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

Tonight at 7pm!

As a Christmas treat for everyone, for the first time in 9 years, we have taken the Reverend Awdry's Ffarquhar Branch layout outside of the Study for an operating session - join Luke and Frank for the Premiere at 7pm GMT and enjoy the show!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Today, Luke and Frank take a look at something VERY special - the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's Ffarquhar Branch Layout!For ...

Weekly Exhibit

Something different this week, a whole exhibition! During the year, the museum has hosted a temporary exhibition on Narrow Gauge Railways in Literature. Unfortunately, shortly after the exhibition went on display, Covid-19 intervened, and for most of the year, the upper gallery of the museum was closed. Very few of our visitors have been able to see the exhibition, so we have arranged for a virtual exhibition on our website. One of our Trustees, Ian Evans, put in a considerable amount of time and effort into the display, for which we give our thanks.

https://narrowgaugerailwaymuseum.org.uk/temporary-exhibitions/2020-exhibition-narrow-gauge-railways-in-literature ... See more

Museum working party 17th Dec 2020

The Tywyn weather mojo calmed the high winds and eased away the overnight rain clouds but didn't quite get around to delivering a bright sunny start. Not to worry, the team were working inside the museum again this morning; Charles Benedetto, Neal Chapman, Andrew Allwood, Max Birchenough, John Olsen and guest star Andy Sheffield, were ready to increase our storage capacity.

Following the undoubted success of the first tube rack in the museum store Andrew and Max were presented with a pair of pre-painted battens and 14 gutter brackets by John and asked to make a second rack to attach to the wall over the store plan press. Neal and Charles got to fabricate a new shelf out of our store of recycled timber and MDF sheeting, to double the shelving capacity in the Long Term Storage (LTS) space behind cabinet C12. The first job being to unscrew the wall panel that hides the LTS from public gaze, then measure up the dimensions of the shelf itself.

Andy put his talents as a window cleaner, he had done all the Wharf Station windows only a few days previously, to excellent use cleaning down the vertical rising door glazing. This not only keeps the plastic clean but also washes away any salty encrustations from the aluminium framing, minimising salt corrosion. John helped Andrew clear the boxes that were occupying the top of the plan press before then working on dismantling the scaffold tower, as this would not be required for any further work this side of Christmas.

Sawing, drilling and filing ensued as the two teams worked on their pieces on the ground floor until coffee time was called and we repaired to the cafe with Ann and Winston McCanna for our morning break. This morning a cornucopia of chocolate shortbread, buttered bara brith, Tywyn buns and cinnamon flavoured flapjacks were passed around in lieu of the normal biscuits as we enjoyed a festive feast. Midway through the proceedings Mike Green joined us with his coffee and mince pies and David Broadbent put in a fleeting appearance to wish us all a Happy Christmas, dispensing cards and a fruit cake for our further delectation, before departing like a passing spring breeze. This mornings chat, when we didn't have something delicious in our mouths, encompassed the cost benefit analysis of HS2, cathedral acoustics and how the modern multi-sided or circular types were a sonic mess, the importance of good organ positioning and, inevitably, the COVID lockdown that Wales shall be in from December 28th. But the good news is that we don't have to go further than fifty yards over the railway bridge to our very own pop-up COVID testing centre, our Christmas is complete!

Refreshed, and rather full, we returned to the museum where the sound of hammer drilling heralded Andrew getting the new rack up onto the wall ready to be filled with the remaining loose tubes and rolled up papers from the store room shelves and some of the tubes that had been balancing precariously on the top of the shelves in the office. Further drilling emanated from the LTS as Neal and Charles fitted their freshly minted shelf into position, ready for whatever items need secure, but low access, storage. John took Henry downstairs for a session to remove the sawdust that all the industry of the past few hours had generated and then with a final clear up of the tools back to the Gunpowder Store and the last bits of the scaffold tower secured under the stairs we declared our 2020 labours complete.

