Talyllyn Railway - Operation

Operation

The line has six steam locomotives for passenger trains and four diesel locomotives, which are primarily used to haul works trains. It is unusual for all steam locomotives to be operable at the same time, as at least one is normally scheduled for overhaul. The railway also owns 23 carriages and vans, including all of the original carriages and the brake van built for the railway.

The railway is single track, so special measures have to be taken to prevent collisions. Before preservation, the railway operated a "one engine in steam" policy, but with growing passenger numbers it became necessary to install passing loops and a more stringent method of single line control was introduced. The line is worked by tokens, which authorise the driver to enter a single line section, and these are interlocked to prevent more than one token being withdrawn for a section at any one time. A loop is at Pendre, which was used from the opening of the railway for shunting purposes, and further loops were installed at Brynglas in 1953 and Quarry Siding in 1963. When the Nant Gwernol extension opened in 1976, Abergynolwyn also became a passing loop.

Each passing loop is controlled by a small signal box, known as a block-post. These house the lever frames that control the points, the token equipment and telephones. The railway has few signals; instead it has stop boards at each loop, and the blockman allows trains to proceed by use of flags. When the block-post is unstaffed, it is the responsibility of the locomotive crew to change the token before proceeding.