We organise visits to narrow gauge and miniature railways throughout the year for the benefit of Members. These are mostly private visits, by special arrangement with the owners or operators of the railway.
We often get to see behind the scenes of the railway, such as the sheds and the workshops – areas normally off-limits to the general public. For this reason, we restrict our visits to Members only. If you are not a member and would like to come along on one of our visits, please join the Society first before you book, see our Membership page.
NGRS Member Rob Holland has invited us to visit his 7¼ inch gauge railway, which he has built in the garden of his house, near to Dunmow in Essex. The railway has 2 stations and 2 locomotives; there are plans to build a tunnel.
Cost: £13 per person
Thanks to another of our members, we have been able to arrange a visit to the Melton Mowbray Model Engineering Society, on one of their “Members Steam-Up Days”. The site hosts two tracks, a small carriage store and club house with steaming bays. The raised track is 2.5” – 3.5” & 5” gauges. The raised track is pretty much level all the way around at 330 feet in length and has 5” and 7.25” gauges.
Hot drinks and bacon butties are promised!
Cost: £13 per person
Sandiway, near to Northwich in Cheshire, has a 7¼“ inch gauge railway, which runs for 460 metres. They are intending to run a steam and a petrol locomotive for our private visit, which is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday 6th August.
The party size is limited to 25 people, and a few places are being held back for paper bookings.
Cost: £7 per person
In a repeat of our 2020 visit, this will pretty well be a case of “Access All Areas”. The railway are going to run diesel trains for us, and we have asked that we can get to track down all of those “elusive” locomotives which can be found at Apedale.
Arrangements are also being made to open the NGRS Library on this day, so you will also have the chance to see the great work that our Library Team are doing at Apedale.
Cost: £13 per person
This is also known as the Thompson Park Railway, and is situated in Burnley, Lancashire. Although the railway is open to the public during the Summer months, we have arranged a private visit “out of season”. The 7¼“ gauge railway runs for about 1 kilometre.
Cost: £13 per person
Reading Society of Model Engineers operate the Prospect Park Railway in Reading. They have a 1500 feet ground level track accommodating 5" and 7¼" gauge locomotives and a 1200 feet raised track that accommodates 2½ ", 3½" and 5" gauge locomotives.
Our visit is on a “Club Running Day”, so it is expected that many of the RSME members will be operating their own locomotive on the day.
Cost: £13 per person
Following 3 visits during 2023, NGRS member Stephen Phillips is again happy to welcome small groups (maximum 6 people) to his railway, at his home near Hereford.
If you have already expressed interest, there is no need to do anything – you will be contacted when a visit is arranged. The facility is still there for others to express interest, and to be added to the list.
Payment for these visits will be collected on the day.
As many people will know, the Haigh Woodland Railway is not currently operating. However, the operators of the railway are very keen to welcome the NGRS, once they are able to do run trains again. When the visit does take place, we will also arrange a visit to the Wigan & District Model Engineering Society, which also operates in Haigh Country Park.
We already have around 50 expressions of interest; again, if you have already expressed interest, there is no need to do anything – you will be contacted when a visit is arranged. The facility is still there for others to express interest, and to be added to the list. Please be patient though – I am told that a visit is more likely to be in 2025 than 2024.
Members who have registered their email address in Membermojo and wish to join us on a visit are able to book on line through our Membermojo Store which will take you straight to the Store Visits page, Alongside "Store Purchase", click on "Visit Store". In the Store, you will find a list of all Society Visits which are available for Online Booking.
In order to book a place on a visit, click the “Quantity” box for the specific visit, select the number of places that you would like to book, and then click on checkout. You can pay by debit or credit card. On receipt of your booking and payment, you will receive an automated email acknowledgement.
If you are booking for more people than just yourself, you will be asked to contact the relevant Visits Officer, providing the names, addresses and membership numbers (if known) in your party.
Once you have booked your visit(s), the relevant Visits Officer will contact you shortly before the visit with further details (including times, directions, meeting points).
To clarify the conditions for members and others making visits to railway sites or our library, you are advised to read our Visits Policy thoroughly. This is also available from the Downloads page.
There may be some visits where non-members or the general public may be present, the visits form will clarify if you can be accompanied by non-members
An application to become a Visits & e-NGN Member or to add an Associate to your membership can be made via this website's Membership page
DISCLAIMER : We make every effort to ensure all the details on our web site are correct and up to date. However we take no responsibility for loss due to inaccuracies on these pages.