THE 101/4in-gauge Stapleford Miniature Railway in Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, held a successful three-day August Bank Holiday event. The railway is only open to the public twice a year, the second weekend in June and in August. This year's August event saw three visiting locos working trains with just two of the residents. As the railway is rarely open it was disappointing the other resident locos were not on view, being confined to the shed, which was closed for most of the day. The three visitors, all of which are often readily accessible at their home railways, included two from the Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway. LNER'A4:class 4-6-2 No. 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley (W Kirkland, 1967) was based on the SMR until 1998, but has since been rebuilt with a prototypical middle cylinder. The other loco from Hampshire was SR 4-6-0 No. 850 Lord Nelson (J Moody, 2007), making its SMR debut. The third visitor was 4-4-2 Waverley (D Curwen, 1952) from the Leek& Rudyard Railway, Staffordshire. The next open weekend at Stapleford Park is being held on June 9-10,2018. The railway is maintained and operated by the Friends of the SMR.
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