The Talyllyn Railway became the first preserved heritage railway when it reopened to passengers in 1951.
The narrow-gauge railway runs from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol in Gwynedd, Wales. It originally opened in 1865 to carry slate from quarries near Abergynolwyn to the coast. After commercial operations declined, volunteers formed the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society and took over the line.
Passenger services under volunteer management began in June 1951. The railway’s survival helped establish the modern heritage-railway movement, in which closed or threatened industrial lines are operated for historical, educational and tourism purposes.
The Talyllyn is sometimes confused with the Ffestiniog Railway, another famous Welsh slate railway. Ffestiniog is older, opening in 1836, but the Talyllyn is especially associated with the beginning of organized volunteer railway preservation.