| Full steam ahead |
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| Written by Linda Hart, 2006 | |
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What began as a project to preserve a small railway in a remote Welsh valley is now a national treasure that receives 50,000 visitors a year. Linda Hart reports.
It seems perfectly normal today for grown men – and women – to spend a weekend or even a week doing volunteer work on one of Britain’s 150 preserved railway lines. Their tasks can include everything from clearing the trackside and cleaning the locomotives to stoking the boilers and driving the trains. But it was not ever thus. The Talyllyn Railway was originally built to link a quarry, on the southern edge of what is now Snowdonia National Park, with the mainline railway on the Welsh coast. From 1866 to 1946, steam trains on the narrow-gauge line transported slate seven miles down the precipitous Talyllyn valley to Wharf station at Tywyn. A passenger service ran on the last part of the line, serving a few farms and houses at the lower end of the valley. The quarry’s closure in 1947 meant that the Talyllyn Railway was doomed to extinction. Enter Tom Rolt, a canal and railway enthusiast who had explored the line on foot while holidaying in the area. He brought together various railway enthusiasts, who were determined to rescue this unspoilt Victorian relic. In 1951, members of the newly-formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society (TRPS) worked hard to get the track, trains and stations fit for service – which began that May and has continued ever since. This makes the Talyllyn the world’s first railway to be rescued and operated by volunteers. Wooden carriage doors shut with a satisfying bang, a guard clips your old-fashioned ticket, the driver and fireman (in clean boiler suits and peaked caps) step aboard the footplate of a gleaming engine, the stationmaster (in tie and waistcoat) waves a green flag. At last, you hear the steam hissing as the train slowly sets off on its 52-minute journey, travelling at approximately 15 miles an hour, from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol. You can get on and off at any station or halt (perhaps for a short walk at Dolgoch Falls, or a snack at Abergynolwyn station café, which reminded me of Brief Encounter) before catching the next train up or down the line.  Fireman Phil Mason (left) and driver Phil Higginson get ready to board The Quarryman As I stood on the footplate with Phil Mason, from Southampton, he explained, “My job is to keep the fire going, keep the pressure up, maintain the water level in the boiler. When the driver adjusts the speed I have to adjust the water and steam. I make about 45 trips a year on the Talyllyn, but every one is different depending on the season, the track conditions, which loco you have and which carriages you are hauling, what the weather is like – even the batch of coal makes a difference.” The Rev. Awdry published the first Thomas the Tank Engine story in 1945. Later he joined the TRPS, and his experiences as a volunteer inspired a number of incidents that occur in subsequent “Thomas” stories. His son Christopher, TRPS President since 1996, remembers that Wharf station in the 1950s was “a sleepy sort of place”. Today it buzzes with excitement – passengers admiring the livery, children asking questions, volunteers sorting out rosters and the sound of steam piercing the air. As Tom Rolt says in Railway Adventure, his book about rescuing the Talyllyn Railway, “the novel idea of forming a voluntary society to run a public railway was considered crack-brained” when the project began in 1950. But since then, volunteers have helped the small paid staff restore locomotives, rebuild carriages, upgrade track and clear scrub, as well as running a train service that harks back to the golden days of rail travel. Today the TRPS has 3,500 members from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over Britain. A visit to the Talyllyn Railway makes a perfect outing for WIs. Coaches can leave groups at one end of the line and meet them at the other. At Wharf station you’ll find the booking hall (recently rebuilt in the style of the original 1866 building) as well as a new gift shop, restaurant and the two-storey Narrow Gauge Railway Museum containing a wealth of fascinating memorabilia. HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall were the guests of honour when the museum was opened last year. WI members are bound to enjoy a journey on a steam train as much as the Royal couple did. Further information For timetables, special events and additional information visit www.talyllyn.co.uk, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or tel: 01654 710472. WI group visits can include time for lunch, the railway museum and gift shop. |
