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Talyllyn [lower-alpha 1] is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. It was built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. in 1864 and is one of the oldest locomotives still in active service. It was delivered to the Talyllyn Railway on 24 September 1864 and continues to run on this railway. [2]
The Talyllyn Railway ordered two locomotives for its opening in 1865, Talyllyn and Dolgoch . Both were built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. of Whitehaven, although to two very different designs. Talyllyn was the first order the company had delivered to north Wales and the first narrow gauge locomotive they had built with plate frames. [3] It was built to the company's C Class design, although it was the first member of its class to be built to a gauge less than 2 ft 8 in (813 mm). [2]
The engine was originally delivered as a 0-4-0 ST with an open cab. Early tests on the railway showed that the short wheelbase led to unacceptable vertical oscillation, and in January 1867 Talyllyn was returned to its manufacturer and fitted with a pair of trailing wheels, converting it into an 0-4-2ST. Unusually, the trailing axle was fixed rigidly to the frame, resulting in an overall wheelbase of 8 ft (2.4 m). Most 0-4-2 locomotives have trailing wheels that can swivel independently of the frame to go around corners more easily. To accommodate the long wheelbase, the railway's gauge was increased marginally to between 2 ft 3.5 in (698 mm) and 2 ft 4 in (710 mm). [2] A cab was subsequently fitted in the railway's workshops at Pendre. [3]
The locomotive was returned to Fletcher Jennings for a second time around 1900, although the reason for this visit is not recorded. Repairs and improvements were also made at Pendre over the years, including alterations to the cab, fitting of a footplate at the front of locomotive and of a sandbox. A new set of frames supplied by W. G. Bagnall's was also fitted at Pendre, again around 1900. [2]
Talyllyn remained in service for most of the original railway's existence. By World War II it had fallen into a very poor state of repair, as it was the more popular of the two locomotives and was used more frequently. [2] It was retired in 1945 when its boiler and firebox were found to be degraded beyond further repair. At that time the locomotive was still carrying its original 1864 boiler. [3]
Following the rescue of the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, Talyllyn was inspected and found to be beyond economic repair. However, as the railway's fortunes improved, it became possible to consider a major overhaul. In 1957 the locomotive was sent away to the Gibbons Brothers' Brierley Hill engineering works at Lenches Bridge in Pensnett [4] for a complete renewal. A new boiler, saddletank and bunker were built and Talyllyn returned to service in 1958. [3]
Talyllyn, along with Dolgoch , appeared in the The Railway Series books by Rev. Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry;Talyllyn is also the basis of the character Skarloey from the books and from the Thomas & Friends TV show. In the fictional Railway Series universe, Talyllyn and Skarloey (and similarly Dolgoch and Rheneas) are twins built at the same time, with each sent to their respective railways after being constructed.
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales running for 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe underinvestment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.
A Fairlie locomotive is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended.
OO9, often also denoted as 009 or 00-9 and commonly pronounced as Double-Oh Nine, is a model railway scale and gauge combination of 4 mm scale and 9 mm gauge tracks, which models a prototype track gauge of 2 ft 3 in. It is a common choice in the United Kingdom for the modelling of narrow-gauge railways whose prototype gauges lie approximately between 2 ft and 2 ft 6 in. The 9 mm track gauge is used by N gauge model railways, a common commercial scale, which means that a selection of wheels, track, and mechanisms is readily available.
The Great Western Railway 3252 or Duke Class were 4-4-0 steam locomotives with outside frames and parallel domed boilers. They were built in five batches between 1895 and 1899 for express passenger train work in Devon and Cornwall. William Dean was their designer, possibly with the collaboration of his assistant, George Jackson Churchward. Four prototype 4-4-0s, of the Armstrong Class, had already been built in 1894.
The GWR 1400 Class is a class of steam locomotive designed by the Great Western Railway for branch line passenger work. It was originally classified as the 4800 Class when introduced in 1932, and renumbered in 1946.
Russell is a narrow gauge steam locomotive originally built in 1906 for the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR), but most famously associated with the original Welsh Highland Railway (WHR), and now based at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog.
Pendre railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 0.42 miles (0.68 km) from Tywyn Wharf, which is the primary station and western terminus of the railway. Pendre is the site of the railway's locomotive and carriage sheds, and engineering works. Passenger trains stop at Pendre by request only.
Abergynolwyn railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd, in Mid-Wales. It is 6.55 miles (10.54 km) from Tywyn Wharf. The name 'Abergynolwyn' means 'Mouth-of-the-River-with-a-Whirlpool'.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, 2-6-2+2-6-2 is an articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-6-2 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-6-2 wheel arrangement has a single pair of leading wheels in a leading truck, followed by three coupled pairs of driving wheels and a pair of trailing wheels in a trailing truck.
Dolgoch is a narrow gauge 0-4-0 well tank steam locomotive. It was built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. and is one of the oldest locomotives still in active service. It was delivered to the Talyllyn Railway in 1866 and continues to run on this railway to this day.
Moel Tryfan was a narrow gauge steam locomotive built for use on the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGRs) in 1874/5. The locomotive was an 0-6-4T single Fairlie locomotive built by the Vulcan Foundry near Manchester. It spent its entire working life on the NWNGRs and its successors the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) and the Ffestiniog Railway (FfR).
Doll is a 2 ft gauge 0-6-0T steam locomotive based at the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway in Bedfordshire.
Sir Haydn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works, Loughborough in 1878. It operated on the Corris Railway in Wales, until closure in 1948, and since 1951 has operated on the nearby Talyllyn Railway. It has carried the operating number 3 under four successive owners.
Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then restored, and remains in working order at the heritage railway. It has carried the operating number 4 under four successive owners.
Douglas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. It was built by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. Ltd. in 1918. It was originally used by the Air Service Constructional Corps (RAF) then was bought in 1949 by Abelson & Co. (Engineers) Ltd. who then sold it to the Talyllyn Railway in 1953.
Tom Rolt is a narrow gauge steam locomotive constructed by the Talyllyn Railway, using parts from an Andrew Barclay locomotive built in 1949 for Bord na Móna.
Townsend Hook is a 3 ft 2+1⁄4 in gauge Fletcher, Jennings & Co. 0-4-0T steam locomotive built in 1880 for the Dorking Greystone Lime Co. as works no. 172L. Townsend Hook is cosmetically restored and based at Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre, West Sussex.
Railway with a Heart of Gold is a 1965 short documentary film about the Talyllyn Railway in Mid-Wales, filmed by American filmmaker Kit Davidson. Filmed in 1953, it portrays the operation of the railway and experiences of the volunteers in the early years of its preservation.
