Welsh narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway locomotive No. 1 Tallyllyn in around 1960
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for miles from Tywynon 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 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. It was delivered to the Talyllyn Railway on 24 September 1864 and continues to run on this railway. Following the rescue of the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, Talyllyn was inspected and found to be beyond economic repair. However as the railway's fortunes improved it became possible to consider a major overhaul. In 1957 the locomotive was sent away to the Gibbons Brother's Brierly Hill engineering works at Lenches Bridge in Pensnett for a complete renewal. A new boiler, saddletank and bunker were built and Talyllyn returned to service in 1958. This has helped in dating this set of photographs from negatives in my collection
Size: 3390px × 2127px
Photo credit: © Digbydachshund / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1960, gauge, locomotive, narrow, railway, steam, talyllyn, towyn, train, wales, welsh
