Talyllyn Railway
By buying Bryn Eglwys, Haydn Jones had become effectively owner of the Talyllyn Railway built to carry slate from the quarry to Tywyn. After the quarry collapse and closure in 1946, the railway had little reason to continue operating. Haydn Jones declared that the railway would remain open while he remained alive and it continued to run until 1950. After his death his widow reached an arrangement with L. T. C. Rolt and his associates allowing them to lease the railway, which continues operating to this day.
One of the Talyllyn locomotives, ex-Corris Railway No.3, was named Sir Haydn after him in 1951. This was more appropriate than was known at the time, as Sir Haydn's strong support of the Corris Railway during his time as lessee of Aberllefenni Quarry was instrumental in the railway continuing to operate throughout World War Two and the locomotive therefore avoiding the wartime scrap drive.
It is in his role as owner of the Talyllyn Railway that Sir Haydn Jones became a figure known, albeit not by name, to many small children. One of the early railway preservation people who joined Rolt was the Rev. W.V. Awdry, and in the form of the owner of the Skarloey Railway, Sir Haydn was immortalised in his books as Sir Handel Brown. As in real life, loco No.3 on the Skarloey Railway was named after him as Sir Handel.
Read more about this topic: Henry Haydn Jones
Famous quotes containing the word railway:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)