T.R.P.S. Report of the Council for 2003

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T.R.P.S. Report of the Council for 2003

THE TALYLLYN RAILWAY'S biggest building project in over 135 years started as its year drew to a close, with the main contractors on site at Wharf from 7th. January, 2004 and rapidly proceeding to clear the area for the new two-storey museum, café and offices. Much of the preceding twelve months could be summarized, with apologies to Fitzgerald, by saying, "The moving goalposts pause, and having paused move on". On 27th. February, 2003, Stage Two approval from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £682,500 towards the scheme had brought brief joy, but much further negotiation with the H.L.F., other grant-making bodies and the planning authority filled and eventually overran the allotted period, preventing the intended October start. Meanwhile, preliminary work outside the main contract was completed. Since the year-end further difficulties have emerged but a great new building will be there to see for all attending the Annual General Meeting.

While work for our future went on, the anniversary of the Coronation provided a living link with early Society days when Gareth Jones put the same headboard on a train as he had in 1953. The return to Corris of locomotive No. 3 provided photographers and older residents with a link to an even earlier era.

The annual vintage vehicle rally, named after founder Tom Rolt, took on a completely new look, introducing a substantial number of steam vehicles for the first time, and proved both a great attraction and a financial success.

Traffic & Operating

The long, hot summer of 2003 brought increased numbers of tourists to the Cardigan Bay coast. We benefited from this with passenger bookings up 5.4% at 52,222, journeys up 5.5% at 96,953 and revenue up 5.8% at £278,660, helped by a week's extension to the running season in November.

The operating highlight of the year was the very popular Have-a-Go Weekend, the success of which probably surprised even the organizers; the low point was a derailment under Wharf Bridge in October.

Work commissioned by the Snowdonia National Park on the paths in the Dolgoch ravine started in time for the beginning of the running season, and carried on right through the summer, resulting in one of the Railway's most attractive destinations being inaccessible for another year. However, the work has now been completed to a high standard.

The delay in starting Wharf Redevelopment meant that its impact in 2003 was confined to the closure of the museum, a few days operating with a shortened platform, and the establishment of a rather interesting crossing over the line to get to the café, now situated on the other side of the track. 2004 is another matter.

Marketing

2003 saw an increase in the number of special events that took place during the year. In addition to the ever-popular Duncan days, Victorian Week and the Land Rover Rally, the first Have-a-Go Gala took place during July and proved extremely popular with all concerned. Footplate experiences have also been a success, the daylight evening sessions being particularly sought after. These, together with increased interest in weddings and evening specials, kept everyone on their toes.

In co-operation with the new proprietor of the Dolgoch Falls Hotel, Sunday excursions combining luncheon with first-class travel continued to be successful. The take-up on the Dyfi Valley Days scheme increased during the year; the attractions of the Dyfi Valley are our greatest local competition and it is good to see the various organizations working together to promote the area.

The very small number of children who travel home from school on the 1500 train to Pendre, Cynfal and Rhydyronen caught the media's attention and inspired newspaper articles, a television report and a short BBC Wales film with a nostalgic tale woven around the real passengers.

Leaflets have been made available in several more languages and there is now a large print version for the visually impaired. A new Talyllyn Experience leaflet for all visitors has been designed to replace the Quarryman leaflet, which was extremely popular in the past.

Comments from the 2003 Passenger Survey have been analysed and this vital feedback is being used to improve the Talyllyn Experience even further. We are still trying to persuade Gwynedd Council to provide additional brown signs so that visitors can locate us from key road junctions, while new signs have been erected at Wharf. Snowdonia Publications have agreed to distribute 100,000 of the 2004 timetables, but help from members is still essential to publicize the Railway as widely as possible.

Our website <http://www.talyllyn.co.uk> was redesigned by our diligent Webmaster to make it more responsive to changes on the Railway, and at the year end it was carrying regular illustrated reports on Wharf redevelopment.

Shop and Catering

Both the Shop and Catering had a successful year with increases in sales over 2002 of 14% for the Shop and 17% for catering. We are grateful for the hard work by employees and volunteers which enabled these results to be achieved.