By the close of play one new tube rack had been put up (and filled), one new shelf had been fabricated and fitted (yet to be filled) and quiet returned as we left museum assistant Frank working at the computer.

We wish our readers a Happy Christmas, a safe New Year, and we will hopefully see you in the museum at some point in the near future.

Pictures by John Olsen ... See more

On today's video, Frank takes a look at the truly unique Guinness Brewery Locomotives!

Weekly Exhibit

One of the museum exhibits at Abergynolwyn Station is an original Talyllyn Railway point, made up from items reclaimed from the loop which was behind the Village Incline Winding House. One of the features of the original trackwork was the mix of chairs and spikes for holding down the rails. Chairs were used at the rail joints, and usually a few extra for each rail length. ... See more

Museum working party 10th Dec 2020

The Tywyn weather mojo was sulking again this morning, allowing low cloud and drizzle to blow in off Cardigan Bay; just as well that the focus of the gangs work was inside the museum. Neal Chapman, Max Birchenough, Andrew Allwood, Allan Black, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen had follow up work to last week in mind, but first Allan volunteered to give the vertical rising door a good wash down with plenty of water to rinse away the salty encrustations that the SW winds had deposited on it again.

Neal chiselled away more rotted timber in the Neptune Road fire escape door to allow insertion of a piece of wood to help keep the penetrating NW rains out of a second leaking pane of glass. Max, Andrew and Charles removed the panel from the Long Term Storage bay behind cabinet C12 ready to receive some more items from the shelves in the storeroom that were unlikely to be wanted at short notice. This is a part of an ongoing rationalisation of our storage to make the best use of this scarce resource.

John went in search of the loco headboards that we had been due to hang along a beam way back in March, work that had abruptly halted with the national lockdown. After hunting high and low he eventually found them neatly wrapped in spongey plastic on the shelves dedicated to the COVID-19 supplies. Laying them out along a length of timber battening he had brought in it was clear that all five would not fit comfortably, but four would. Now how to secure the battening to the 'beam'? The beams in the museum come in two varieties, the glue-lam timber beams and steel I beams encased in wallboard; the latter having steel channels inside to hold the wallboard in place. This was only confirmed after the scaffold tower had been erected so that John could examine one of the beams where the top had been left open by the builders; out of sight and out of mind. While this detective work was going on Charles had moved on to painting the balcony doors with a second coat of Hollybush Green now that the drizzle had passed over and Allan began remodelling the plywood brackets for the headboards so that they fitted the headboards, which were designed for the slimmer metal brackets on the locos. Max and Andrew sorted the items from one shelf into those going to LTS and those returning to the storeroom and filled out movement tickets as necessary.

Coffee was called and the gang spread around the two end tables in the cafe in the company of Mike Green to enjoy chat and Max's chocolate biscuit bonanza – 100% chocolate encased! Such topics as the metal brackets for wagon 146 and model railway construction floated over the tables as Ann and Winston McCanna came for their coffee and distributed railway magazines, prompting further discussion of the contents thereof. The hot tip for TV comedy is 'Upstart Crow', Shakespearian mayhem with a knowing wink to history.

Refreshed, and probably in a bit of a sugar rush, we returned to the museum to continue our labours, painting, chiselling, filling and filing.

By the close of play four boxes had changed locations, two doors had been painted and second window pane sealed, and painted, a bracket remodelled and a plan formulated for hanging the first batch of head boards.

Pictures by John Olsen. ... See more

In today's video, Luke takes a look at a Padarn Railway Host Wagon.

Weekly Exhibit

One of our exhibits currently on loan elsewhere is Motor Rail locomotive works number 8826 built 1943. The design dates back to the first world war where locomotives of this type were used on trench railways close to the front line.

In 1943, the MOD ordered a number of Motor Rail locomotives for movement of stores at depots which were planned to be set up on the cessation of hostilities. Our locomotive went to an ammunition base at Arsbeck. In the late 1970s the depots in Germany transferred to road haulage and the locomotive was moved to the Cinque Ports Training Area (CPTA) Lydd on Dungeness Marsh.

