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.
Talyllyn Railway - geograph.org.uk - 866546
The remains of Bryn Eglwys quarry in 2008
Talyllyn posed on Dolgoch Viaduct around 1867, the earliest known photograph of the Talyllyn
Talyllyn at the foot of the Alltwyllt incline, the present site of Nant Gwernol station, 1890
Tywyn, formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a stone cross with the earliest known example of written Welsh, and the home of the Talyllyn Railway.
Tywyn High Street
St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn
Panorama of Tywyn from a hill to the East of the town, taken in July 2012
