A heritage railway has been awarded £4,000 towards a project to reconstruct a watering point on the line.

Talyllyn Railway is currently fundraising for a heritage project to reconstruct its original locomotive watering point, initially built for the railway’s opening in 1865.

PTG Tours has offered Talyllyn the sum of money to be invested in the project after an appeal was launched last November to reconstruct the watering point.

The appeal has managed to generate £1,200 so far, meaning that the railway now has the financial means to facilitate the carrying out of the reconstruction.

The purpose of the watering point was to supply trains based in the railway’s original locomotive shed at Ty Dwr, between Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol.

It was demolished during the 1950s, and two decades later work to open up the original mineral extension for passenger services left considerable amounts of spoil deposited on the site of the watering point.

The reconstruction will require extensive removal of this spoil.

Ian Drummond, Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society chairman, said: “The project was conceived as part of our contribution to Gwynedd County Council’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status for the North Wales Slate Industry of which the Talyllyn Railway is a part.

“We set up the Ty Dwr Appeal last year expecting that it would take a lot longer to raise the money than it has.

“We are most grateful to PTG Tours for their sponsorship of this project and to Paul Spracklen who has facilitated it, which means the Appeal has met its target.

“Now the challenge is to make the reconstruction a reality and make a little bit of our lost heritage live again.”