This is a list of past and present rolling stock used on the Talyllyn Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Talyllyn), a 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) narrow gaugepreservedrailway line running for 7.25 miles (11.67 km)[1] from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 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.[2][3] Despite severe under-investment,[4] the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.[5][6]
When first opened, the railway owned two steam locomotives, Talyllyn and Dolgoch, and five carriages, including one brake van. There were no additions to the rolling stock until the line was taken over in 1951.[note 1] Two ex-Corris Railway locomotives were then purchased from British Railways, and subsequent additions have brought the total up to six steam locomotives, four diesels and twenty-three carriages. As of 2023[update], Boston Lodge Works is constructing three bogie carriages, one composite with disabled access and two third class, numbered No. 24 to 26. The first of these, No. 24, was delivered to the railway in August 2023.
Locomotives
The railway has six steam locomotives for passenger trains and four diesel locomotives that usually haul only works trains.[note 2] It is unusual for all steam locomotives to be operable at one time, as there is usually at least one locomotive undergoing an overhaul.[9] In the early days of preservation Rev. W Awdry, the author of the Railway Series books, visited the railway on a family holiday and became involved as a volunteer soon afterwards.[10] He, and later his son Christopher, wrote the Talyllyn Railway into the books as the Skarloey Railway, and most locomotives on the Talyllyn have a fictional counterpart in that series.[11] These are listed in the right hand column.
Steam locomotives
Diesel locomotives
Self-propelled engineering vehicles
Former locomotives and engineering vehicles
Visiting locomotives
As of 2024[update] there have only been four visiting locomotives capable of running on the Talyllyn Railway's unusual gauge. These are Motor Rail Simplex diesel No. 5 Alan Meaden, Winson Engineering No. 7 a Tattoo class[49] similar to the Talyllyn's No. 4, battery-electric Clayton shunter No. 9 Aberllefenni[50] and Corris Railway No. 10, a new build Falcon similar to the Talyllyn's No. 3.[51] All these locomotives are from the Corris Railway.
In July 2016, another gala was held, with three visiting locos, all built by Fletcher, Jennings and Co. Together with Talyllyn and Dolgoch, this was an assembly of all five surviving locos in the UK built by this firm.[52] As with the previous gala, temporary track was laid due to the differing gauges.[53] One of the locomotives, Captain Baxter, ran on a short section of standard gauge track. The other two Fletcher Jennings locomotives, William Finlay and Townsend Hook, were static exhibits only and are therefore not listed below. William Finlay remained at Tywyn after the event and is now on display at the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.
In September 2021, to mark the centenary of No. 4, Corris Railway No. 7 made another visit to the Talyllyn, along with the other preserved Kerr Stuart Tattoo class, Stanhope, and Sirdar class Diana. Stanhope and Diana ran on temporary 2 ft (610 mm) track laid at Wharf station, and No. 7 pulled several trains along the full length of the line.[54]
Carriages
The Talyllyn railway has a total of 23 carriages, with two more under construction As of 2024[update]. The first five are the original carriages built for the railway, though they were not provided with numbers until preservation in 1951. After that time, the remaining carriages were built by the railway or acquired from elsewhere.[59] With the exception of ex-Corris carriage No. 17, all the bogie coaches were built for the railway after preservation; the smaller four wheeled coaches are generally older.
All the stock is third class only, unless otherwise stated. Where two figures are given for the number of seats, the larger figure is the maximum number of passengers than can be carried in a heavily loaded train.
Four wheeled carriages
Bogie carriages
Former carriages
Goods wagons
The Talyllyn Railway was primarily constructed for conveying slate. Prior to the beginning of the 20th century, the railway owned over 115 wagons,[94] mainly slate wagons, but also a number of other general and special purpose goods wagons. Some of these survived into the preservation era, and since then a large number of additional wagons have been purchased and built. The following table lists the main types of wagon currently in use:
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum rolling stock
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow gauge railways situated on the Tywyn Wharf station. It owns several wagons formerly in use on the railway (listed above), as well as rolling stock and other artefacts from other narrow gauge railways around the world. The wagons are still used occasionally on the Talyllyn.
