Editing Talyllyn Railway (section)

====<span class="anchor" id="Rescue"></span><span class="anchor" id="1951–1960"></span>Rescue: 1951–1960====
[[File:Tal-Y-Llyn Dolgoch Abergwynolwn 1951.jpg|thumb|right|Locomotive No. 2 ''Dolgoch'' at Abergynolwyn in 1951, early in the preservation era|alt=A small steam locomotive stands beside a banked area. On the left hand coal bunker is painted TAL-Y-LLYN RAILWAY. The track is covered with grass, and the rails are barely visible. In the foreground are some disused rails.]]
The author and biographer [[L. T. C. Rolt|Tom Rolt]] visited the line in 1949, along with the locomotive engineer [[David Curwen]].<ref>Potter, page 59</ref> In the summer of 1950, Rolt wrote a letter to the ''[[Birmingham Post]]'' newspaper suggesting that a rescue of the Talyllyn be undertaken. He received sufficient positive response for a meeting of interested enthusiasts to be held on 11 October 1950 at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. Around 70&nbsp;people, including [[Patrick Whitehouse]], attended the meeting, with Rolt proposing the formation of a committee to look into the acquisition of the railway. With the support of the meeting, the committee – with Rolt as chairman and Whitehouse as Secretary – met for the first time on 23 October and immediately entered into negotiation with Haydn Jones' executors.<ref>Rolt 1965, pages 52–53</ref>

The transfer of ownership to the committee was legally complex, but both parties agreed that all shares in the railway company would be transferred from Haydn Jones' estate to a new company called Talyllyn Holdings Ltd., whose board consisted of two directors from the executors and two from the committee. The transfer took place on 8 February 1951, at which point the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society effectively took control of the railway. The Society immediately began to publicise its efforts, hoping to raise funds and find further volunteers to help reopen the railway, and by May nearly 650&nbsp;members had joined the society.<ref>Rolt 1965, pages 54–55</ref> The railway re-opened under the control of the Society for the first time on the [[Whit Monday]] bank holiday, 14 May 1951,<ref name=Potter78>Potter, page 78</ref> with trains running between Wharf and Rhydyronen stations. Regular trains began to run on 4 June and continued through the summer,<ref>Rolt 1965, page 56</ref> with David Curwen acting as the first Chief Mechanical Engineer.<ref name=Potter78/> One of the volunteers who worked on the railway that month was [[Vic Mitchell]].<ref name=RM0618p33-37>{{cite magazine |title=617 publications so far... |first=Howard |last=Johnston |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=June 2018 |publisher=Mortons Media Ltd |location=Horncastle |pages=33–37 |issn=0033-8923 }}</ref>

[[File:Towyn - Abergynolwyn train at Dolgoch, 1952 (geograph 5209260).jpg|thumb|left|Locomotive No. 4 ''Edward Thomas'' with a train at Dolgoch in 1952]]

In the early years of preservation, the line struggled to operate using the original rolling stock. When the line was taken over in 1950 ''[[Dolgoch (locomotive)|Dolgoch]]'' was the only operating locomotive and it was apparent that it was in need of a major overhaul. To enable operations to continue, two further steam locomotives, Nos.&nbsp;3 and 4, were purchased from the recently closed Corris Railway in 1951 and named ''[[Sir Haydn (locomotive)|Sir Haydn]]'' and ''[[Edward Thomas (locomotive)|Edward Thomas]]'' respectively. Because both railways were built to the unusual gauge of {{Track gauge|2ft3in}}  it was relatively easy to adapt the Corris locomotives to work on the Talyllyn. No.&nbsp;3 became the first new locomotive to travel on the railway for over 80&nbsp;years in 1951, but it frequently [[Derailment|derailed]], and on inspection it turned out that the Talyllyn track was laid approximately half an inch (13&nbsp;mm) wider than the official gauge, a deliberate policy by the old company to accommodate the long [[wheelbase]] of [[Talyllyn (locomotive)|''Talyllyn'']]. Both ''Talyllyn'' and ''Dolgoch'' had unusually wide wheel treads that allowed them to stay on the wide-of-gauge track. This problem was eventually cured by relaying the railway to its correct gauge and altering ''Talyllyn''{{'}}s trailing wheels to allow them to swivel horizontally, shortening the locomotive's fixed wheelbase.<ref>Boyd 1988, page 260</ref> No.&nbsp;4 was unserviceable when it arrived, but John Alcock,<ref>Rolt 1998, picture facing page 109</ref> the chairman of the [[Hunslet Engine Company]], was a member of the Preservation Society and had No.&nbsp;4 overhauled free of charge at his works.<ref>Johnson 1997, page 57</ref> No.&nbsp;4 then began service on the railway in 1952 and worked the majority of the trains that season.<ref>Rolt 1998, page 132</ref>

Another early addition to the locomotive fleet was No.&nbsp;6 ''[[Douglas (locomotive)|Douglas]]'', donated to the society by the Birmingham engineering firm Abelsons Ltd. This locomotive was built for the [[British military narrow gauge railways|depot railway]] serving [[RAF Calshot]] where it worked until 1945, and, after rebuilding from its original {{Track gauge|2ft|lk=on}}  gauge, it entered service in 1954.<ref>Boyd 1965, pages 99–100</ref> Through the 1950s the volunteers and staff members of the TRPS rebuilt the line and rescued it from its state of decay, during a period characterised by a "[[Boy's Own Paper|''Boy's Own'' comic]] spirit of adventure, involving enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility".<ref>Goddin 2002, page 46</ref>

On 22 May 1957 the [[BBC]] produced a live [[Outside broadcasting|outside broadcast]] from the railway, during which [[Wynford Vaughan Thomas]] and [[Huw Weldon]] commentated on a trip from Dolgoch to Abergynolwyn. The publicity from this broadcast drew substantial numbers of visitors to the railway that summer, with more than 57,500&nbsp;passengers carried, and this increase in revenue in turn enabled the railway to continue to improve its infrastructure and provide tourists with a better experience.<ref>Rolt 1965, pages 61–62</ref> The following year locomotive No.&nbsp;1 ''Talyllyn'' returned to steam after an extensive overhaul.<ref>Mitchell and Eyres, 2005 page 25</ref>

[[File:Guinness loco at NGRM - 2008-03-18.jpg|thumb|right|The Guinness brewery locomotive, the first exhibit donated to the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum|alt=A small green tank steam locomotive of unusual design, number 13, stands in the museum. The power to the wheels comes from a crank-shaft at the upper rear of the locomotive, which is transmitted to the rear wheel via a vertical connecting rod on the right hand side. The rear wheels are connected to the front wheels by a conventional horizontal connecting rod. A plaque on the front of the locomotive reads WILLIAM SPENCE S. GEOCHECANS PATENT, with a final line obscured by a hand rail rising from the front [[buffer beam]].]]
An important development during this period was the establishment of the [[Narrow Gauge Railway Museum]] at Tywyn Wharf station. The first exhibit for what was to become the museum was a locomotive donated in 1952 by [[Diageo|Guinness]] from their recently closed [[St. James's Gate Brewery]] [[Dublin tramways#Guinness Brewery tramways|railway]]. In 1954 the Preservation Society agreed to start work on a formal museum, and exhibits from around the United Kingdom were acquired to form the nucleus of the collection. In 1955 work started on converting the old [[gunpowder magazine|gunpowder store]] at Wharf station into a temporary museum building, and in 1956 the first exhibit arrived at Tywyn.<ref>Rolt 1965, pages 112–114</ref>