An historic narrow gauge railway are planning to build new engineering facilities freeing up space on the railway and allowing it to expand.
Plans for new engineering works on the Talyllyn Railway have been described as “a once in a generation opportunity”.
The Company Board and the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society Council have endorsed proposals by a working group set up to consider the railway’s engineering facilities.
It recommends acquiring land adjacent to the railway on the Tywyn Pendre Enterprise Park and building a new engineering facility on the site.
This would be the engineering base for the railway including a paint shop and would also act as the main access point for deliveries, especially of locomotives and rolling stock.
The existing Pendre site, built in the 1950s and 1960s, would be re-developed to provide additional carriage storage along with modern mess facilities and office space.
The original 19th Century workshop and locomotive shed building, along with the south carriage shed, restored and refurbished.
A limited engineering facility would still be provided at Pendre to deal with running repairs, but the opportunity would be taken to provide a heritage engineering display with access for passengers.
Talyllyn Railway General Manager, Stuart Williams, said: “This report is the culmination of several years of discussions about the provision of new engineering facilities.
“We are conscious of the historic nature of the current site but its limitations mean we cannot develop it in the way we would like. The acquisition of a new site would give us the opportunity to develop new facilities which will last us well into the future.
“However, it is important to stress this is very much still at the concept stage at this time and there are many hurdles to overcome before we can produce definitive plans.”
Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society chairman Ian Drummond added: “For anyone who visits our current works at Tywyn Pendre the limitations of the site are all too clear and so the need to provide a new first class facility has been obvious for some time.
“This proposal would have far reaching benefits not only in terms of a new engineering facility but also it could free up space elsewhere on the Railway to allow other plans to be developed.
“There will be many challenges, not least the raising of the necessary funds, but this has the potential to be a once in a generation opportunity to provide the facilities we need.”
Further details of the proposal will be revealed at the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society’s annual meeting in September.
The Talyllyn Railway opened for traffic in 1865 and passenger services, which have operated every year since between Tywyn and Nant Gwernol just over seven miles inland.
In 1951 operation of the line was taken over by the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society and became the world’s first preserved railway.
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