50 Years of Preserved Railways

["John Kerley" <deaftech@ozemail.com.au>]

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first public service by a
preserved railway saved by volunteer railway enthusiasts.  On Whit Monday
1951, the Talyllyn Railway in Wales ran its first public trips between Wharf
and Rhydyronen as the first railway in the world to be saved by volunteer
railway enthusiasts.  Since then many hundreds of railways world wide have
been preserved in a similar manner, following the example set by the
Talyllyn.

Interestingly, the second railway in the world to be saved by volunteer
enthusiasts is in Australia.  The Puffing Billy Railway was saved by
enthusiasts in April 1955 following the success of the "Young Sun"
*farewell* trips!  That this occurred was a direct result of the success of
the Talyllyn, as a Talyllyn member was visiting Australia at the time of the
proposed closure and suggested that Australian enthusiasts could copy the
example set by their British brethren.  As they say, the rest is history.

To celebrate the anniversary and the PB connection, the Talyllyn are issuing
an "open jaw" ticket from Nant Gwennol to Gembrook via Tywyn and Belgrave
for about $35 - not bad value actually, except for the cost of the
intervening section!

Cheers,

John Kerley