Ladies first on Talyllyn anniversary special
THE Talyllyn Railway has run a special train to celebrate the contribution made by its women volunteers since it became the world’s first preserved line in 1951.
On Saturday, July 30, the ‘Talyllyn Women’ special, headed by Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST No. 4 Edward Thomas, travelled up the valley for cakes and celebrations at Abergynolwyn.
The crew comprised driver Rachel Palfreyman and fireman Christine Homer, who became the first all-woman Talyllyn locomotive crew in 1995. The train was guarded by Louisa Warren, who started volunteering in 1975 and qualified as a guard in 1985.
Since the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society started the railway preservation movement in 1951, women have played an active role. During the early days, Sonia, wife of founder Tom Rolt, helped run the Tywyn Wharf office, and Barbara, wife of locomotive engineer David Curwen, worked as a guard.
Many other members’ wives and girlfriends helped by serving refreshments, carrying out track maintenance, painting, and cleaning.
More than 1300 years!
Now it is not unusual for TR trains to be crewed by women at either end or sometimes both. They also work as controllers, blockmen, and station assistants along the way. Women also volunteer in most of the other non-operational areas of the railway, too.
Earlier this year, long-standing volunteers Barbara Fuller and Sarah Thomas realised that they had both reached 50 years volunteering in various capacities, and they wondered then how many years other women had contributed between them. They decided that a special train would be the most appropriate way to celebrate the ladies’ efforts and achievements!
Barbara and Sarah asked the women volunteers to let them know how many years they had worked on the railway. The target to reach more than 1000 volunteering years represented by the guests on the train; this was comfortably exceeded, and when added to those years submitted by women who could not attend, amounted to 1300!
Long-service awards
All who were present on the celebratory occasion received a specially designed enamel‘Talyllyn Women’badge. As part of the event, the Mayor of Tywyn, Coun Eileen Jones, presented some of the volunteers with their long-service awards.
A TR statement said: “The pioneering women of the railway’s early days created a legacy of enablement to all those who followed them, inspiring confidence in their abilities and giving them the skills to utilise in their future careers, as well as their work on the railway.
“This event highlighted these achievements by ensuring all women feel valued for their volunteering work on the Talyllyn Railway and once again, the Talyllyn has led the way!”