Tywyn Wharf | |
---|---|
Station on heritage railway | |
General information | |
Location | Tywyn, Gwynedd Wales |
Coordinates | 52°35′01″N4°05′20″W / 52.583647°N 4.088783°W |
Grid reference | SH586004 |
Owned by | Talyllyn Railway |
Managed by | Talyllyn Railway |
Platforms | 1 |
Key dates | |
1866 [1] | Opened for goods as Kings |
c.1911 | Opened for passengers as Towyn Wharf [1] |
1975 | Renamed Tywyn Wharf |
Tywyn Wharf railway station is the western terminus and principal station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. [1]
Originally called King's station after a local landowner, [2] it was not a passenger station at first, but a place for transhipment of slates from the narrow gauge to the adjoining Cambrian Railway. [1] Passenger trains started at the next station, Pendre. [1] The original TR plans included a spur into the standard gauge station called 'Railway No 2', but in the end it wasn't necessary, traffic wasn't sufficient and the powers to build it lapsed.
The earliest recorded passenger train from Wharf was in 1877, though there is circumstantial evidence of them even earlier than that. [2] Around 1910, the station was renamed Towyn Wharf, although the name of "King's station" continued to be used for formal occasions until at least 1915. [2] The station had no run-round loop at the time; [1] shunting was carried out by propelling trains up the gradient out of the station and allowing them to run in under gravity. [3] A siding was provided in the cutting just to the east of the station, to aid this gravity working. [3] Passenger trains were propelled to the loop at Pendre, where they were run-around. [1] It was only after the line had been preserved in 1951 that a loop was finally provided, in the winter of 1951–1952. [1]
As with all stations on the railway, there is only one platform, on the north side of the line, and the coaches have doors on that side only. [1] This is due to tight clearances under the bridges. [1] There are also sidings, a water tower and coaling stage. Llechfan, the hostel provided for volunteers on the railway, is a former private house on the opposite side of the line.
As the line leaves the station it passes under a road bridge that carries the A493 Machynlleth to Dolgellau road. This bridge was rebuilt in 1955 by Merioneth County Council, having become unsafe due to the heavier traffic passing over it. The council had argued that the Talyllyn, as builders and therefore owners of the bridge, should pay for repairs. However, the secretary of the society replied that the contribution towards repair would be "limited to the cost of putting the decking into a safe condition to carry the loads for which it was originally designed. If the council wishes the bridge to carry heavier loads than those envisaged in 1865 then it would have to be responsible for the additional strengthening required." [4]
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum was first built here in 1955 in a disused gunpowder store, housing some relics and locomotives which had been donated to the Talyllyn but for various reasons were not suitable for use. [3] This was later moved into a separate building. [3] Since then, the station building and museum have both been extended culminating in the opening in 2005 of a brand new museum, shop and café by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, following demolition of the previous museum building. [5]
Tywyn Wharf served as the basis for Crovan's Gate Wharf in The Railway Series by Rev. Wilbert Awdry.
Preceding station | Heritage railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Terminus | Talyllyn Railway | Pendre | ||
National Rail | ||||
Change for Tywyn railway station on the Cambrian Line |
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.
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.
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the Tywyn Wharf station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales.
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.
Tywyn railway station serves the town of Tywyn in Gwynedd, Wales. The station is on the Cambrian Coast Line, with passenger services to Barmouth, Harlech, Porthmadog, Pwllheli, Aberdovey, Machynlleth and Shrewsbury.
Bryn Eglwys quarry was a slate quarry and mine near Abergynolwyn, in Merionethshire, Wales. More than 300 men worked at the site, making it the principal employer in the area. Two veins of slate, known as the Broad Vein and the Narrow Vein, were worked. The geology continues eastwards towards Corris and Dinas Mawddwy, and westwards towards Tywyn. It was one of many quarries that worked these veins.
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.
Rhydyronen railway station is a request stop on the Talyllyn Railway, near Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It was built in 1867 to serve local farms, and the village of Bryn-crug.
Brynglas railway station is a request stop on the Talyllyn Railway, serving the hamlet of Pandy near Bryn-crug, in Gwynedd, Mid-Wales. It is 3.17 miles (5.10 km) from Tywyn Wharf. A station building and platform are provided on the north side of the track, as the railway's carriages have been modified to have doors only on this side for safety reasons. The station building is a Grade II listed structure.
Dolgoch railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway between Tywyn and Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in north-Wales. It is 4 miles 72 chains from Tywyn Wharf. Unlike most places on the line, the station was built for tourist traffic, for visitors to the local Dolgoch Falls.
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'.
Nant Gwernol railway station is the eastern terminus of the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 7 miles, 28 chains (11.83 km) from Tywyn Wharf. Nant Gwernol station was opened in 1976; before 1976 this upper part of the line had only been used for goods services.
Talyllyn 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 the railway.
The Forest of Dean Railway was a railway company operating in Gloucestershire, England. It was formed in 1826 when the moribund Bullo Pill Railway and a connected private railway failed, and they were purchased by the new company. At this stage it was a horse-drawn plateway, charging a toll for private hauliers to use it with horse traction. The traffic was chiefly minerals from the Forest of Dean, in the Whimsey and Churchway areas, near modern-day Cinderford, for onward conveyance from Bullo Pill at first, and later by the Great Western Railway.
Wootton Bassett Junction railway station, formerly Wootton Bassett railway station, was a junction station in Wootton Bassett where the Great Western and South Wales Main Lines diverge. Opened in 1841, it closed in 1965.
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.
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.
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.