Weekly Exhibit

This day in 1963 was a special one for the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway.

After closure in 1956, and the formation of the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Preservation Company Limited, passenger services commenced on 6th April 1963 between Llanfair Caereinion and Castle Caereinion, 60 years after the original opening. The re-opening day was marked by the issue of special tickets.

Also in our collection is a medallion struck to mark the original opening of the line on 4th April 1903. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Nantlle Railway was built to connect the quarries in the Nantlle Valley with the shipping quays at Caernarfon. Originally 9 miles long, it had a gauge of 3ft 6in. Wagons were owned by the individual quarries, and were horse drawn.

The wagon in our collection was built by the Glaslyn Foundry at Porthmadog. It came to the museum from the Dorothea Slate Quarry. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Talyllyn Railway has been celebrating the arrival of Corris Railway locomotives 3 and 4 in March 1951. The Corris Railway brake van was purchased by Eric Cope, who gifted it to the Talyllyn Railway that year, and paid for a plaque to be fitted to the van. The van carried the brass plaque until the body was deemed life expired by 1960, and was placed at Quarry Siding. The plaque was removed and given to the museum. ... See more

We have a new video on our YouTube Channel looking at the various locomotives in our collection!

WWW.NGRM.ORG.UK

https://youtu.be/DH4hn46vKME

The first in a series of 5 videos, going over some of the more prominent items in our collection!Please consider a donation.www.NGRM.org.ukBook a Virtual Vis...

We are very sorry to report that Alan Holmes passed away on Thursday morning. His wife Helen contacted us with the sad news yesterday afternoon.

Alan was involved in the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum for many years, serving as a trustee and secretary to the Trust. He was the author of “Slates from Abergynolwyn: The story of Bryneglwys Slate Quarry” and “Talyllyn Revived”. He joined the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society in December 1951. As well as all the excellent work he did for the Museum, he was also a keen supporter of Outdoor Gang and attended many Outdoor Weeks. Even when he retired from the physical work he remained a regular attender of the evening entertainment sessions.

In his professional life he worked in the aero industry at Filton, Bristol, and we believe he worked on the development of Concorde there.

Please raise your glasses to a dedicated supporter of both the Museum and the Talyllyn Railway, “To Alan”. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Croesor Tramway was opened in 1864 from Portmadoc to the head of Cwm Croesor. Eight miles long and 1ft 11½in gauge, the line was built by Hugh Beaver Roberts, proprietor of the Croesor Quarry. Unlike earlier tramways, the Croesor used chaired T-section rails, mounted on wooden sleepers. Slate traffic from the quarries continued until around 1944.

A few miles of the tramway route from Portmadoc to Croesor Junction was used for the Welsh Highland Railway from 1923. The photograph shows a selection of track components from the Tramway. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

Continuing the St David’s day theme, the Welsh costume in our collection was featured in a presentation organised by Powys Libraries "Celebrating Wales and Saint David’s Day.”

The costume was owned by Hannah Evans, who for many years wore it when greeting passengers on the Talyllyn Railway. She is photographed at Abergynolwyn, and the picture was used as a postcard.

Other railways also promoted Welsh costume, for example, the Festiniog Railway during the interwar years when the railway was looking to boost tourism. Bessie Jones was often photographed wearing Welsh costume in her role as station mistress at Tan-y-Bwlch. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

With St David’s Day celebrations yesterday, this week’s exhibit includes the Welsh Dragon. The Talyllyn Railway celebrated Coronation Day 2nd June 1953 with trains carrying a special headboard.

The photograph taken that day by Alan Chorlton shows locomotive no.4 decorated for the occasion, standing at Wharf Station with the headboard. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

Amongst our book collection is the “Gossiping Guide to Wales” dated 1896. Although the covers are showing their age, the remainder is in very good condition. The Talyllyn and Corris Railways are mentioned, and there is an advert for the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway from Dinas Junction to South Snowdon (now Rhyd Ddu). The advert extols the virtues of the ascent to the summit of Snowdon, and the possibility of travelling on the Snowdon Mountain Tramroad, due to open that year. It did, on April 6 1896, only to suffer an accident on opening day, resulting in it being closed for the rest of the year. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Revd Awdry built a number of models, some for use on his model railways. The example shown this week was for static display, and stood on the mantelpiece in his study. It is Stephenson’s Rocket and tender which he made by modifying an Airfix kit.

Weekly Exhibit

Another centenary being commemorated this year is that of Corris / Talyllyn locomotive No.4. Built by Kerr, Stuart & Co. Ltd in 1921, works number 4047. Delivered to the Corris Railway, it was used until closure of the line in 1948. Fortunately, it escaped being scrapped, and was purchased by the Talyllyn Railway in 1951.

The picture shows the original works plate. Unusually during the course of its life, it has been modified. The plate originally read '1921 no.4047' but this was erased, a cast iron figure 4 added, and '1921 No.4047' stamped on the rim. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

One of the railways least represented in our collection is the Jersey Railway. We have a ticket issued by the Jersey Railways and Tramways Company Limited for a single journey from St. Helier’s to Don Bridge.

There were two railways in Jersey, the narrow gauge Jersey Railway and the standard gauge Jersey Eastern Railway. The Jersey Railway, which ran to the west of the island, opened as a standard gauge line and was converted to 3ft 6in narrow gauge in 1884, and extended at the same time. It closed in 1936, following a rapid decline with the arrival of motor buses. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

100 years ago today, 26th January 1921, the Cambrian Railways suffered one of their most tragic accidents. A stopping passenger train departed Abermule Station and entered the single line section to Newtown without the correct authority. A head-on collision occurred with an express train travelling from Newtown.

The line involved used the Tyer’s Tablet System, where tablet machines at each end of the section of single line are electrically interlocked, so that only one tablet can be out of the machines at a time. This guarantees that only one train which carries the tablet is on the section of line. Although the mechanical system is very reliable, it cannot prevent human error.

The tablet is carried on the locomotive in a leather pouch, and those responsible must open the pouch to check that the correct tablet is held for the section of line involved. Owing to errors by several staff, the local train departed Abermule with the token for the previous section from Montgomery to Abermule. The photos show a Tyer’s tablet machine from our collection together with the tablets. These are similar to those used at Abermule.

To mark the centenary of the accident, a temporary exhibition will be on display in the museum this year. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

We have a number of cast iron axlebox covers in the collection. These were bolted to the axlebox, and allowed access to the axle bearings. The two shown this week are from the Isle of Man Railway. The first has the railway initials cast on it, and the second the Isle of Man emblem. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Corris Railway, in common with most public railways, supplied uniforms to those staff who interacted with their passengers. Our collection has two uniform buttons, one large and one small. The button design includes the Prince of Wales Feathers, again a common feature amongst Welsh railways. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

The Dinorwic Quarry foundry cast many parts for its railways, including the locomotive nameplates. An example in our collection is the one for AMALTHÆA, one of the three Hunslet Engine Co. 4ft gauge locomotives working the Padarn Railway. The locomotive was built in 1886, and scrapped in 1961 when the Padarn Railway closed.

Unlike the other locomotive nameplates, this one had particularly ornate letters and the photos show the original wooden casting pattern, and the finished brass nameplate. ... See more

Weekly Exhibit

To mark the end of the year, a board to indicate the end of a train. This week’s exhibit is a Last Vehicle board from the Festiniog Railway. These boards were displayed on the rear vehicle of a train, particularly those without continuous brakes, to indicate that the train was complete, and no vehicles had been left behind. The example has a chain to allow it to be hooked onto a wagon. ... See more