March Editorial

It’s been quite a busy closed season. As you’ll read in this edition of the News the Railway’s rolling stock has been scattered far and wide while the West Carriage Shed underwent a complete re-clad and re-roof. Perhaps the hardest part of the operation was the initial clean-up that had to be carried out to make way for the contractors. It seems entirely possible that some particular corners of the Paint Shop last saw the light of day in the 1970s. This would be in line with the locomotive running shed where the recent re-location of a cabinet revealed a poster on the wall that was well over thirty years old.

Nostalgia for the 1970s will be all the range for the ‘Road to Adventure’ gala that will run over the first weekend in May. This gala will be primarily focussed on the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the extension to Nant Gwernol. For those of you who volunteer on the operational side of the Railway it’ll be notable for the fact that a 1970s high-peak timetable will be in operation. Such a density of departures from Wharf has certainly not happened in the seventeen years I’ve been working in the locomotive department. Perhaps the closest we’ve got was the briefly-proposed ‘orange’ service that was an option when Tywyn Wharf station was rebuilt in the early 2000s and there were concerns that the short platform working (and hence shortened sets) would not be able to provide enough capacity on a standard timetable service. In the end this didn’t happen – so seeing ten departures from Tywyn Wharf will be very special indeed.

I was not volunteering on the Talyllyn, or indeed born, when the extension to Nant Gwernol was proposed, developed and eventually opened. It must have been quite an undertaking – but one that seemed like a logical next step at the time. Reading some of the accounts of the work that had to be carried out to make the extension a reality has got me thinking: what’s this generation’s project going to be? Back in the fifties there were the pioneers, who led the world in preservation and rescued the Talyllyn from the brink. In the decades following that the Railway was developed beyond recognition. The permanent way was completely replaced and new locomotives were acquired and overhauled. New operational and passenger infrastructure was built to cope with the increasing demand and then, forty years ago, the extension to Nant Gwernol was completed.

Since that time there have been other large projects – with the re-development of Tywyn Wharf mentioned earlier arguably being the biggest of the intervening period. But what about now? What anniversaries will the members and volunteers who read the 3D holographic version of this magazine in 2060 be commemorating? Will they look back upon events from today with the same respect that we remember the opening of the extension?

I feel we’re approaching a crossroads. There are a number of large projects in the planning stages – Llechfan being one and the redevelopment of Pendre being another – which have the potential to transform the operation of the Talyllyn. Both of these projects will not be easy, and will require some challenging decisions to the made, but maybe we should approach these projects with the same sense of adventure that the original founders of the society had all those years ago.

We now have a new general and engineering manager (see page 4). I think I can speak for all of you in welcoming them to the Talyllyn and wishing them all the best in their new roles.

Matt Dawson