Especially for Wilbert Awdry and those of the Talyllyn Railway

I once again returned to Wales for the Talyllyn Railway's yearly Awdry Extravaganza. For those who may not know, the Awdry Extravaganza is a weekend long railway gala held by the Talyllyn Railway to celebrate the life and work of the Rev W. Awdry, author of The Railway Series.

This was to be the last Extravaganza for a while, and considering that it was the 80th anniversary of the books featuring Thomas and his Friends, the railway really went all out. With a plethora of new events, special guests, and visiting engines, this was truly gonna be an extravaganza like no other.

Travel

My weekend started on the Wednesday. I took the train up to Dublin to stay the night with my friend Peter, as we had an early start the next morning. We arrived at Dublin Port for our ferry at 7.30am, where we met the rest of our group. This was my first time on the ferry to Wales, and it was a very pleasant trip.

We arrived at Holyhead Port, where we caught the train to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Here we visited the first heritage railway of our trip, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway. We then boarded the train for Penrhyn on Double Fairlie No. 12, David Loyd George. From there, we took one last train to Tywyn, where we checked into our accommodation.

Day 1

{The Handover}

An early start to the Extravaganza as we rushed to Wharf Station to collect our day tickets and catch The Handover ceremony, where Wilbert Awdry's daughter, Veronica Chambers, would give a speech officially opening this year's event. While here, we walked around the Wharf, having a look at what was going on, and caught up with old faces.

Myself & Veronica Chambers

{Awdry Exhibition}

My first event of the weekend was the Awdry Exhibition. This was a showcase of Awdry's original workings, official props used in the show, and much more. On display was a massive layout of Maron Station with engines such as Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, and others running throughout the weekend.

Just opposite were some large scale props which were used for close up shots and interacting with the large scale narrow gauge characters. Alongside these were some of Awdry's original models of Thomas, Edward Ainne & Clarabel, which he built himself to run on his layouts. Plenty of information and behind the scenes photos were on display at the exhibition, with some never before seen materials making an appearance.

We had no other events scheduled for the day, so we decided to catch a train to Abergwyngregyn, pulled by No. 7 dressed up as Ivo Hugh. We had a great attachment to this engine since it is a heavily overhauled Andrew Barclay that worked in Ireland for Bord na Móna.

When we arrived at Abergwyngregyn, we got some shots of the engines passing and pulling into the station before checking out the other exhibition. This exhibition had more props and behind the scenes materials on display, along with two of Awdry's original layouts, engines running and all.

Day 2

{Hike}

Day two started with catching a train, pulled by Numbers 1 & 2 dressed up as Albert and Gerry, respectively. We took the train to the end of the line at Nant Gwernol. From here, we watched the engines run around for the return train before hiking up to the abandoned Bryn Eglwys Quarry.

{The Talking Train}

In the afternoon, I had a ticket for a special talking train with a live guided trip of the line, speaking of the history of the railway and its connection to Wilbert Awdry and The Railway Series. Our host was none other than railway historian Tim Dunn, who presented an in-depth and lively insight into the Talyllyn Railway.

Day 3

{Rusty's Line Inspection}

On the last day of the Extravaganza, I boarded the Rustys Line Inspection charter pulled by No. 5, Midlander, dressed up as their Railway Series counterpart, Rusty the Little Diesel. This was a special train as Midlander, had been recently restored to running order only a few months beforehand.

{Photo Charter}

The Photo Charter was the last event of the weekend. A special train up the line, giving people the opportunity to capture shots of the engine, recreating photos from the Railway Series. No. 3 dressed up as Sir Handel had the honour of pulling the last train of the weekend, marking the end of five years of Extravagazas.

Grand Finale

To mark the end of five years of Extravaganzas, a grand finale was organised to get as many people as possible to gather with the engines for one last photo. As the engines were being shunted into place and the crowd began to grow, the atmosphere got more and more ecstatic, from chanting the engines' names to singing, topped off with a grand send off of whistles from the engines, it was like nothing I've ever experienced.

Post Awdry

{The Vale of Rheidol Railway}

Following the weekend, my friends and I made our way to the Vale of Rheidol Railway at Aberystwyth. We checked out their railway museum, which had a plethora of engines on display, before taking a train pulled by No. 7, Owain Glyndwr, to the end of the line at Devil's Bridge high up in the mountains.

{Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway}

On our last day in Wales, we paid a visit to the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. Unfortunately, no steam engines were running this day due to the ongoing heatwave for fear of trackside fires, but we did get to check one out in their display shed. We took the train pulled by No. 17, Diena, from Welshpool to the end of the line at Llanfair Caereinion and back.

A great way to finish off the week by visiting two other heritage railways with so much history and merit in their own right.

Conclusion

And that wraps up the last Awdry Extravaganza for the foreseeable future, and what a weekend it turned out to be. I want to give a massive shout out to the Talyllyn Railway, its events organisers Luke Ryan & Daniel Long, along with all the volunteers, for creating such an incredible event. With people coming from all over the world to see this iconic railway, celebrating all things Awdry, it really goes to show all the love and attention that went into these events, and I think we can all say there is nothing quite like it!

{Vlog}

Once again, I decided to vlog my trip to the Awdry Extravaganza on my Quirky Productions YouTube channel, and I have attached the link below if you would like to check that out. It features a lot of footage I couldn't fit into this blog, so check it out if you'd like to see more of the Talyllyn Railway.

Vlog: https://youtu.be/gOGrCzntpX4

"Stay Golden"

-Trev

TALYLLYN RAILWAY LINKS

If you'd like to check out the Talyllyn Railway, I have provided links below to their website, and if you can, please consider donating to help keep the wheels running on the railway with a heart of gold.

Website: https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/

Donate: https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/support/donate/