Miniature Railway

28th April 2022 “Miniature Railway” – Robert Holland

Robert confessed that by Trade he was an undertaker, but in 2017 they moved to Glebe Farm, giving him the opportunity to ‘realise his dream’ of creating his very own miniature railway: Ropsley Heath Light Railway. So with the help of about 30 in his team and suppliers in Anglesey, the development began on the 10 ¼ inch gauge track, but as with any railway project health and safety is an important issue, so training had to be done (1^st aid training), plus various regulations on speed limit and use of a token system to ensure safety at points.  A ½ Ton Nimrod steam loco was purchased from a Welsh Slate quarry and Robert, with the aid of various bits of kit he had brought with him talked about ‘scale’. Obviously light railway implies smaller and in their case ½ size, so using his ½ size lamps he demonstrated that  the engine is in fact 8 times the difference by volume. However,, it can pull 7 coaches with 35 to 40 people, depending on size! They also have a 2 seater electric train (Stuart).  They also have a 107foot long tunnel, a turntable and an engine shed, a second railway in the garden this time fuelled by butane gas.

Robert confirmed that is “just a hobby”, no intention of making it a business, but our club will be visiting the set up on the 19^th May.