2016 July - The Grand Finale

Who would have thought, a year ago, that we’d have all five UK based Fletcher Jennings locos in Tywyn on display? Who would have believed that the Talyllyn would ever host a standard gauge loco in live steam, on standard gauge track? Well, thanks to a lot of hard work behind the scenes, it all came true.

It’s difficult to decide who the ‘star’ of this weekend was. Despite it being No 2 Dolgoch’s 150th Anniversary celebrations, we also welcomed ‘William Finlay’ to the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum and ‘Captain Baxter’ as our first ever standard gauge visiting loco. ‘Townsend Hook’ also joined us making it the first time the five remaining Fletcher Jennings locos have been together.

Over the weekend we ran a variety of special trains and events. ‘Captain Baxter’ was in steam all weekend, offering footplate rides in return for a donation to the ‘William Finlay’ fund. In the Museum itself, there was a Fletcher Jennings display.

Friday 1 July

• Special train for donors to the 2010 Steam Railway No.2 Dolgoch appeal
• Slate Train
• Evening Heritage Train

Highlights included the unveiling of No 2’s 150 headboard by Tim Dunn, the launch of ‘The Lowca Legacy’ booklet by Anthony Coulls, the Beer Festival and watching Wales beat Belgium in the Euros, despite the wind and rain outside the beer tent.

Saturday 2 July

• The Llechfan Garden Railway Gala began
• Morning Photocall with all steamable locomotives at Wharf
• Double-heading and/or banking of selected trains throughout the day
• VIP Special with No 2 Dolgoch
• Afternoon Mixed train
• Evening train from Wharf with all steamable TR locos between Wharf and Pendre, then double-headed with Nos. 1 and 2 to Nant Gwernol.
• Evening photoshoot with all Fletcher Jennings locos and finale.

Sunday 3 July 2015

• Early morning photographic mixed train from Tywyn Wharf
• Fletcher Jennings Special with Nos.1 and 2 with the vintage train at 11.20am including a photo run past at Brynglas
• Re-enactment of the first regular passenger train with No 2 Dolgoch and carriages 3 & 4 plus van 5, including a run past at Rhydyronen
• Beer festival in the evening sunshine

There are also plenty of photos on the Talyllyn Railway Facebook page, and on Twitter (#Talyllyn150) https://twitter.com/hashtag/talyllyn150

The Talyllyn Shop is selling lots of Talyllyn 150 related goodies, including Anthony Coulls' book 'The Lowca Legacy'.

A Massive Thank You to:

The Bluebell Railway for lending us 'Captain Baxter' (and Mike and Lewis for looking after her)
The Amberley Museum for allowing ‘Townsend Hook' to be on display
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (and everyone who has donated to the fund) for 'William Finlay'
The Beer Festival organisers and Café staff for providing excellent food and drink
The Outdoor Week folk who sorted out the tracks at Wharf
Ian, Ellis and the team who have arranged all the Galas – what a fantastic job they’ve done!
The Marshalls at Wharf, and our volunteers who crewed the trains even at unearthly hours of the day
PK for sorting out the Dolgoch 150 headboard
Everyone who came along to our galas and made them so special, the atmosphere around the Talyllyn has been fantastic
Everyone else who contributed or helped out in any way to our seven galas over the past year or so - it's been amazing!


Photos by Max Birchenough, Barbara Fuller, Rob Langham, Keith Theobald, Andrew Young and Karen Willans