This year’s Victorian train

season has got off to a good

start; the first train ran on 10

June, with the good load of

passengers all enjoying their

experience of Victorian

travel. The train is made up

of all our original passenger

carriages, guards van and

one of our original locomo-

tives. This year No2 Dolgoch

is undergoing a major over-

haul, so most Victorian trains

will be hauled by No1 Ta-

lyllyn; standing by in case

Talyllyn isn’t available is No3

Sir Haydn, originally from the

Corris railway and dating

from 1878. We are often

asked what happens on the

Victorian Train so we asked

regular Victorian Train guide

Adrian Woodhall to explain

the day.

The day starts at 11:00 am

with the train departing from

Tywyn Wharf, it makes it way

up the valley stopping a Rhy-

dyronen and Dolgoch falls

for photographs, at Dolgoch

it reverses across the via-

duct allowing passengers to

photograph the train in this

picturesque location. There

is more time for photos at

Abergynolwyn where the

train stops for lunch before

heading up to Nant Gwernol,

here it is possible to take

one of two walks retuning to

either Nant Gwernol or Aber-

gynolwyn stations where you

can re-join the train. Not

everyone wants a walk, and

they usually stay with the

train as it shuttle between

Abergynolwyn and Nant

Gwernol. The downward trip

allows time for the passen-

gers to ask me questions or

just to chat whilst taking in

the view. We then stop at

Pendre to look behind the

scenes in the workshops,

sheds and block post. The

train then returns to Tywyn

Wharf were I usually have

afternoon tea with some of

the passengers in King’s

Licensed Café.

The Victorian train runs every

Thursday from 10 June - 15

July and the 9th, 16th and

24th September, departing

Tywyn 11:00 am and return-

ing at 3:45. These popular

trains fill up quickly; we

highly recommend booking

in advance. Contact Wharf

Station on 01654 710472

or email enquir-

ies@talyllyn.co.uk .

Volume 1 , Issue 1

TH E V I C TOR IA N TRAIN

July 2010

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Llechfan garden railway

2

Have a go gala 2

Museum Report 3

Bank Holiday 3

Summer Specials 4

Great Little Trains

of Wales

Discount Card

For just £10 our Dis-count Card entitles the

holder to 20% off one adult full round trip fare on normal timetabled

trains on the participat-ing Railways listed on

the card. Discount Cards are valid for 12

months from the date the first journey is

made. Not only that, but we have also man-aged to arrange dis-

counts for Great Little

Trains of Wales Card Holders with selected

accommodation provid-ers close to many of our member railways (see

individual railways pages for details) - this

makes the card a real bargain!

The unchanging scene

The Great Little Trains of Wales

Stay in touch with the Talyllyn Railway on Facebook (Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway) and on Twitter

www.twitter.com/talyllynrailway

Way back in a dimly distant 60 odd years ago – a

little boy paid a visit to the Talyllyn, as many have

done since. This particular little boy was Peter Jones

who absorbed all he saw and took away with him

the influence that would form a lifetime of Garden

Railway building which took the form of the Comp-

ton Down. Following his death in 2009 the results of

this lifetime’s work sought sanc-

tuary in the Llechfan Garden

Railway at Wharf.

The many buildings were/are in

varying states of disrepair and

work is underway constructing

new foundations for them as

they are slowly restored and

dotted about the Llechfan land-

scape. It will be a long process

to fully merge the fabric & indus-

trial heritage of Compton Down

with its many aspects seam-

lessly into the new setting but

the first stages are well under-

way. Recent progress includes

construction of the new concrete

baseboard to house Compton

Down station which has now

seen the first trains with use of

temporary platform. Llechfan

now also own a sizeable cross

section of Peter’s engines &

rolling stock so some of those

trains are well accustomed to

their surroundings.

Kas

Page 2

L I V E YOU R CH I LD HOO D DR EAM

Llechfan meets Compton

Llechfan Garden Railway

team are busily extending

their 16mm line and install-

ing recently acquired build-

ings from the famous Comp-

ton Down railway. We

hope to have a live

steam miniature railway

and traders as well. On

Saturday night there

will be an evening meal

and a train will run with

opportunities to ride on

the locomotive foot-

plate. If you want to

take one of the driving

or firing courses then

please get in touch to

reserve your place at

have-a-go@talyllyn.co.uk ,

if you just want to enjoy

the weekend’s attrac-

tions then you’re more

than welcome!

