Garden Railway Forum

Anyone fancy a project? Forwarded from David Henshaw of Miniature Railway magazine.

Help save the Greenham Church Railway!

St Mary's Church, Greenham, Berkshire
A few years ago, volunteers built a 5/7.25" miniature railway round this little church a few miles out of Newbury in Berkshire. It proved very popular when the annual fete came round and the line went on to open to the public several times, but for various reasons it rapidly fell into disuse and has lain idle ever since. Quite a lot of ballasting and fettling seems to be needed to get the line running again, but the vicar is keen and there is a groundswell of interest locally. The site is absolutely delightful and the railway is complete and ready to run with a little work.
All the project needs is a little railway knowledge and expertise to help get the scheme up and running. If you are reasonably close to Newbury and can help in any way, please get in touch with the co-ordinator Tony Minter:
tony(at sign)stmarysgreenham.org









Rik

What a wonderful and intriguing looking line. All the romance of a disused railway just awaiting to be revived.

And how unusual to have a railway around a church. A few lines from one of my favourite films popped into my head...
"They can't close our line, it's unthinkable."
"What about the old Canterbury-Whitstable line? They closed that."
"Perhaps there were not men of sufficient faith in Canterbury."

SimonWood wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 9:35 am A few lines from one of my favourite films

And mine too Simon!
Grant.

I hope I have a bit of faith but Newbury is a long way away. Otherwise ... It looks a grand woodland railway, the sort I'd like to have myself - if I had deep enough pockets and more energy!