In the mid 1980s the locomotives were due for disposal, and 8826 was offered to the museum. The locomotive was in full working order and still carried its original 1943 wartime Matt Sage
Green livery. The name had been painted on in Germany using stencils.

After a few years in store at a Talyllyn member’s yard, the locomotive was placed on loan at North Ings Farm Museum, where it is used for passenger train haulage and an annual young persons’ railway experience day.

The photographs show the locomotive on arrival at North Ings, and on a Railway Experience Day. ... See more

Museum working party 3rd Dec 2020

The Tywyn weather mojo had sunk into the doldrums this morning and allowed rain to pour down as the team assembled under the platform canopy. Andrew Allwood, Neal Chapman, Charles Benedetto, Allan Black and John Olsen admitted defeat when it came to the second coat of Hollybush Green on the balcony doors; the strong SW wind drove the rain directly onto them. Undaunted Allan took up the big soft brush and applied copious clean water to the vertical rising door and its surrounds to wash away the salty accumulations from the past weeks storms.

The Neptune Road side of the museum was dry enough for Neal to begin a limited restoration of the badly leaking window panes in the emergency exit door, first removing the 'temporary' plastic pane that was fitted after vandals put a brick through the glass many moons ago, then levelling up the decayed timber for an external beading to be fitted. Andrew and Charles were assigned the fitting of the tube rack into the museum storeroom, which necessitated the removal of all the loose items stacked in the wedge shaped end of the store to give them working space. John gave the yellow edging around George Henry and the Woolwich Arsenal wagon a good scrub down to remove as much of the dirt and scuffs as he could and improve their general appearance.

With cold wind driven rain making the platform inhospitable, the morning coffee, chocolate and chat took place at two tables in the almost deserted cafe. Our morning musings took in observations on men's sheds and their trials and tribulations, before ranking past and present American presidents; it will be no surprise that Donald Trump is considered to be in a league of his own. An impromptu Spitfire vs Hurricane comparison followed, each having strengths and weaknesses, but the Spitfire more advanced design leant itself to easier upgrading so that it became the primary frontline British fighter plane. To round off we took on the science of the new vaccines and their safety in the light of their 'rapid' delivery. Contrary to some of the Web misinformation no shortcuts have been taken in the safety protocols and they are as safe as any medicine can be made.

Enlightened and refreshed we returned to the museum where Allan's practice with the long handled brush stood him in good stead when he took up Henry's super extended nozzle to clean the dust off the loco and station nameplates hanging high on the walls on the mesh panels, while safely standing on terra firma. Neal applied plenty of mastic to the window surrounds to seal the plastic pane back in position and replace all the internal beading to make a watertight seal against the storms ahead. Andrew and Charles transferred about half of the storage tubes that have been precariously balanced in the shelves to the new slim line storage rack and recorded the movements to keep the records up to date. Then they put all the displaced items back into the storeroom neatly around the new rack. John turned his cleaning activities to the yellow indicator arrows on the museum floor, wiping away the dirt of ages, well the last few weeks worth at least.

By the close of play sixteen tubes had been transferred to the new tube rack, four mesh displays had been Henry'd, all the yellow edging had been washed, the vertical rising door was sparkling, and one leaking pane had been comprehensively sealed.

Photos by John Olsen. ... See more

On this week's video, Frank takes a look at the golden spike used to mark the opening of the Nant Gwernol extension!

#NGRM #TalyllynRailway

Weekly Exhibit

At 4ft 4½ ins, possibly the widest narrow gauge railway in our collection, the Belvoir Castle Tramway was built in 1815 to connect the castle with the Grantham Canal, which was used to bring supplies to the castle.

