Tywyn Wharf railway station

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button_lang_japanesebutton_lang_frenchTywyn Wharf railway station

Some visitors to this station are puzzled by the absence of any facility for ships or boats to tie up. The wharf here was where slate from Bryneglwys quarry was transferred from the narrow-gauge wagons of the Talyllyn Railway to the standard-gauge wagons of the Cambrian Railways. Some of the slate was loaded into ships at Aberdyfi wharf.

Today the station is better known as the western terminus of passenger services over the scenic Talyllyn Railway, the first railway in the world to be taken over by volunteers for preservation.

One of the first volunteers was the Rev Wilbert Awdry, author of the children’s stories now familiar as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. His experiences on the Talyllyn Railway inspired his stories of the Skarloey Railway. The characters Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam and Duncan are Talyllyn Railway locomotives with altered names.

Tywyn Wharf opened in 1865 with a two-room brick office and a coal sphoto_of_tywyn_wharf_in_1954torage yard. The Talyllyn Railway’s passenger service from Abergynolwyn station was extended to Wharf in the late 19th century. Facilities for passengers were very basic before the preservation society took over in 1951. Tickets where sold in the office and there were a few wooden seats outside. There was no platform, and passengers boarded the coaches on one of the sidings. The photo shows the basic facilities in 1954.

During the 1950s various small extensions were added to the 1865 building and the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum was created on the site of the coal yard. Remodelling in the 1960s included a flat-roofed eastern extension to the station building, to provide a booking and traffic-management office.

The ad hoc extensions were inefficient to operate by the 1990s. A rebuilding scheme was devised, incorporating the original 1865 structure. With external funding plus generous donations by society members, from 2002 to 2005 the eastern extension was rebuilt in traditional style and a new museum building was created. The Prince of Wales opened the new facilities on 13 July 2005.

Postcode: LL36 9EY    View Location Map

Website of the Talyllyn Railway