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The Talyllyn Railway is a remarkable survivor from a long past industrial age. It was built and opened in 1865 to carry slate from the Bryn Eglwys Slate Quarry in the hills above Abergynolwyn village to Tywyn (then Towyn) from where it was shipped all around the world.The first passenger train ran in 1866 and the line runs from Tywyn (on the coast of Cardigan Bay) inland for 71/4 miles to Nant Gwernol. The slate traffic ceased in 1946 after a serious rock fall in the quarry. In 1950 the line's owner (Sir Henry Haydn Jones) died and the future of the railway looked very uncertain because it had been losing money for some years.However, a group of enthusiasts sought to prevent the line's closure and, as a result, the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society was formed and took over the Talyllyn Railway Company and it still owns it today.Over the ensuing years a great many improvements have been made and the volunteer members of the preservation society now provide most of the train crews and station staff needed to operate the railway. Volunteers also assist with maintenance work and many other varied activities.Since 1951 the track has been relaid, locomotives have been acquired and rebuilt, additional carriages have been made, and many other improvements to cater for all the passengers that the railway now carries each year. In 2005 Wharf station was totally rebuilt and was officially opened by the present King and Queen.However, despite all the changes made over the years, the Talyllyn Railway is still a rural byway where the pace of life is unhurried and the passengers can enjoy a marvellous journey up and down the beautiful and unspoilt Fathew Valley. The maximum speed on the T.R. is only 15 miles per hour so passengers can sit and enjoy the views and experience the travel of yesteryear in the 21st century.The two original locos and the original carriages remain in regular use today but the Talyllyn Railway hasn't stood still and it built Loco No. 7 Tom Rolt in its own workshops and has recently introduced some new carriages.If you have never visited the Talyllyn Railway we hope that this new volume in the Recollections series will encourage you to do so. You can be assured of a warm welcome.If you have already visited the T.R. we hope that this third volume about it will encourage you to pay a return visit in the future.

The Fairbourne Railway has run from Fairbourne village to Penrhyn Point since 1895.In this volume we take a journey down the line and explore the stations, locomotives and carriages that combine together to make this narrow gauge line one of the most scenic and enjoyable lines in Wales.The BeginningsWith the arrival of the Cambrian Coast Railway there were schemes to develop the area for tourism. There were several horse drawn construction tramways in the area. The tramway that was used to construct the village became the Fairbourne Railway. Beginning life at 2 foot gauge, the line was converted to a 15 inch gauge steam railway in 1916 and played an important part in the development of the 15 inch gauge railways in the UK.The railway had mixed fortunes during the inter war years (at one time it was leased to the ferrymen) and at another time it experimented with dual gauge track after trying to solve a motive power shortage by buying a locomotive of a different gauge (18 inch). The line closed in 1940 after operating its final year with a diesel locomotive.1947-1984The railway was rescued by a consortium of Midlands businessmen in 1946 and after a Herculean task was reopened by 1947. The line enjoyed support from its generous owner, John Wilkins, the whole line was redeveloped and accumulated new steam and diesel locomotives. The heyday was in the 1960's & early 1970's but the advent of mass foreign holidays and increasing numbers of other local narrow gauge railway meant there was a steady decline in the late 1970's & 1980's.1984-1995The line's ownership changed in 1984 (to the Ellerton family) and was re-gauged to 121/4 inches in 1986. four new steam locomotives introduced (2 of which had run on the Réseau Guerlédan Railway in Brittany in 1978). All 4 steam locomotives were 1/2 sized replicas of narrow gauge engines; Yeo, Sherpa, Beddgelert and Russell. Other than Sylvia (rebuilt as Lilian Walter) all the old 15 inch gauge locomotives left the railway.The railway was again put up for sale in 1990, the lines fortunes appeared to be declining once again. During the five years it was up for sale the railway deteriorated dramatically.1995 to Present Day...The late Prof. Tony & Mrs Atkinson and Dr & Mrs Melton bought the line in April 1995 and invested heavily in the railway and Rowen Centre in order to preserve the line. From February 2009 the ownership of the railway was transferred to a charitable body in order to preserve its long term future.

The digital economy is both an existential threat and an extraordinary opportunity, although with a success rate as low as 5%, transforming a mature organisation into a digital business is fraught with danger. Transformation is not a quick fix, especially when the organisation is entangled in a mess of process proliferation and legacy systems. It is resource intensive and the skills required are in high demand, expensive, and rarely available in house.  To fund this, operating budgets are cut, and day-to-day delivery teams have to do far more with far less. They must continue to deliver services with fewer resources, using the scraps left over from the investment allocation process. They must drive innovation and improvement because customers won’t wait. To make it even harder, they must support the transformation team by providing subject matter expertise and absorb change at a pace and quality level they haven’t had to confront before. And if that’s not enough, they assume they are the ones who will be replaced by robots when the transformation completes. Keeping the team focused and filled with optimism for the future is extraordinarily challenging.The solution is to get Match Fit and figure out how to operate in this type of environment. And to do that the team must free-up capacity and learn how to do their jobs better, work effectively with the transformation team and find time to acquire the new skills that will equip them to participate in the workforce of the future.

This is the 49th volume in the Recollectios series and the second title published by Silver Link to celebrate the Talyllyn Railway. As with all the titles in the recollections series this volume is aimed at the general market as much as the enthusiast - designed for easy reading and enjoyment rather than a 'rivet counting' approach!

This book looks back over the railways 60 years in preservation through the authors own experiences and with memories and illustrations drawn from many of todays volunteers. The variety of work with which volunteers have been involved over these many years is considerable and the progress resulting enormous!

Lack of space in the home is one of the principal problems facing the modeller, but help is at hand! This book includes a 'Small Layouts Gallery' of 30 actual examples, their design construction and operation described by their builders with the help of photographs and plans.