T.R.P.S. Report of the Council for 1999

To the outside world 1999 may have seemed another year of marking time for the Talyllyn Railway. Projects significant to us, particularly completion of the flail-mower and the refreshment room extension at Abergynolwyn, are small beer in the railway preservation movement nowadays. Nevertheless, behind the scenes a vast amount of work has taken place, especially to translate the clear aspirations expressed at the 1999 Annual General Meeting into a workable scheme for which funding could be sought. By the end of the financial year, plans for rebuilding Wharf Station, fitting the quart into a pint pot, were approaching strategic finality although much work on engineering and logistical detail remained. When the Golden Jubilee Appeal was launched last summer, contributions were invited with the aim of "taking the Talyllyn Railway forward into its second half-century of volunteer operation." We now have a worthy scheme which should last into the Society's second century, and any member who has not yet made a donation is urged to do so.

The Society has benefited greatly over its existence from the dedication of a number of its voluntary officers, and few have put as much effort into the Railway as John Slater. In September 1999 he retired as Editor of the Talyllyn News after 144 issues over 36 years, and was presented with an inscribed clock at the A.G.M. The Company also saw changes on the bridge in December when Maurice Wilson handed over as Managing Director to David Mitchell and Winston McCanna as Chairman to Keith Theobald.

Christmas Eve saw the end of our licence from Reed Children's Books to operate our locomotives in the guise of their Skarloey Railway derivatives. Sadly, Reed's successors were not prepared even to enter into negotiations about a new licence without unreasonable preconditions; a very different attitude from their predecessors, with whom we had excellent relations. After much consideration your Council agreed to follow expert legal advice to continue running Peter Sam.

The Golden Jubilee Committee was hard at work through 1999 to prepare events for 2000 and 2001. The fiftieth anniversary of the Society's foundation, and hence of successful railway preservation throughout the world, falls on 11th. October 2000; a dinner to mark the occasion, open to all members and their guests, will be held in Birmingham the previous Saturday.

Traffic & Operating

The 1999 season started promisingly, with an increase in traffic over the Easter period compared to 1998. Unfortunately traffic levels over Spring Bank Holiday, probably the busiest week of the year, were relatively poor, and this position continued through into the peak season, with the result that by late August passenger bookings were some 9% down. However an improvement was seen during September and October, with the result that the final figure for bookings was only 2.3% down at 48,125 (1998 49,275). Passenger journeys were 89,378 compared to 91,664 in 1998, a reduction of 2.5%. Traffic revenue was 2.4% up as a result of fare increases.

Once again a series of weekend training seminars took place in the early spring of 1999, this time concentrating on the new Rule Book and the Major Incident Control Plan. To reflect the changes in the Rule Book and clarify other matters new Instructions to Blockmen, incorporating revised Train Signalling Regulations, came into force from April.

Operating was generally satisfactory, although two minor derailments caused slight delays to services.

Marketing

Distributing our advertising literature is of prime importance to the Marketing Committee. This year the Committee held a "Marketing Weekend" aimed at distributing timetables and the new timetable holders to key geographical areas to boost efforts from individual members. New walks leaflets have also been produced this year, and are now on sale in the shop.

The passenger survey has again been modified and the information obtained is constantly monitored. A "Talking Timetable" has been introduced on the Wharf telephone number when the station is unmanned, giving information on train services. The standard Round Trip Tickets, together with the Family discount tickets, have this year been extended to become "Day Rover Tickets".

Special events continue to be popular. Dedicated signs for these events are being produced and the first, advertising the Rolt Rally, was displayed before the event. The Railway has benefited from substantial television and press coverage of Peter Sam over the last few months.

The Council appointed a new Press Officer this year, Graham Jennings, who has filled an important vacancy and has already brought a fresh approach to the job.

The Marketing Committee has also benefited from input from a marketing professional organized by the Wessex Area Group, and as a result has set up a sub-group who will be discussing marketing strategies and will develop a more structured framework for our existing efforts. Future plans for the Committee include an investigation into ideas to attract family visitors and try to reverse the recent decline in passenger figures.

Shop & Catering

The most significant event for this sphere of the Railway's operation was the opening of the Abergynolwyn Station extension which has justified the faith, and finance, put into it. Takings there have increased thanks to the provision of more accommodation under cover.

