Red Wheel plaque honours pioneer status of first-ever volunteer-run line

THE Talyllyn Railway has been awarded a prestigious Red Wheel plaque from the National Transport Trust.

The unveiling ceremony at Tywyn Wharf station was attended by representatives of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, and representatives of Gwynedd Council, Tywyn Town Council, the Welsh Senedd and the National Transport Trust.

The Red Wheel Scheme was created to recognise and commemorate the most significant sites of historical importance to UK transport heritage.

Tom Rolt, one of the pioneers of cruising on Britain’s inland waterways, was also an enthusiast of vintage cars and heritage railways. In the summer of 1950, he wrote a letter to The Birmingham Post newspaper suggesting that a rescue of the Talyllyn be undertaken, and he received a sufficiently positive enough response for a meeting of interested enthusiasts to take place on October 11, 1950, in a city hotel.

The newly-formed TRPS took control of the line on February 8, 1951, and the first volunteer trains ran on May 14 that year.

LUKE RYAN The unveiling of the Red Wheel Plaque at Wharf station. Pictured from left to right are: David Mitchell, rresident of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society; Stuart Wilkinson, chairman of the National Transport Trust; Coun Elwyn Jones, chairman of Gwynedd Council; Coun Eileen Jones, Mayor of Tywyn and chairman of Tywyn Town Council; AM Mabon ap Gwynfor, the local Member of the Welsh Senedd; TR general manager Stuart Williams, and David Ventry, chairman of the board of the Talyllyn Railway Company.