The line was built by William Jessop, using stone block sleepers and fish-bellied rails cast at his Butterley Ironworks in Derbyshire. Each 3ft rail locked into the next to provide a rigid joint.
Wagons were pulled up the hill to the castle by horses. The line was used until the first world war.

A short section of line exists at the castle together with some wagons, and one wagon, without sides or ends, is on display in the National Railway Museum in York. ... See more

There were a number of clay pits in the Purbeck area of Dorset with tramways used to transport the clay for onward distribution by barge or standard gauge railways. One of the larger customers was Wedgewood.

The Furzebrook Tramway was built by Pike Bros, and opened in 1860. It had a gauge of 2ft 8in, and steam locomotives were used for hauling from 1866. Eventually there were seven of them, all given names based on Latin numerals. One locomotive, the second to arrive and accordingly named Secundus still survives and is on display at the Swanage Railway Museum at Corfe Castle Station.

The nameplate shown is from the fifth locomotive, Quintus, an 0-4-0 saddle tank built by Manning, Wardle & Co, works number 1854 of 1914. It was scrapped in 1958 when the line closed. ... See more

Museum working party 19th Nov 2020

The Tywyn weather mojo pulled its socks up this morning and delivered a dry start for the team to assemble in Wharf Yard and collect the materials they needed for the tasks ahead. Andrew Allwood, Neal Chapman, Max Birchenough, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen divvied up the jobs with Andrew and Neal returning to the balcony doors, Max wielding the big soft brush and Charles and John getting down and dirty under George Henry.

Neal first applied wood hardener to the rotted timbers at the bottom of the eastern leaf of the balcony doors that had been given preservative treatment last week. Hopefully these two treatments will stabilise the door until replacements can be fitted. Andrew began to apply grey undercoat to the western leaf to provide a neutral base for the Hollygreen topcoat and discovered that the tops of the doors had not received any paint at all when they were fitted.

Max got busy with the big brush to clean down the big vertical rising door and the platform entrance door with copious water to wash away the salty dirt that had built up with all the recent SW gales, before using a chamois leather to lightly buff the glazing. His window washing enthusiasm was such that he also cleaned all the other museum windows that face the platform.
Charles and John cut lengths of heavy battening with the intention of attaching the LED light rope, from under George Henry, to it with cable clips so that it could be arranged to illuminate the underside and bottom cranks more efficiently. Cue measuring and sawing.

Max volunteered to prepare our morning brews, procuring milk from the cafe, and serving them up on the platform as the sun was shining down at that moment. We were joined in our socially spread out group by Ann and Winston McCanna and tucked into chocolate biscuits, coffee and chat as the sun gave way to rain showers from the NW. Our musings of the morning rambled around the Great Plague of London vs the COVID 19 pandemic; the science has now debunked the 'spread by rats and their fleas' theory. In fact it is far more likely that human fleas and bodylice were the main vectors as communal sleeping arrangements were common amongst the poor where the plague first got a hold. Plague was bacterial, COVID is viral, but close proximity of people, in social settings, is still the primary cause of this new 'plague' spreading. From this topic we got onto cremated ashes of departed pets and mishaps with their urns. We almost entirely ignored Donald Trumps loss of the Presidential election and Dominic Cummings fall from favour in No. 10.

Refreshed we returned to painting, cleaning and lying down on the floor; this was necessary to slide the LED light rope under George Henry and arrange the battens . The lights showing up through the firebars prompted a minor archeological exploration of George Henry's boiler by unscrewing the 'smokebox ' door clamp and carefully lifting the lid. There was a fair amount of rust and dust but the boiler and tubes looked remarkably intact and the rest of the working party and museum assistant Luke came to peer into the boiler. When was the last time the top was open we wonder.

By the close of play three sets of glazing had been washed clean, two doors had been treated and undercoated, one LED lightrope had been rearranged and George Henry's internal workings exposed.

Pictures by John Olsen. ... See more

On today's video, Frank takes a look at the nameplates once fitted to Class 86 No.86258 "Talyllyn"