This weekend, the Talyllyn Railway will be passing much of its operation over to its Young Members Group (YMG).

On Friday and Saturday, 9 and 10 August, the railway will be staffed by many young members who will drive and fire the locomotives, work the blockposts and guard the trains.

The YMG has been an active group at the railway, and takes youngsters aged between 14 and 25 years old.

And it has proved to be a great training ground for operational staff, hence their ability to provide substantial numbers of volunteers aged over 16 to run many of the trains over the two days.

Adam Davies, chairman of the YMG said: “This is a great testament to our Young Members Group, and we would like to use the gala event to appeal to even more young people by showing the breadth of volunteering roles that can be undertaken.

“We are running extra trains throughout the weekend and expect to have a lot of fun!”

And the railway is once again teaming up with TV presenter and historian Tim Dunn to livestream throughout the Saturday using the hashtag #TalyllynLive.

Tim said: “I first visited the Talyllyn Railway when I was small: I’m still coming back to play trains in 2019.

“It’s a gang of welcoming friends that draw you back time and time again. I can’t wait to show behind the scenes of the next generation of volunteers who run, drive, and maintain the railway - and hopefully bring even more new volunteers in, too.”

The Saturday also features the railway’s annual late night steam event with steam trains running into the early hours with the last departure from Tywyn Wharf at 11pm and returning at 1.17am.

Follow the action all day on the Railway’s Facebook page /Talyllyn, Twitter page /talyllynrailway and Instagram page /talyllynrailway.

Fans will also be able to track the trains live on www.talyllyn.co.uk/track