The Great Easton Railway has told RailAdvent that they have become home to the Saffron Walden & District Society of Model Engineers (SWDSME).

The private railway, near Dunmow in Essex, has become the new home for the society after they had to vacate their base in Audley End in 2019, after which, many people thought that they had folded.

The move resulted in the loss of the popular 7.25″ and 5″ Picnic Field Railway which carried up to 12,000 passengers a year.

However, the Coronavirus pandemic affected plans to develop new facilities for the SWDSME, but some of the railway equipment has relocated to the North Weald & District Miniature Railway in Harlow.

The Dunmow site allows a workshop and other facilities to be re-established for members. The Dunmow site has a concrete roadway and a mown field to run miniature traction engines as well as the 7.25″ Great Easton Railway.

Plans are already underway to provide a 5″ gauge track too.

The Great Easton Railway, named after the local village and a knock to the Great Eastern Railway that used to run through the area, consists of the balloon loop and nearly 1km of track.

GER resident ride-in locos 0-4-2T NIGEL and Bo-Bo battery-electric IAN will be joined by some of the locomotives belonging to the SWDSME and its members.

Plans are also underway to develop the railway with working signalling and more passenger facilities.

If you would like to join the SWDSME, please email the club directly: [email protected]

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