Pictures from Wales

Nant Gwernol, the head of the Tallyllyn steam railway (2 ft. 3 in.)

Locomotive Tallyllyn at Abergynolwyn, the main station at the end of the line. This locomotive was built in 1865, but has been refurbished at various times since. In 1950 it was still running on its original boiler.

Talyllyn again. This railway is famous as being the first preserved steam railway in Britain, and perhaps the world. It was written up by LTC Rolt (Tom Rolt) who was the first manager under the preserved regime. He found the line in a very decayed condition after its eccentric owner Sir Haydn Jones died after running it with its original equipment until 1950.
See the book Railway Adveture - LTC Rolt.
It is now run by a mixture of paid employees and volunteers.

Devils Bridge.
We stayed in Aberystwyth (in the student accommodation of the university). From this town on the coast another two foot gauge line runs to Devils Bridge. It was built to service the lead and silver mines - long closed. It passed into the ownership of the Great Western and then British Railways. It was the first part of BR to be privatised and now belongs to a charitable trust. It is run by paid employees.

This steam locomotive in excellent condition runs on oil. It is seen at the Devils Bridge end of the line. There is a tourist trail there to descend to the river to view a waterfall.