The Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society was saddened to hear of the death of one of its first volunteers, and a significant figure in the field of railway preservation, John Snell, who was the fireman on the first train to run on the Talyllyn under preservation.
He obtained a place at Balliol College in Oxford to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1951, but he had also volunteered to work on the Talyllyn in preparation for the line opening under the auspices of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society.
Current chairman of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, Jane Garvey, commented: `It is sad that we have lost another direct link to the earliest days of the Preservation Society and their efforts to save the Railway for future generations.