The Shop continued to sell off obsolete lines and sought replacements, especially those with a railway theme. Sales of model railway equipment and Portmeirion pottery have been encouraging, with the latter in particular attracting local business. Also encouraging was a 55% increase in gift and souvenir sales at Abergynolwyn, suggesting that there is untapped potential at this outlet, especially with more passengers starting and finishing their journeys there.

The main catering event was the move of the Wharf café building in September from the platform to the South side of the tracks in front of the gunpowder shed, to facilitate redevelopment. Thanks to much co-operation and help from employees and volunteers, interruption to the catering service was kept to a minimum, and the new position does have the advantage that the café is more visible from the road, which may have stimulated local business.

The Railway Letter Service produced two new first day covers in 2003, one for the 50th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation and one for locomotive No. 3's visit to the Corris Railway. A further cover was produced to coincide with the launch, on 13th. January, 2004, of the Royal Mail 20p stamp in the 'Classic Locomotives' series featuring No. 2 Dolgoch passing through Rhydyronen bridge. For this event a Tywyn Post Office hand stamp cancellation was sponsored by the Railway and a new railway letter stamp was produced featuring an historic black and white photograph of Dolgoch.

Wharf redevelopment will mean a difficult year in 2004; we have already lost significant shop sales during February, including half-term week when the Shop had to be closed whilst the original building was re-roofed and part of the ceiling replaced. Further disturbance to the Shop can be expected. The short platform at Wharf means that trains impede access to the café whilst they are in the station. These difficulties will be followed by the challenge of moving into the new building towards the end of the year and your assistance and understanding will continue to be gratefully appreciated.

Engineering

The rebuilt boiler for locomotive No. 4 Edward Thomas was delivered just after the year end on 19th. February, 2004 but had to be returned for attention to a faulty casting. Overhaul of the rest of the loco continued last winter; the axle in the trailing truck was too low in the horn guides and this was rectified. On No. 3 Sir Haydn a cracked bearing housing on the brake cross-shaft was replaced by a fabrication. No. 1 Talyllyn had a new front buffer beam fitted before being stripped for its 10 year boiler examination. The starter motor on diesel No. 8 Merseysider failed and had to be replaced. No. 10 Bryn Eglwys has been fitted with loud air horns.

With the body of ex-Glyn Valley Tramway carriage No. 14 rebuilt, new wheels, axleboxes, springs, horn guides and brake gear have been fitted in the works. The bogies under carriage No. 10 were refurbished, and ex-Corris No. 17 was varnished, with new transfers applied to restore the gold lining and crests to their former glory; the profits from Victorian Week contributed substantially to the latter. The saloon of No. 21 was found to have rot in a window surround. More serious was the discovery that most of the bottom timber on the south side to No. 23 was rotten, with the steel angle securing the body to the underframe badly corroded.

With relaying of track complete for the time being, the focus in 2003 was on catching up with maintenance tasks such as pulling back rails to create expansion gaps. The sharp curve up into Dolgoch now boasts a generous side drain consisting of concrete troughing with lids, and properly ballasted track. Much effort has gone into rebuilding the floor and walls of the culvert and channel that carries Cynfal stream.

A great deal of work had to be carried out at Wharf to get the site ready for building the new station. A building at Parc Morfa required repairs to store museum exhibits. Last autumn the refreshment building was craned into a new position, requiring much preparation and transfer of services. Remarkably, it was unavailable for only 24 hours.

Health & Safety

Health and safety is a key responsibility for all employees and volunteers. It is on the agenda of many committees and the Board. During the year several management safety inspections were conducted. The 2003 annual Health & Safety Management Audit, carried out in September, was the first by our new Safety Advisor. A change of methodology means a direct comparison with previous years is not possible. The report mentions that safety issues are being addressed and some improvements made, but highlights areas where work is required. These include a review of policies, more H&S training and the need for greater involvement of employees and volunteers in the management of safety. The Safety Advisor also drew attention to the increasing number of accidents, some of which indicate carelessness and bad practice and this is being addressed. There was also a derailment of a passenger train, though not involving any injury and very little damage, resulting from failure to follow the rules correctly. The need to ensure that all operating staff are fully aware of the rules and follow them is being addressed.

