Garden Railway

The club's garden railway, featuring dual gauge elevated track was opened to the public for the first time in August 2006. Using old track supports from an elevated 3.5" and 5" track, a small team lead by Simon Hutson and Dave Dowson completed the project in six months. The two tracks are gauge '0' and '1' and the models that run on them can be propelled by steam or electricity. The steam is generated by gas, fuel tablets or coal and the locomotive is controlled by either manual adjustment or radio control. Below is a gallery of some of our members' models in action.

Current Situation
It is with regret that the Society has taken the decision to close the Garden Railway for an extended period of time. This was due to some substantial vandalism sustained to the track and decking on which it stands in the latter part of 2007. As a precaution the rails were removed by the society to prevent further damage whilst a decision was made on how best to protect the track.

The Garden Railway team drew up several ideas on the way forward for protection and put them to the Membership. It was decided to rebuild a whole new, slightly smaller, layout on solid brick foundations since it will be substantial enough to withstand vandalism. Also, since construction in 2006, the decking had begun to settle and sag with a noticeable effect on the locomotives performances.

Currently, the team has drawn up new plans for the layout, and have started removing the existing one. The 'breeze block' bricks have arrived and they will make up the new 'wall' on which the track sits. Work has commenced on laying out the foundations which lie directly in the middle of the old track circuit, still in view of the public. The shorter length track will allow better viewing opportunities when running and will also make the locomotives more easily accessible in the summer months amongst the greenery!

Watch this space for updates and pictures as the work progresses.

Gallery of Members' Locomotives