Editing Talyllyn Railway (section)

====<span class="anchor" id="Haydn Jones era"></span><span class="anchor" id="1911–1950"></span>Haydn Jones era: 1911–1950====
The Bryn Eglwys quarry was the primary employer in the Abergynolwyn district, so its closure caused significant distress. In 1910, local landowner [[Henry Haydn Jones]] was elected the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Merionethshire|Merioneth]]. He understood the importance of Bryn Eglwys, and at the end of the year he purchased the quarry company for just over £5000.<ref name="Quine Haydn Jones">{{cite news |last=Quine |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Quine |title=The Talyllyn Railway in the late Haydn Jones era |publisher=Heritage Railway |volume=200 |date=March 2015}}</ref> The quarry re-opened in January 1911,<ref name=Boyd6572>Boyd 1965, pages 72–73</ref> though Haydn Jones did not have [[capital (economics)|capital]] to invest in the quarry. The first workings reopened were on the [[Broad Vein]], which yielded relatively hard slate that was less popular and therefore difficult to sell. The lack of an available market for this output forced the quarry to switch to extracting softer slate from the [[Narrow Vein]] but, because Haydn Jones could not afford to open new workings into the Narrow Vein, he resorted to the dangerous practice of narrowing the columns that supported the roofs of the underground chambers. This practice had begun under McConnel's ownership and Haydn Jones continued it throughout his ownership of the quarry.<ref name=Boyd6572/> A brief construction boom after the [[First World War]] saw production return to around {{convert|4000|long ton}} per year.<ref name=AJR195/>

The 1920s also saw an upsurge in holiday traffic, as Britain recovered from the war and tourism gained in popularity. The Talyllyn saw summer passenger numbers grow significantly and regularly had to supplement its formal passenger stock with slate wagons fitted with planks as seats.<ref>Ransom 1996, page 130</ref> An unusual tourist service offered by the railway was to hire a slate wagon, which would be left at Abergynolwyn. At the end of the day the tourists would return to Tywyn in the wagon, powered by [[Gravity railway|gravity]]. This service was discontinued in the early 1930s.<ref>Boyd 1965, pages 116–117</ref> The additional income from the tourist trade defrayed some of the costs of operating the railway, but never enough for it to make a profit during Haydn Jones' ownership.<ref>Rolt 1998, page 21</ref>

The lease on Bryn Eglwys expired in 1942, but was extended on an annual basis. The October 1942 Bradshaw's Guide shows two return passenger trains operating only on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, taking 45 minutes in each direction. No passenger service was provided on other days. Overnight on 26 December 1946, several weakened support columns in the quarry gave way, resulting in a significant collapse; the quarry was deemed unsafe and closed immediately. Haydn Jones had promised to continue operating the railway as long as he was alive and so, despite the closure of the quarry, the railway continued to run trains on a shoestring budget. In 1947 the British railway system was nationalised and the Talyllyn was one of the few operating railways not included. The reasons for this are unclear, but it is significant that all official mention of the railway had ceased several decades before and it is likely that the line was simply forgotten by officialdom.<ref>Boyd 1965, pages 73–74</ref> Between 1947 and 1949 the railway ran a passenger service two days a week. In 1949 Haydn Jones, who owned the [[Aberllefenni Slate Quarry]] purchased 10 tons of rail from the recently lifted Corris Railway.<ref name=Quine>{{cite news |title=Not to be: The sad end of the Corris Railway |publisher=Heritage Railway |volume=220 |last=Quine |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Quine}}</ref> On 2 July 1950 Haydn Jones died and closure of the railway seemed inevitable, but the line continued to operate for the remainder of the summer season, ending on 6 October.<ref>Boyd 1965, page 74</ref>
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