News from The Talyllyn

From the past - they found some track which still had the railhead!

 

The Talyllyn Railway has announced that all trains are to be diesel-hauled to start the week due to the tinder-dry conditions.

Steam trains that were planned to depart Tywyn Wharf on the 20th, 21st and 22nd July 2026 will now be replaced by a diesel locomotive.

The railway is following advice from Tywyn Fire Brigade to avoid operating steam engines.

 

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Lovely (imagine fitting the Cameras of the day in the cab).
I've always wondered what the two brass fittings on the front of the running boards were. I assume they were lubricators, and they were in use at the time judging by the steam coming out.

 

Can you run gravity trains on the Tallyllyn? Ultimate fire-risk reduction...

 

Pre WW2 you could hire a slate wagon that was attached to the train to Abergynolwyn and and after the last train had departed head off back down the line to Towyn - as it then was.

BUT the Tallylyn was not designed for gravity working and there is a bit of uphill - I forget where where the mirth seekers had to get out and push

 

The uphill section in the down direction is between Tynllwyn Hen and just north of Rhydyronen. Not a great distance, but enough. Part of Pendre is also uphill in that direction.

 

Not forgetting "Fach Goch Bank"! The most recent gradient survey from the 1990s shows the section of line there as level, however I reckon it is now an uphill on the down, the line having settled over the last 30 or so years. Previous diagrams show there used to be a very slight uphill there!

It's a stretch of line that is known to catch novice firemen out (like myself), though whether or not it is or isn't level - the jury is still out...

 

They are the old cylinder lubricators, yes. No.2 Dolgoch still has them, although they are no longer functional, being superseded by a mechanical lubricator.