Editing Talyllyn Railway (section)

====<span class="anchor" id="Consolidation"></span><span class="anchor" id="1980–2001"></span>Consolidation: 1980–2001====
[[File:Tom Rolt at Tywyn Wharf - 2005-07-16.jpg|thumb|left|Locomotive No. 7 ''Tom Rolt'' at Tywyn Wharf station]]
With passenger numbers falling and the line extended to Nant Gwernol, the railway entered a period of consolidation. By 1987, the [[boiler]] on locomotive No. 6 ''Douglas'' was life expired and in need of replacement. Consideration was given to reviving the project to build a new locomotive from the components of ''Irish Pete'' instead of purchasing a new boiler for ''Douglas'' and in early 1988 work recommenced on the rebuilding of the ex-Bord na Mona locomotive. A new design for an 0-4-2 side tank locomotive was prepared by the railway's Chief Engineer John Bate, which reused the chassis and boiler from the locomotive with a new superstructure and the addition of trailing wheels, and the new locomotive, officially named ''[[Tom Rolt (locomotive)|Tom Rolt]]'' after the Preservation Society's first chairman, was put into service on 6 May 1991.<ref>Bate 2001, pages 234–237</ref> During this period further expansions of both Tywyn Wharf and Pendre stations were undertaken and Abergynolwyn station, which had been rebuilt as part of the Nant Gwernol extension in the 1970s, was expanded further to provide an additional attraction at the eastern end of the line.<ref name=Thomas35>Thomas 2002, page 35</ref>

One major anomaly remained in the railway's operations: the [[Regulation of Railways Act 1889]] had required, amongst other measures, that all British passenger trains be fitted with [[Brake (railway)#Continuous brakes|continuous brakes]]. McConnel had secured an exemption for the Talyllyn Railway, on the basis that the low speed of operation meant they were unnecessary and that the cost of compliance would bankrupt the enterprise, but by the end of the 1990s the [[HM Railway Inspectorate|Railway Inspectorate]] was insisting that the Talyllyn be brought into compliance with the act, a little over 100&nbsp;years after it had passed. By 2001, the railway had fitted its entire passenger fleet with the necessary equipment, operated by [[Air brake (rail)|air brake pumps]] mounted on the locomotives.<ref name=Thomas35/>

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