Preparations are well un-

der way for what looks

like our biggest Have-A-Go

Gala yet. We have a

planned a whole series of

driving and firing experi-

ence courses. We hope

this year to have courses

running from both ends of

the railway so you can

drive different locomo-

tives on different sections

of track. We are again

offering the opportunity to

experience life in the

Guard’s van or block post

(signal box) and the popu-

lar ‘drive a diesel for a

fiver’. At Tywyn Wharf the

Other Experiences

If you fancy doing something

that isn’t listed just ask and we will see what we can do.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate contact

us at:

have-a-go@talyllyn.co.uk

Volume 1 , Issue 1

The Llechfan Garden Railway

is a 16mm/foot scale garden

railway located on the Talyllyn

Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd.

Built in the garden at the rear

of the Railway’s volunteer hos-

tel Llechfan, the 32mm gauge

line has around 180 yards of

main running line consisting of

two circuits (a low level circuit

of 40 yards and a more recent

higher level circuit of 90 yards,

both of which are level) linked

by a steeply inclined (1 in 35)

branch line.

more information includ-

ing opening times go to

www.llechfan-garden-

railway.org

Summer 2010 newsletter

The big news relating to the NGRM is that follow-ing months of hard graft behind the scenes, full Accreditation has been achieved. Not only does this consist of a formal status in the museum world, but opens up many avenues for further grant applications, pro-fessional advice and fa-cilities to continue to im-prove our museum. This has only been achieved by following and applying a very strict code of con-duct with respect to the museum and the collec-tion. Every item has to have a clear paper chain of its background and acquisition, and must be identified with its acquisi-tion number in the mu-seum computer records. Just identifying each item has taken many hours of painstaking work as every show case has had to be emptied to put onto each item an identifying mark in an approved way and every item on the walls similarly treated. All this work was undertaken by the regular museum

gang throughout last winter. Physical work has included re-positioning items on the north wall of the ground floor to find space to mount an additional metal grid similar to oth-ers already mounted. The items moved include the Kettering Furnaces No 6 plate and the framed photograph of the Kettering Furnaces loco in the museum in Penrhyn Castle. The new grid has been manufactured at Pendre, galvanised and painted and the next phase is to drill the wall for the fix-ings. It will eventually display the brass plates currently on show in the "Recent Acquisitions" showcase, to free up space for other recently acquired items. Repaint-ing the three bar slate wagon has been com-pleted and the wagon is back on the display sid-ing on the Wharf edge. Its place in the Gunpow-der shed has been taken by the former Aberlle-

fenni incline wagon, which has been brought inside to dry out prior to restoration. On-going is the challenge of keeping the museum spick and span while open to the public. One real chal-lenge is to keep food and drink out of the mu-seum as spillage is a definite threat. Regretta-bly some volunteers are the worst offenders in this respect. The con-tinuing task for cleaning and con-serving the many items of track components in store continues. This task has been principally undertaken by one vol-unteer travels from South Wales on each occasion and has be-come a labour of love. Regular working parties still take place every month on the first Satur-day. Additional sessions will take place every Thursday morning once train service finish for the season

W Mc

The Big Bank holiday weekend rounds off the sea-

son with four days of fun: Thursday 24th is the Chil-

dren’s Duncan day with family fun at Abergynolwyn

station. The final Fish & chip Special runs on Fri-

day 29th. Saturday will see our young volunteers

take over the railway, with extra trains and Driver

Experience courses; frequent train will run to Aber-

gynolwyn where you can visit their village show.

Sunday is the Tywyn Festival with events and en-

tertainment throughout the town; at Tywyn Wharf

station a gathering of Series One Land Rovers is

taking place.

Phil Eaton, Marketing Assistant.