Society Activities

The Society & Membership Committee hosted its usual social events during 2003, including barbecues, the bonfire and firework display (this worked much better with the campsite owners selling their own tickets) and a New Year's Eve party. The highlight of the A.G.M. evening entertainment was five notable beards and one moustache shaved off in aid of the Wharf Redevelopment Fund.

The Young Members' Group elected a mainly new committee and has undertaken many projects including helping the track gang at Dolgoch after Christmas and organizing decorating weekends in Llechfan to improve the interior for the residents. Council welcomed the advent of a group of "Older Younger Members" who completed two significant outdoor projects.

Area Groups continue to function, though repeatedly report that new active membership is low. Activities include Christmas Dinners, exhibiting at model railway events, meetings, and visits to other railways, the London Area scoring a notable first with an outing to the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme.

The Navvies and Tracksiders groups, for appropriately accompanied under-14s, go from strength to strength and several members who started with them at a tender age are now independent operating volunteers.

Membership at the year-end was up 3.6% from last year at 3,630.

Museum and Heritage

The year saw the most momentous event since the founding of the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum ??? the demolition of the old museum building! It had long been realized that demolition was necessary to create the space to build anew. Before this could happen, all of the exhibits had to be moved out: first the small ones, then, in September, the large ones, which required removal of part of the front wall.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Council for Museums in Wales, the Museum Trust has been able to employ a full time Project Curator to oversee the transformation of the museum. As well as arranging the removal of the exhibits to store and their eventual redisplay in the new museum, he has been very busy updating the museum's records (there were some exhibits the Trust did not know it had hiding away in the old building). Work is now focused on gathering historical information on the collection to support its display in the new building. We look forward to seeing the results of all this work during the coming year. Work is also in hand to develop a "virtual museum" to display the collection on the internet.

With all the effort being expended at Wharf, other heritage activities tended to take something of a back seat. However, a significant event was the dissolution of the old Museum and Heritage Committee, to be replaced by the Talyllyn Heritage Group to provide a more practical focus to support the Railway's heritage. This is still in its infancy, and membership is open to all members.

Report of the Honorary Treasurer

The Railway made a loss for the 2003 season of £50,925 compared with £84,582 for 2002. The latter figure included £24,913 in respect of the rebuilding of the East end of Wharf Station and this is the main reason why Maintenance of Ways and Works has reduced from £61,305 to £29,842; there was also less expenditure on permanent way materials due to different work priorities. Maintenance of Rolling Stock is down from £8,315 to £928 largely because Talyllyn Holdings Ltd. made a grant to the Railway of £5,120 in respect of carriage wheels which were charged in last year's accounts. Other Expenses are £4,758 higher, spread over several headings; Rates and Insurance both increased and appear likely to continue doing so.

The results of the Railway's commercial activities appear in the Revenue account; Note 3 gives more details with the division between Shop and Catering. The Catering loss was less than in 2002 but was again affected by the need to replace some of the café equipment.

Engineering turnover was much higher and produced an improved profit.

Miscellaneous Income again includes rental income from the aerials at Abergynolwyn, from foot- plate experience courses and net commission of £2,402 from the National Railways ticket agency.

As a temporary measure, the net expenditure to date on Wharf redevelopment, excluding the East end rebuilding, is shown as a separate item under Fixed Assets; at this stage of the work it is not practicable to divide it between the various headings which will be appropriate. The reduction in Locomotives and Rolling Stock relates to a grant from Talyllyn Holdings in 2003 for the brake van which was purchased in 2002.

The very large increase in Creditors is due to the receipt of funds from the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Trust for expenditure which was incurred after the end of the financial year, almost entirely relating to the new Museum part of the new Wharf building.

The Society's Subscription Income increased a little but that from Donations fell markedly as more members direct their donations to Talyllyn Holdings as a registered charity. Income of £751 from the first eight months of the new "T.R. Tote" is included in Donations.

The Society has again made a special grant, of £50,925, to the Railway Company to avoid carrying forward a deficit in the Company's Balance Sheet.

Talyllyn Holdings Ltd. had a surplus of £33,462 compared with £22,360. This reflects the development of fund raising, mostly under the Gift Aid scheme, and the associated tax refunds. Grants of £8,882 were made to the Railway Company against specific items of expenditure.