑ No. 6 'Douglas' / 'Duncan'. (No longer available online.) Talyllyn Railway Company, archived from the original on September 28, 2011 ; Retrieved October 5, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
68. ↑ The Chrildren's Duncan Day. (No longer available online.) Talyllyn Railway Company, archived from the original on September 3, 2009 ; Retrieved October 5, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
69. ↑ Michael Dixon. Retrieved August 3, 2020 . 
70. ^ Duncan / Behind the Scenes. Retrieved August 3, 2020 . 
71. ↑ Huntley 1969, p. 77.
72. ^ Matthew Hawkins: Cultural Perceptions of the Landscape. Bath & North East Somerset Council, April 2008, archived from the original on November 21, 2008 ; Retrieved June 5, 2008 . 

literature

• JHL Bate: The Chronicles of Pendre Sidings . RailRomances, 2001, ISBN 1-900622-05-X .
• James IC Boyd: Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid Wales . Oakwood Press, 1965.
• James IC Boyd: The Tal-y-llyn Railway . Wild Swan Publications, 1988, ISBN 0-906867-46-0 .
• Lewis Cozens: The Tal-y-llyn Railway . Private print, 1948.
• Geoff Goddin: Whose Heritage Railway is it? A Study of Volunteer Motivation . In: Japan Railway & Transport Review . tape 32 , September 2002, p. 46–49 ( online [PDF; accessed May 1, 2009]).
• HGW Household, O. Eldson: The Tal-y-llyn Railway . In: Railway Magazine . tape 58 , June 1926, p. 431–435 ( online [PDF; accessed May 1, 2009]).
• John Huntley: Railways in the Cinema . Ian Allan, 1969.
• Peter Johnson: The Heyday of the Welsh Narrow Gauge . Ian Allan, 1997, ISBN 0-7110-2511-8 .
• Peter Johnson: Welsh Narrow Gauge: a view from the past . Ian Allan, 1999, ISBN 0-7110-2654-8 .
• Peter Johnson and Rodney Weaver: Great Preserved Locomotives: Talyllyn Railway No 1 Talyllyn & No 2 Dolgoch . Ian Allan, 1987, ISBN 0-7110-1711-5 .
• David J. Mitchell and Terry Eyres: The Talyllyn Railway . Past and Present Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-85895-125-9 .
• D. Potter: The Talyllyn Railway . David St John Thomas, 1990, ISBN 0-946537-50-X .
• PJG Ransomware: Narrow Gauge Steam: Its origins and world-wide development . Oxford Publishing Co, 1996, ISBN 0-86093-533-7 .
• Alun John Richards: The Slate Regions of North and Mid Wales, and their Railways . Carreg Gwalch, 1999, ISBN 0-86381-552-9 .
• LTC Rolt: Railway Adventure . Sutton Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-330-02783-2 .
• LTC Rolt (Ed.): Talyllyn Century . David & Charles, 1965.
• Cliff Thomas: The Narrow Gauge in Britain and Ireland . Atlantic Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1-902827-05-8 .
• G. George Woodcock: The Tal-y-llyn Railway . In: Railway Magazine . tape 83 , no. 495 , September 1938, p. 197–200 ( online [PDF; accessed May 1, 2009]).

Web links

Commons : Talyllyn Railway  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Talyllyn Railway (English, brief description also in German)
• Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (English)
• Railway with a Heart of Gold A film released in 1965 about the Talyllyn's rail operations in the 1950s Carson Davidson (Academic Film Archive of North America)

Coordinates: 52 ° 35 ′ 1 ″  N , 4 ° 5 ′ 19 ″  W.