First Volunteer-Operated Railway

Date: May 14, 1951 • Location: Tywyn, United Kingdom

Trains ran on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since its preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.

The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales, which runs for 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. Opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, it was the first narrow-gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe underinvestment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.