Narrow Gauge Rails in Mid Wales

The blog has been quiet recently, with no modelling taking place as we were away on holiday for a fortnight in Wales. Staying in Tywyn, there were plenty of opportunities to ride the rails in Mid Wales, aided by having a small child to entertain who currently enjoys that sort of thing. 

Though I have managed to give my 16mm scale live steam loco its first run in about six years on the Llechfan Garden Railway in Tywyn. I shall be making sure it’s not six years until it’s next steaming. 

As you would expect, I managed a few driving turns on the Talyllyn, including a very enjoyable and sunny day driving No 4 ‘Edward Thomas’ fresh from overhaul. Now wearing a striking Kerry Stuart standard grey livery, very similar to the livery it wore when delivered to the Corris Railway new, in 1921. This means that I’ve now driven all six Talyllyn steam locos since Christmas. A lucky occurrence with the way the overhauls have fallen. 

One evening was spent driving a Picnic Special for our ‘Navvies’ group. One of four Talyllyn youth groups, this one caters for the 12-16 year olds. A week of volunteering experiences for them (alongside their parents) which aims to introduce / indoctrinate them in to a life time of Talyllyn volunteering. It was good to see so many youngsters (and parents looking forward to occupying their free time once their children grew up) around and talk to them about volunteering in the loco department. Hopefully I shall be working with some of them in the future. 

Another evening was spent enjoying a Sunset Special early evening trip with the family. 

On the Talyllyn, new carriages 24, 25 (built at Boston Lodge) and 27 the new open built at Pendre were in service, allowing the vintage carriages a bit of a breather. I really like the new more compact saloons in 24 and 25, the latter being a west end saloon, giving great views of the lineside in one direction and the loco in the other. 

Just like the rest of this summer, the weather alternated daily between scorching beach weather and days of persistent rain. Thankfully, there was plenty of the former to keep the ice cream businesses afloat. In addition to the Honey Ice Creams at the inland edge of Tywyn, Aberdyfi Ice Creams have taken over the Golden Sands building on the sea front giving Tywyn Promenande a decent ice cream parlour at last. Both come highly recommended.

At Devil’s Bridge, the chocolate shop across the road had run out of single chocolate dipped waffle cones. To my dismay, I was forced to have a double scoop variant….

We ended up visiting all the narrow gauge railways in Mid Wales during our stay, with the exception of the Corris, whose restrictive operating dates didn’t fit in with our plans sadly. 

First stop was lunch at Llanfair tea rooms on our way west where we saw ‘The Earl’ waiting to depart with a well loaded train. Sadly, no sign of ‘Sir Dredaldwyn’ entering service yet. Apparently it’s been dismantled again to be painted. 

Suppose technically, Bala is in north Wales, but is a pleasant 45 minute drive from Tywyn. Over the years I’ve not made too many visits to Bala, as heading north from Tywyn it doesn’t take much longer to get to Porthmadog. But as there are now two of us who like Quarry Hunslets in the family, we made the trip and were rewarded with a ride behind ‘Winifred’. The first time I’ve seen this loco since it returned across the Atlantic. 

The Fairbourne is always a good visit with small children. On a sunny day, catching the train to Morfa Mawddach, walking across the bridge into Barmouth for lunch. Then catching the ferry back across and the Fairbourne Railway before catching the mainline train back to Tywyn is a fun day out. On wet days, just sheltering in the train enjoying a hot chocolate is the way to go. 

Having missed the previous visit to the Vale of Rheidol by ‘Palmerston’ a decade ago, I was fortunate in that we were able to take a trip to Aberystwyth on one of the Fridays in August that the VoR are running ‘Palmerston’ and take a trip up the line to Devil’s Bridge. With three carriages and a van, it was a nice load resulting in ‘Palmerston’ making a fine sound scampering up the hill. The sun shone too and the main service train was in the care of No 7.

Since our visit at Easter, there had been some changes in the museum in Aberystwyth. The Spanish locomotive and carriage being particular gems alongside the Brigadelok and the Dick Kerr petrol electric loco. There was also chance to take a close look at ‘Margaret’, which was useful now that I have a Bachmann NG7 version. 

Outside, one of the Bagnall built Gwalior Pacific locos briefly saw the light of day. Hopefully in time, one of these will steam again. Something I hope to see in steam and ride behind one day. 

The day before we came home was the 39th Annual Rotary Club of Tywyn Race the Train. In the morning, 5, 9 and 10km races are run against the train. In the afternoon, there is a 14 mile return run up and down the valley against the train. There’s plenty of steep sections and a couple of bogs (particularly around Dolgoch) to challenge the runners. There was a contingent of volunteers running to raise money for the Talyllyn’s 75 Appeal so we went to cheer them on. One of them, succeeded in winning the Dolgoch Challenge in the morning. Here is the afternoon main race train alongside some of the runners approaching Rhydyronen. 

And finally…. It wouldn’t be a seaside holiday without fish & chips overlooking the sea.