‘Anything Goes’ for the day on Talyllyn Railway

Talyllyn Railway will be holding a special ‘Anything Goes’ event on Saturday, June 16 June to celebrate the return to service of locomotive No.3 ‘Sir Haydn’ and the naming of a new diesel locomotive.

‘Sir Haydn’ has been overhauled at the Vale of Rheidol Railway’s workshops in Aberystwyth. The event will also mark the last weekend of working for locomotive No.1 ‘Talyllyn’ before its 10-year overhaul.

Chairman of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy, will also be at Tywyn Wharf Station at around 9.30am to officially name the railway’s Baguley diesel No.11 ‘Trecwn’.

No.11 has recently emerged from the works fully repainted and fitted with air brakes so that it can operate passenger trains in an emergency. It and its sister locomotive, No.12 ‘St Cadfan’, will also be double heading a special passenger train on the day.

No.11 was built in 1983 as part of a class of seven diesels used on the 2 ft 6 in gauge railway at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Trecwn, Pembrokeshire. When the depot closed it was purchased for the Talyllyn along with No.12 and was regauged for our 2 ft 3 in gauge.

Double heading will be the theme for the day for all passenger trains. Original Talyllyn locomotives Nos 1 ‘Talyllyn’ and No.2 ‘Dolgoch’ will be in charge of the railway’s vintage carriage set.

Ex-Corris Railway No.3 ‘Sir Haydn’ will be partnered by its sister, ex-Corris loco No.4 ‘Edward Thomas’, for two return trips up and down the line, while No.6 ‘Douglas’, in its RAF centenary livery, will be matched with locomotive No.7 ‘Tom Rolt’.

Diesel locomotives No.5 ‘Midlander’ and No.9 ‘Alf’ will be in action with their own engineering workings.

As a finale for the day, there will be a gathering of every self-powered vehicles on the railway at Tywyn Wharf, before a final cavalcade of all six steam locomotives between Tywyn Wharf and Tywyn Pendre stations.

The railway’s general manager, Stuart Williams, said: ‘With the extension of locomotive No.1’s boiler certificate and the potential return of locomotive No.3, it was realised we had the opportunity to do something special with all six locomotives in steam.

“Therefore, we came up with the idea of running anything and everything we have during one day. We hope it will prove a lot of fun.”

The day will complete a busy fortnight for the railway with the event celebrating locomotive No.6’s centenary over the first weekend in June, followed by the locomotive’s visit to the RAF Cosford Air Show on Sunday, June 10.