Page 3

NGRM REP ORT

TH E B I G BA NK HO L IDAY

The museum is run by

volunteers and all help is

greatly appreciated,

whether practical, financial

or by donating items to

the collection. To contact

the museum, write to The

Narrow Gauge Railway

Museum, Wharf Station,

Tywyn, Gwynedd, LL36

9EY, Wales, or email the

Secretary,

Don Newing, at

curator@ngrm.org.uk.

Signaling equipment preserved in the museum

Sir Handel leaves Wharf Station.

The Talyllyn Railway is a

historic narrow-gauge

steam railway, set in the

beautiful Mid-Wales coun-

tryside. Running from Tywyn

to Abergynolwyn and Nant

Gwernol, the line passes

the delightful Dolgoch Falls

and there are excellent for-

est walks at Nant Gwernol.

Why not come and visit us

for a great family day out?

Wharf Station

Tywyn

Gwynedd

LL36 9EY

Talyl lyn Rai lway

entertainment in the Playground

at Abergynolwyn. A evening train

is running on 10th August in asso-

ciation with Tywyn Garden Club

this ‘floral train’ will be specially

decorated and take you on a

peaceful evening ride through the

National Park. There’s so much

This summer we have a

whole host of events taking

place. The Tywyn Victorian

Week normally kicks off the

peak season, but this event

is taking a year out and will

hopefully be back on the

calendar with some fresh

events in the future. All is not

lost though as the popular

Craft fares are still taking

place at Abergynolwyn sta-

tion on 27th and 29th July

with all the favourite crafts

demonstrated and for sale.

Every Friday 30th July to 29th

August the Fish and Chip

Special will run from Tywyn

Wharf to Nant Gwernol and

return, with splendid meal

served upon return in King’s

Licensed Cafe at Tywyn

Wharf station. The bar will be

open and there are also a

great range of seasonal des-

serts to try with your meal.

Our Murder Mystery train is

running on the evening of

the 3rd August - participants

will have the journey to grill

the suspects to solve the

mystery. Younger children

and their families can join

the fun on Thursday 5 Au-

gust with the Teddy bears’

picnic on the 12:15 train;

there will be activities and

going on I’ve run out of

space but we have loads

more information on the

website at

www.talyllyn.co.uk/events

we look forward to welcom-

ing you this summer!

Phone: 01654 710472

Fax: 01654711755

E-mail: enquiries@talyllyn.co.uk

The worlds first preserved railway

Thank you for giving us your email address when you filled in the survey form on the Railway. This

is the latest of our twice-yearly newsletters, in which we aim to provide information on the many

aspects of the Railway.

If you would like to see more, less or different items in future editions please let us know. If you do

not want to receive future newsletters, please email us at newsletter@talyllyn.co.uk

<mailto:Newsletter@talyllyn.co.uk> and we'll remove you from the mailing list. Your email address

is held solely to enable us to send you our newsletter and will not be used for any other purpose.

As you may notice we have changed the look of the newsletter this time. Please let me know if you

prefer this style or not.

Ray Reid

www.Talyllyn.co.uk SUMM ER SPEC I AL S

Driver Experience

Booking and detailed informa-

tion

We are pleased to offer a

choice of two footplate experi-

ences, giving you the chance to

drive one of our historic loco-

motives.

Full Day Footplate Experience

Available all year round except

during peak services (green

and pink timetables). Cost:

£600.00

Daylight Evening Footplate

Experience

Available from April to Septem-

ber. Cost: £300.00

Footplate experiences can be

run on dates to suit partici-

pants, subject to there not

being other bookings or special

trains operating. Please con-

tact us for dates at

de@talyllyn.co.uk or:

Talyllyn Railway

Wharf Station

Tywyn

Gwynedd

LL36 9EY

Phone 01654 710472

Fax 01654 711755

Children's Birthday Parties

Children’s Birthday Parties can also be arranged, to include party food and the train ride. Whilst

footplate trips are restricted to those who have accumulated more birthdays, you are welcome to

photograph children standing on the footplate whilst the train is in the station.

Prior booking is essential, and a minimum of two weeks is required. If a particular date is

wanted, then you are advised to book as far in advance as possible.