Liveries
The standard livery for locomotives on the Talyllyn is deep bronze green,[104] lined in black and yellow, although since the 1980s there has been a policy of varying some of the liveries for a period of time. Previously, No. 1 and No. 2 carried lined black and TR Crimson red liveries respectively. No. 2 Dolgoch had for a time carried Atlas green livery in preservation. No. 3 and No. 4 have carried Corris Railway Indian Red during certain times in Preservation. No. 4 had also carried Great Western Railway Middle Chrome Green, as well unlined British Railways black.
The liveries carried by the steam locomotives as of 2023 are as follows:-
No. 2: Standard Talyllyn green with standard lining. Burnished motion and black background to builders/name/number plates.[15]
No. 3: Standard Talyllyn green with standard lining. Burnished motion and black background to builders/name/number plates.[17]
No. 4: Kerr, Stuart lined grey.[106]
No. 6: RAF blue.[107]
No. 7: Standard Talyllyn green with standard lining. Burnished motion and black background to builders/name/number plates.[25]
The vintage rolling stock and the carriages built for the line after preservation are cherry red, lined with deep bronze green. Additionally, the railway has preserved rolling stock from other railways. These retain their original liveries.
The Corris coach (Talyllyn No. 17) and brake van (Talyllyn No. 6) are brown lined with gold leaf and the two Glyn Valley Tramway coaches (Talyllyn Nos. 14 and 15) are green lined with white.[104]
Notes
^There is evidence that during the 1910s, Henry Haydn Jones, the owner of the railway at the time, requested estimates for a new locomotive for the railway.[7] However, no purchase was made.
^The railway also intends to build a new battery-electric locomotive using parts from two locomotives it owns.[8] As this is not yet operational, it is not included in this list.
^This refers to the year the locomotive was built by the Talyllyn. The Bord na Móna locomotive used for some of the constituent parts was built in 1949.
^The third loco, formerly T 0009 00 NZ 35 (BD 3781), will not operate on the railway, but is being used for spares.
^Names in inverted commas refer to unofficial nick-names, not formally applied.
^One source uses the spelling "Charley's Ant".[29]
^Some sources state that Prince was built in 1863.[58]
^The Corris Railway used the alternative spelling of waggon for its rolling stock, and this has been applied here.[103]
References
^"About the Talyllyn Railway". Talyllyn Railway. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^Mitchell & Eyres 2005, p. 7
^Boyd 1988, p. 44
^Rolt 1965, p. 50
^Thomas 2002, p. 32
^Ransom 1996, p. 139
^Newing, Don (December 2010). "The Talyllyn Locomotive No. 3 That Never Was". Talyllyn News (228): 31. ISSN 0300-3272.
^ a b c"Talyllyn Railway | Locomotives". Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^Higginson, Karen (29 August 2007). "Talyllyn website – 100% availability". Talyllyn Railway Company. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^"Report of the Council for 2013". Talyllyn Railway. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
^Bate 2001, pp. 230–231
^"Announcing the Corris Weekend & CR 7 Visit". Talyllyn Railway. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
^"150th anniversary of Dolgoch finale". Cambrian News. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
^"Five engines, three gauges, one railway". Steam Railway. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
^ a bThomas, Cliff (October 2021). "Edward Thomas's 100th birthday celebrations". The Railway Magazine: 74.
^Bate 2001, p. 205
^"Corris No 7 Visit – 7th and 8th October 2011". Talyllyn Railway. 8 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
^Quine, Dan (2013). The George England locomotives of the Ffestiniog Railway. London: Flexiscale.