We saw publication of a new book on ourselves, by Middleton Press, "Talyllyn - 50 Years of Change" with which we co-operated; if you do not have a copy please obtain one from the shop at Wharf.

Both Shop and Catering continue to put funds into the organization and the latter, particularly, adds to our passengers' experience and we would like to thank all those who have assisted, in any capacity.

The Railway Letter Service is gearing itself up for a series of issues to celebrate our fifty years and it continues to contribute to our funds.

Engineering

Relaying on Hendy bank was completed during the 1999 summer and autumn Outdoor Weeks with a further 10 lengths of new 50lb/yd rail installed. The siding points were renewed at Abergynolwyn and the whole siding is being relaid and extended. With three Outdoor Weeks in 1999, attendance set a new record at 403 person-days. The flail mower has made a major impression on the hedges; HM Railway Inspectorate examined and approved this unique machine on 28th. April 2000.

Contractors were on site during the early part of the summer constructing a timber extension to the Abergynolwyn refreshment room. This was completed and opened just after the 1999 peak service started. The Railway supplied and erected steelwork for an extended canopy.

Work continued on Loco No 2 Dolgoch throughout the summer. It was available (without an air pump) for use on double-headed trains at the AGM, and was complete by Christmas after five years out of service. No 3 Sir Haydn had the rear truck removed during the summer while wheel treads were built up with weld and turned. No 4 Peter Sam/Edward Thomas was withdrawn at Christmas for flaws in the boiler barrel to be ground out and welded up. It returned to service on 21st. April 2000, but will soon need a new boiler. A spring had to be replaced on No 6 Douglas, and also on No 7 Tom Rolt, but the latter had to have its tubes replaced before doing any work in 2000.

No 5 Midlander suffered a broken-up bearing in the first-gear clutch in February 2000; repairs were thwarted by a seized nut. No 8 Merseysider has been shunting regularly since autumn Outdoor Week, and was being finished off in summer 2000. No 10 Bryn Eglwys suffered a major lubrication failure in June 1999 that severely damaged the engine. It appeared that a replacement engine might be necessary, but spares were obtained allowing repair to proceed.

Air braking of all carriages is near completion, and no unfitted stock has been used in regular passenger trains since 1st. June 2000. Only Nos 13 open and 14 Glyn remain unbraked. The latter has very extensive rot in the bodywork and frame timbers, so rebuilding will be a long job.

A decision was taken in 1999 to install mains power at Dolgoch because solar cells could not sustain batteries driving the fan associated with the Clivus unit in the toilets. Installation was to be completed in summer 2000.

Health & Safety

A great deal of consideration has been given to how a major operating incident should be handled. A Major Incident Control Plan has been formulated to help operating staff deal with such an occurrence. The plan was tested in Exercise Kite, carried out during August 1999, in which an accident to a train was simulated. A considerable number of volunteers and employees took part. The lessons from that exercise are still being evaluated and future exercises will be arranged in due course.

The 1999 annual Health and Safety Management Audit was again conducted by our Safety Adviser and his report showed for the first time since these audits commenced we suffered a slight fall in our overall mark. The overall result was 1884 points from a total possible of 2350, a score of 80.2%. The reduction compared with 1998 was 2.3% or 53 points. This mark kept us in the VERY GOOD category. Continued improvement year by year had to cease at some point but it is still disappointing when efforts that have been made to improve are considered. Renewed efforts to maintain our VERY GOOD position will need to be made and to this end a Health and Safety training seminar was held in March 2000. This was attended by departmental managers and a number of useful suggestions will be pursued.

Society Activities

The Society's membership fell slightly to 3,665 at the "annual count" on 31st. January 2000, probably because of the changed administrative arrangements preventing immediate free travel on payment of a subscription at Wharf.

These days the Area Groups perform the functions of fund raising, publicity distribution and facilitating regular social contact with other T.R.P.S. members.

