Press Release - 'Townsend Hook’ Makes It Five Out Of Five

We are excited to announce that ‘Townsend Hook’ will be coming to the Talyllyn Railway’s ‘Grand Finale Gala’ on 1,2 and 3 July 2016.


This means that all five of the surviving Fletcher, Jennings locomotives based in the UK will be present for the event, making it a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them all together for the first time.

‘Townsend Hook’, which is based at the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre in West Sussex, will be on static display at Tywyn Wharf station. It will be joining its sister locomotive ‘William Finlay’, which has recently been purchased by the Narrow Gauge Museum Trust based at Tywyn Wharf station. Both were originally supplied to the Dorking Greystone Lime Co. in 1880, and were built to the unusual gauge of 3 ft 2¼ in.

A third Fletcher, Jennings locomotive, the standard gauge ‘Captain Baxter’, will be in steam at Tywyn Wharf on a specially laid section of track. It is normally based on the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex and was also built for Dorking Greystone in 1877. This will be the first time a standard gauge locomotive will be in steam on Talyllyn property, and it believed that this will also be the first time all three of the Dorking locomotives will be seen together since the quarry closed in 1960.

Also present will be the Talyllyn’s own Fletcher, Jennings locomotives, ‘Talyllyn’ built in 1864, and ‘Dolgoch’ dating from 1866. All will be participating in the ‘Grand Finale’ event, which celebrates ‘Dolgoch’s’ 150th Anniversary, and will also bring the railway 150th birthday celebrations to a close.

The firm of Fletcher, Jennings was established at the Lowca Engineering Works in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in 1857. It produced nearly 200 locomotives before it became the Lowca Engineering Company Ltd in 1884. Now only nine locomotives made at the Lowca works survive in the world, five in the UK, one in Sweden and three in Mauritius. Of these only three are currently able to be steamed, with only ‘Talyllyn’ and ‘Dolgoch’ in regular everyday use.

Speaking about ‘The Grand Finale’ event a spokesperson for the Talyllyn Railway stated:

‘Events are often described as ‘once in a lifetime’, but this can truly said to be one. It is the first time all the surviving Fletcher, Jennings locomotives in the UK have been brought together; the first time all of the steamable Fletcher, Jennings locomotives in the world have been in action together; the first time that a standard gauge locomotive will have been in operation at Tywyn Wharf station, and the first time all the Dorking Greystone locomotives have been seen together since the quarry closed. This truly will make it a unique event and will indeed be a ‘Grand Finale’ to our 150th Anniversary celebrations. We are grateful to those at the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre and also the Bluebell Railway for making this possible.’


Photo: Mike Bone, Amberley Rail Group

For further information about this press release please e-mail: pressoffice [at] talyllyn [dot] co [dot] uk or phone 01654 710472.