History

At the Start
1978
1979
1984
1987
1991
1994
2001
2005
2006
2009
2010
Today

At the Start

Since 1978, we have been growing from strength to strength at our site within the Van Hage Garden Company. Scroll through our timeline to see how the railway has developed from what was originally just a flat, open field!

1978

After a spate of vandalism at a previous site in Cheshunt, we moved to our current site at the Van Hage Garden Centre. In this year Amwell Tunnel was also constructed.

ROADWAY END OF TUNNEL DURING CONSTRUCTION 1978
ROADWAY END OF TUNNEL DURING CONSTRUCTION 1978

1979

We held one of our first ‘Portable Track’ events at a Summer Fete at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield. This ended up being an annual event for us right up until the mid-90s.

PORTABLE TRACK CHASE FARM LADY OF THE LAKE DH EM LG 1980
PORTABLE TRACK CHASE FARM LADY OF THE LAKE DH EM LG 1979

1984

Amwell Junction Signal Box was constructed to house the de-commissioned London Transport Westinghouse Signal Lever Frame that we acquired in 1980.

EHMR 236 LG BG ID IH GN AND ROBIN WORKING ON THE SIGNAL BOX 1984
EHMR 236 LG BG ID IH GN AND ROBIN WORKING ON THE SIGNAL BOX 1984

1987

In May of this year, we carried our 250,000th passenger.

1991

Our resident Tinkerbell Class locomotive ’TCB Miller’ was completed and arrived at the railway in May for testing and hauling it’s first passengers.

1994

In December of this year, we carried our 500,000th passenger during our Christmas specials. (Dec)

2001

In April of this year, we carried our 750,000th passenger. We also hosted the 11th SEQLEC Competition. We entered our resident Tinkerbell class ‘TCB Miller’ without any prior preparation and managed to win 3rd place.

2005

In summer of 2005, we hosted a large exhibition over two days at our site ‘A Celebration of Model Railways’

2006

Our 1,000,000th passenger was carried in June of this year.

2009

An Engine Shed was constructed to securely house and maintain our ever-expanding fleet of diesel and steam locomotives.

2010

A Water Tower was constructed to compliment the newly-built Engine Shed so that our steam locomotives had access to water when steaming up and steaming down.

Today

We are busy as ever and the future looks promising as we begin to construct the extension of the railway.