The London Area Group has a very active sales team and visited a number of events last year turning in a creditable profit of over ?850, some ?300 up on the previous year. The Bristol and Western Group holds a Model Railway exhibition each year, and generated a splendid profit of ?800 this year. In addition the Bristol Blue Glass project has been very successful, generating much needed income. The key activity of the Midland Area Group occurs every two years with their raffle; last year was such a year and they raised the remarkable sum of over ?1,000. Like other Area Groups they also undertook a number of publicity talks.

Publicity for the Railway is also a key activity for the Area Groups, mainly through the distribution of timetable leaflets. The Milton Keynes Group has distributed over 900 timetables in the past year and the North-West combined timetable distribution with publicity displays at both Macclesfield and Liverpool. Due to the scattered nature of their area the East Anglia Group no longer holds Group meetings; however, they continue to produce a regular newsletter which itself has generated over ?100 in donations.

Although slightly different in character, the Tracksiders and Navvies groups both enable those too young to undertake railway work without continuous supervision to make a useful contribution in a safe and friendly (though not always dry) environment. Both have gone from strength to strength over the three years or so since their inception.

Museum & Heritage

1999 saw a lot of progress taking place in Museum areas. Much useful work has been undertaken by the committee, both in the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum and on the Railway as a whole. Outwardly, the most visible areas of improvement have been with the projects. Much work has been put into progressing the improved multilingual captioning in the Museum enhancing the visitors' understanding of the exhibits and the collection; new displays have been erected. In particular both the Corris Railway and the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway displays have been remounted and recaptioned, displaying new items from the stores. The Museum also gained praise for the conservation work undertaken on the South Crofty tub wagon now on display at Wharf. All too often these mundane wagons were left to the vagaries of time and not preserved. The Young Members' Group and the Museum committee have co-operated in working on the display at Abergynolwyn Winding Drum, relaying original Talyllyn track for the first time in several decades and reinstalling the turntable. The Heritage Working Group has also made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a "Talyllyn Heritage Trail".

Report of the Honorary Treasurer

It is disappointing to report that the Railway again made a loss in the 1999 season, although much reduced from that made in 1998. The change is mainly due to the absence in 1999 of various special factors which influenced the 1998 results.

Traffic receipts increased by 2.4%, the reduction in passenger numbers being outweighed by the effect of increased fares. Operating costs were down by 8.8%; within this heading Maintenance of Ways and Works reduced by ?23,076 (49%), mostly due to the absence of the unusual items of expenditure incurred in 1998. Traffic Expenses were unusually high at ?4,966 as the year's expenditure included the cost of printing new Operating Rules, new Blockmen's Instructions, the Incident Control Plan and a supply of Train Registers. Miscellaneous Stores and Workshop Expenses were down by ?5,831 (32%). Other Expenses were in total 10% higher than last year.

The Revenue Account shows the results of the Railway's commercial activities in total; Note 3 presents them in more detail, distinguishing between the Shop and Catering. Sales in both sections were lower. The Shop results were adversely affected by the need to write off all Peter Sam stock held at the end of the year, totalling ?4,481 at retail prices, as we are now prevented from selling those particular items. The Catering figures include in turnover ?7,750 in respect of the subsidy on sales of refreshments to staff and volunteers and Cost of Sales is reduced by ?3,100 in respect of the materials used in supplying free hot drinks. Without these adjustments Catering would show a loss; this has been the case for many years. The Shop turnover includes ?4,274 relating to the Railway Letter Service, which is a very profitable activity, and we are very grateful to those members who run it.

Engineering turnover and profit have again benefited from the sale of air pumps, this year as exports to Argentina.

The net commission from the rail ticket agency of ?3,115 is included in Miscellaneous Income, together with the rental income from the aerials at Abergynolwyn Station.

Under Fixed Assets, the additions to Expenditure on Line are primarily the Abergynolwyn Station extension (?18,597) and the purchase of the car park there (?5,000).

The Society's income from Subscriptions was slightly lower but Donations doubled, mainly due to the receipt of a legacy.

As Dolgoch Toilets and the Abergynolwyn Station extension have been completed the fund raised for them has been written into the Society's accumulated surplus.

The Society has again made a special grant (of ?30,719) to the Railway Company to avoid carrying forward a deficit in the Railway Company's Balance Sheet.

Last modified on 2nd. August, 2000 by John S. Robinson (Secretary@talyllyn.co.uk),