Date in year · 1951 · The 1950s

May 14, 1951

On May 14, 1951, trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers. Jóannes Eidesgaard, Tony Danza, Michael Freedman would arrive in the same year.

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1951

1950s

Around 1951

The year in brief

1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1951st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 951st year of the 2nd millennium, the 51st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1950s decade.

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What happened

On May 14, 1951

  1. 1951 Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.

    Narrow-gauge railway in north Wales

    The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales, which runs for 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. Opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, it was the first narrow-gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe underinvestment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1951

The class of 1951

Others born in 1951

Jóannes Eidesgaard 1951– Faroese educator and politician, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
Tony Danza 1951– American actor and producer
Michael Freedman 1951– American mathematician and academic
Bob Varsha 1951– American sportscaster
Steve Vickers 1951– Canadian ice hockey player
Soledad Gallego-Díaz 1951– Spanish journalist (died 2026)

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