Talyllyn Railway is celebrating three decades of its award-winning ‘Tracksiders’ scheme, which encourages family volunteering.

Over the years, many children have attended Tracksiders, and some have gone on to drive steam locomotives, guard trains and even help to run the railway.

Thirty years on from its 1996 opening, Tracksiders is welcoming record numbers of young volunteers.

Talyllyn Tracksiders was launched in 1996 to give kids and their families the chance to get actively involved with the world’s first preserved railway.

Since then, participants have contributed more than 5,000 Tracksider volunteering days, and have made friends for life. Many grew up to take on senior volunteering roles across the railway.

This year, the Talyllyn Railway has seen the arrival of the first second-generation Tracksider, as children of former Tracksider volunteers begin to follow their parents onto the heritage railway.

In May this year, a volunteer working week saw 53 young members travel from across Britain to work on the railway, the largest number in the group’s history.

They came with their families from Leeds, Kent, the Isle of Wight, Cumbria and elsewhere to help to repair fences, paint station seats and benches, maintain footpaths and tackle a variety of practical projects.

The Railway recognised the Tracksiders’ contribution by installing a plaque when the group won the Heritage Railway Association’s Team of the Year award in 2024.

We all realise how crucial it is to invest in the future and volunteers are an incredibly important part of that.

The Talyllyn Railway is extremely proud of our young volunteer programme and particularly Tracksiders as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.

These young volunteers are key to ensuring the railway is here long into the future, and the fantastic attendance we saw in May demonstrates that children and families still have a real interest in the magic of steam trains and want to become actively involved in preserving them.

The latest guidance issued by the Office of Rail and Road in association with the Heritage Railway Association around volunteering from the age of 14 also has the potential to open the door to even more young volunteers across the heritage railway sector.

Liz Porrett, General Manager Operations at the Talyllyn Railway