^"Ffestiniog locomotives". Ffestiniog Railway Society. 1 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
^ a b c d"Talyllyn Railway Carriage Summary". Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^"Carriage 1 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 24 August 2003. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^ a bBoyd 1988, p. 282
^ a bLittle, p. 8
^"Carriage 2 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^ a bLittle, p. 9
^"Carriage 3 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 24 August 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Boyd 1988, p. 46
^"Carriage 4 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Potter 1990, p. 204
^"Carriage 5 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Dan Quine (March 2015). "The Talyllyn Railway in the late Haydn Jones era". Talyllyn News.
^"Carriage 6 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 7 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Bate 2001, p. 217
^"Carriage 8 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 24 August 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Bate, Mitchell & Adams 2003, p. 47
^"Carriage 11 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^ a bBate, Mitchell & Adams 2003, p. 51
^"Carriage 13 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 14 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 15 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 9 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 24 August 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 10 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 16 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 17 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 18 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 19 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 20 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 21 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 22 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^"Carriage 23 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^ a b"Carriages & Wagons". Talyllyn Railway. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
^"Carriage 12 on Vintage Carriages Trust database". Vintage Carriages Trust. 28 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
^Smith, Chris (20 November 2019). "Engineering Report". Talyllyn News. 264 (December 2019): 17.
^Boyd 1970, p. 113
^ a b c dBoyd 1970, pp. 115–116
^Potter 1990, p. 209
^"RNAD Van arrives at Wharf". Talyllyn Railway. 18 December 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^Bate 2001, p. 160
^"Testing the New Boflat Crane". Talyllyn Railway. 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
^Bate 2001, p. 149
^"2013 – January 26/27 Work at Pendre". Talyllyn Railway. 27 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
^ a b"Enthusiast's Introduction". Talyllyn Railway. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
^"Talyllyn Railway steam locomotive Talyllyn to return in new livery after overhaul". RailAdvent. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^"No.6 'Douglas' gets a Centenary Birthday makeover". Talyllyn Railway. 23 February 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
Bibliography
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Bate, John; Mitchell, David; Adams, Nigel (2003). Narrow Gauge Railways in Profile No. 1: Talyllyn Railway Locomotives & Rolling Stock. Cheona Publications. ISBN 1-900298-21-X.
Boyd, James I.C. (1970). Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid Wales (2nd ed.). Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-024-X.
Boyd, James I.C. (1988). The Tal-y-llyn Railway. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-906867-46-0.
Cox, David (1983). Welsh Narrow Gauge in the 1980s. Battenhall Books. ISBN 0-9508577-0-X.
Fuller, Martin (2014). Talyllyn & Corris Steam Locomotives Volume 1: Pre-preservation and Manufacturers. Sara Eade. ISBN 978-0-9565652-5-9.
Hatherhill, Ann and Gordon (2004). Narrow Gauge & Industrial Album. RCL Publications. ISBN 0-9538763-5-7.
Holmes, Alan (2009). Talyllyn Revived. Talyllyn Railway. ISBN 978-0-900317-07-1.
Little, Lawson. Carriages and Wagons of the Talyllyn Railway. Narrow Gauge Railway Society. ISBN 978-0-9554326-4-4.
Mitchell, David J.; Eyres, Terry (2005). The Talyllyn Railway. Past and Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85895-125-9.
Morland, R. J. (2005). The Talyllyn Railway in Colour. R. J. Morland. ISBN 0-9549893-0-9.
Potter, David (1990). The Talyllyn Railway. David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-50-X.
Ransom, P.J.G (1996). Narrow Gauge Steam: Its origins and world-wide development. Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-86093-533-7.
Sibley, Brian (1995). The Thomas the Take Engine Man. Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-96909-5.
Rolt, L.T.C., ed. (1965). Talyllyn Century. David & Charles.
Thomas, Cliff (2002). The Narrow Gauge in Britain and Ireland. Atlantic Publishing. ISBN 1-902827-05-8.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steam locomotives of the Talyllyn Railway or Diesel locomotives of the Talyllyn Railway or Carriages of the Talyllyn Railway or Wagons of the Talyllyn Railway.