| |
 |
  |
 |
 |
The Society's History
The society was formed in 1976 at
our current location. The aim of the society was
to maintain and preserve parts of England's
industrial heritage captured in miniature, and to
also educate and teach youngsters of today about
running, machining and modelling of miniature
engines; aims we still maintain today. Track
construction was completed in 1979, and the track
was officially opened by Laurie Lawrence, then
Editor of the Model Engineer Magazine on the 18th
May 1980.

Prior
to this fundraising was helped by giving rides on
the first piece of track to be laid, which now
forms the 'back straight' of the current track.
At that time there was only one completed steam
loco in the club, a Maisie, which was used for
the motive power. We still use public rides as a
source of income for the society - but we have a
much larger range of motive power - from steam to
'diesel' electrics - even diesel driven trains
themselves.
The
first track consisted of an oval approximately
700 Feet in length. Later a tunnel was added, the
portals of which were built by building
apprentices from Basingstoke College. Since then
the society has increased in size and numbers, as
more members joined, more part built or completed
locos were available for public hauling - to the
number you can see running today.
|

|
The steam &
electric powered locomotives and traction engines
you see running at our railway today have all
been built by amateur engineers in their own
workshops with the use of heavy machinery;
lathes, milling machines, pillar drills etc. The
engines are built from drawings (like the full
size were) designed as models either from
fictitious engines, or based on the full sized
prototypes. Once
the models are mechanically completed, our
society members finish (paint) the locos to
replicate the prototypes, with the help of water
transfers bought from suppliers so they look, and
perform in exactly the same way their bigger
sisters do.
|
| In 1999 work
started on the track extension. The digging of
the cutting and laying the track for the
extension was completed in the winter of
1999/2000 increasing the track length to just
under 1000 feet. The track used came from the St.
Albans society, who had been evicted from their
site and had no suitable location for the track
to be re-erected. |

|

|
A new tunnel
was built during the winter of 2000/2001. |
|
 |
 |