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.