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With
the grade at its back, our train accelerated
swiftly to track speed. Leaning from the carriage window, we could see the driver
keeping a sharp lookout from the footplate as #7 wound through the sharp reverse-curves
along the Gwernol ravine. After a brisk five minutes' run, the platform at
Abergynolwyn hove into view; the driver made a considerable application of the air to
bring us to a halt within the station limits.
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 Our most kind driver, John Robinson, standing confident in his domain in the cab of #7. |
There,
instead of whistling for any late passengers
and carrying on, the driver, fireman and guard all dismounted, thermoses in hand, with a
determinedly off-duty air. A glance at the timetable revealed the cause: having
hardly begun the return journey, we were now carded for a thirty-minute pause at right
here at Abergynolwyn. This was my introduction to an unexpected custom of British
narrow-gauge railroading: the tea halt. In contrast to American practice, in which
the train travels briskly to the end of track and returns with equal dispatch, it seems no
British steam train can complete its journey without a generous pause for tea at some
convenient lineside point! On the Talyllyn, this was Abergynolwyn, and here we would
stay until the crew's tea had been consumed with all due ceremony.
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 View from the footplate: Tom Rolt's boiler, steam dome, and side tank, from the perspective of the cab window. |
In the
event, tea-time at Abergynolwyn proved to be
one of the highlights of the trip, for it gave me a chance to meet and talk shop with our
volunteer train crew. Noticing our interest in his engine, the driver, John
Robinson, arose from his cuppa to introduce himself, and to invite Samantha and me to
climb aboard for a chat and a visit. When he learned that I had worked as a
volunteer trainman and conductor at a preserved railway in the States, he promptly laid on
the grand footplate tour and full collegial explanation of all fittings. From a
mechanical point of view, #7 proved to be a most human-scaled engine-- her backplate was
hardly more complex than those of the preserved nineteenth- century engines I had become
familiar with while working at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in the States.
Twin sight-glasses, a boiler pressure gauge, brake handles for the engine steam
brake and train air, and a reverser and throttle were about the limit of her fittings--
truly, simplicity itself. Sam and I had fun examining the sightlines from the cab
windows and levering open the firebox door lever to inspect the fire within, while John
our host continued his explanation of steam engine mechanics, care and feeding.
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 Fireman Chris Parrott trades the news of the day with the Abergynolwyn stationmaster, Dave Pegg. |
All
this talk of firing and engine tending
piqued my curiosity about operating rules, employee timetables, movement authority, and
other matters of interest to a sometime conductor. For answers to my questions, John
referred me to my counterpart, our volunteer guard Ben Abbott, who was happy to provide
explanations. In no time at all Ben and I were poring over his employee timetable (a
thoroughly modern document, duplicated on small-format loose-leaf paper in the best
contemporary railroad style-- the TR is completely up-to-date where operating safety and
professionalism are involved) and lost in animated discussion of train control, operating
procedures, and the like. I was thrilled to learn that movement authority on the TR
is conferred largely by a fully-interlocked "token" or
"train staff" system. I had read of this system of train control, once
common on branch lines throughout Britain and its overseas territories, but unknown in the
United States; however, I had never seen it in operation. Examining the aluminum
token from the Ben's pocket (surprisingly small and light in the palm) and discussing with
him the arcana of the electric interlocking system made the minutes fly. I was quite
startled when Ben apologetically excused himself to begin rounding up his passengers: the
full half hour had vanished already, and it was time to resume our trip.
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