A VINTAGE railway near Tywyn has enjoyed its best season for over a decade with nearly 50,000 visitors last year.

Talyllyn Railway saw passenger numbers rise by seven per cent, making the season their best in over 10 years.

In addition, the railway has achieved an all-time record for income with an increase of 13 per cent over 2017. This includes the cafés achieving a 16 per cent increase in revenue.

Among the highlights of the year were the celebrations centring around locomotive No 6 Douglas, which had its centenary in February.

This was especially significant as the locomotive was built for the Air Admiralty, which became the RAF – which also celebrated its centenary in 2018.

The railway painted No 6 in RAF blue to mark the occasion and two special events were held in conjunction with the RAF to mark the occasion.

The locomotive also visited RAF Cosford and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway during the year.

The railway’s general manager, Stuart Williams, said: “The performance this year has been very pleasing both in terms of passenger numbers and revenue.

“The combination of offering a unique journey to our customers, special events and creative marketing have seen strong performance all round.

“We have also engaged with the community, which has benefited the café sales in particular.

“The extra revenue has allowed us to purchase new equipment for the engineering works, take on our first two apprentices and invest in solar energy to help offset increasing energy costs.”

The railway is building on its 2018 success with a similar running schedule in 2019, operating on 251 days and running several special events throughout the year.

See this week’s north editions, in shops and online now