2015 August 1865 – 2015 Gala

Highlights from the 1865-2015 Gala Weekend over 7/8/9 August


The Friday Family Activity Day was set up around ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which was originally published in 1865 and so is the same age as the railway. The sight of the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit driving and firing Duncan respectively proving to be one of the highlights. Some great imagination was used in the setting up of the activities, and was very much appreciated by those attending. The evening Sunset Special also proved popular, with the train making it to Brynglas on its return in time for passengers to watch the sunset.

Saturday’s Engineering Day was also a success, despite getting off to a bad start courtesy of a couple of vandals who put a brick through one of the museum windows and also damaged the cars of two volunteers. Nevertheless the special shuttle trains between Wharf and Pendre stations were well-used throughout the day, with people taking tours of the works and seeing something of what goes on behind the scenes to keep the trains running.

At Wharf there were demonstrations of track-laying, which produced a lot of interest. Two engineering trains also run. They were a 1950s steam-hauled train, and a 2015 train, hauled by No.11 which had just returned to service.

One of the big aims of this year was for people to have fun, and nothing demonstrated this concept more than The Breezy Special, which ran early on the Saturday evening. This was formed of all our open carriages along with van 5, and departed, well-filled with people, for a ride up the line on a lovely summer’s evening.

Saturday evening also saw the beginning of our 1920s themed events, with a dance at Neuadd Pendre with the Footloose Dance Orchestra. This proved highly popular with the venue well filled, extra food even had to be brought in.

On the Sunday the orchestra were on the platform at Wharf to provide some entertainment for the assembled passengers. Many people came in period costume to add to the atmosphere, and also ride the special trains. We ran two of these on the Sunday. The first was a Farmers’ Special mixed train, which demonstrated some of the function of the railway in delivering and collecting goods up and down the line as it did in the 1920s. The second was the 1920s Train, again this was a mixed train with an impressive array of wagons, which started from the coal road to add to the 1920s feel. Both trains proved very popular, and the whole day demonstrated something that could be repeated in future.

At Tywyn Wharf we also had the mini-beer festival and ‘Driver for a Tenner’, all of which proved popular. Another guest for the weekend was Christopher Vine, of the Peter’s Railway books, who again added to the family feel of the weekend.

Many thanks to everyone who came along and joined in the fun.

Our next big event is the Heart of Gold weekend and all-night steam over August Bank Holiday Weekend 29 – 31 August.

Young Members Day is on Saturday 29th August - our younger volunteers will be taking over the railway so please come and say hello to them.

The Abergyolwyn Show is also taking place so loads to do up the line. Hope to see you there!

Article - TR Press Team

Photos thanks to Max Birchenough, Barbara Fuller and Darren Turner