The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway running for
7.25 miles (11.67 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol
near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry
slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first
narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to
carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment,
the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the
world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers. Since
preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction,
significantly expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an
engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. In 1976
an extension was opened along the former mineral line from Abergynolwyn
to the new station at Nant Gwernol. In 2001 the preservation society
celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in 2005 a major rebuilding and
extension of Tywyn Wharf station took place, including a much expanded
facility for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. The fictional Skarloey
Railway, which formed part of the Railway Series of children's books by
the Rev. W Awdry, was based on the Talyllyn Railway. The preservation
of the line inspired the Ealing Comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talyllyn_Railway>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1643:
English Civil War: Royalists defeated the Parliamentarians at the
Battle of Roundway Down near Devizes in central Wiltshire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roundway_Down>
1772:
Under the command of explorer James Cook, HMS Resolution set sail from
Plymouth, England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolution_%281771%29>
1863:
Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws
passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the
ongoing American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Draft_Riots>
1878:
The major powers in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the
map of the Balkans.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Berlin_%281878%29>
1985:
Live Aid rock music concerts, organised by singers Bob Geldof and Midge
Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia, were held at Wembley
Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Aid>
1995:
Bosnian Genocide: The Army of Republika Srpska under Ratko Mladić began
the Srebrenica massacre in the region of Srebrenica, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, eventually killing an estimated total of 8,000 Bosniaks.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
right as rain (adj):
1. Very good; healthy.
2. Correct; factually accurate
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/right_as_rain>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
People sometimes tell me that they prefer barbarism to civilisation. I
doubt if they have given it a long enough trial. Like the people of
Alexandria, they are bored by civilisation; but all the evidence
suggests that the boredom of barbarism is infinitely greater.
--Kenneth Clark
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark>
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