Fancott Miniature Railway
Encyclopedia
About
The Fancott Miniature Railway (FMR) is a 7¼ inch railway located in the gardens of The Fancott Pub in FancottFancott
Fancott is a hamlet located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.The settlement forms part of the Toddington civil parish, and is also close to Chalgrave and Chalton. "The Fancott" public house is situated in Fancott, and is the location of the Fancott Miniature Railway....
(near Toddington
Toddington
Toddington could be*Toddington, Bedfordshire*Toddington, Gloucestershire*Toddington, West Sussex...
), Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The track is laid in an oval with a triangular junction giving access to the station and with a separate steaming bay inside the oval. The FMR is part of Britain's Great Little Railways.
History
| 1975 | The Original 10 1/4 inch Fancott Light Railway was opened. The railway was operated by Mr E Harper. |
| 1986 | The Original line closed. |
| 1996 | A new railway was opened by Alex WallMan, the son of the pubs owner, A 7 1/4 inch railway was laid and operated by a Mr R Bennet and the resident locomotive at this time was an 040 Romulus Ffreddy (Which left in 2001). |
| 2000 | The railway was taken over by Mr R Stanbridge, who ran it with his son Matthew. |
| 2001 | The railway was removed once again, a new railway was to be laid and new engine sheds constructed, this was to be completed by early 2002. The engine shed and track bed was almost completed by the end of October 2001. |
| 2002 | 1000 yards of track was hand-built and points constructed in Bristol. 200 tons of 14mm stone was delivered, track beds and drainage were done and a level crossing was built for extra parking space. |
| 2003 | A steal foot bridge was installed to allow people over the railway. By this time the entire railway had been fenced off. |
| 2005 | The extra car park was closed and plans for a steaming bay and signal box were made. |
| 2007 | A point motor was added allowing the railway to run clockwise for the 1st time in 7 years. Staff at this time were, Ron the Manager and his crew Jim, Jack and Amy, with Matt helping out from time to time. |
| 2008 | Amy left the railway to pursue other goals, Ron then took on his youngest son Ashley. This year also saw the introduction of full aspect colour lights on the FMR to be used when running many trains. |
| 2009 | The railway is currently a huge success, thanks to the devoted manager Ron Stanbridge with help from the crew and of course Paul and Janet Wallman the Pub owners. 2009 also introduced a new concept to the Fancott, with customers being able to book the railway. |
| 2010 | A new loop line has been installed so that both platforms 1 and 2 can be access when arriving in the station. |