by Mark Found

The Mangapps Farm Railway. What the hell is that? I have often wondered when reading about it in the press. Is it some form of agricultural railway that has passed me by? How could I, Mark Found, not know what a farm railway was?

Of course, if I'd actually bothered to do some research I would have found the answer quite quickly, still, not my style really. There's nothing I like better than puzzling about something for hours and not actually getting off my fat arse to find the answer.

The Mangapps Farm Railway (for the people as lazy as me) is a private railway owned by a farmer. Think of it as a bloody big garden railway. Well, now, not the easiest of railways to get to - all the way out near Southminster in Essex and nothing much else of interest round there. So, is it worth it?

Yes, it is. So get out the road atlas and start planning your journey. This was a completely unexpected treasure and it's hats off and a piece of straw to the man who put it all together, Mr. John Jolly.

It's one of those tales, that I never quite understand, of a man who sort of accidentally came by a full size railway. Something to do with getting an old station building (as is always happening) and then having to get a railway to run past it.

There's a hell of a lot there - tank engines, dmu's, a train off Southend pier, an old underground train, the former station of Laxfield in Suffolk, a not inconsiderable length of running track and a huge collection of signals and signs. The impressive truth is that I'm probably not doing Mr. Jolly's collection justice, there's a hell of a lot more stuff than that, I just can't remember it all.

There's the inevitable Thomas weekends there, of course, but I noticed that it's one of the few railways I've seen that has a Thomas that really is Thomas, and a Mavis that actually is Mavis. (Mental note to me: must remember to take my son down there - he's not the sort who's easily fooled, especially when it comes to TTTE!)

All in all it's a rich reward for the effort of getting there, do yourself a favour and make the trip soon.

Trainspotting.links (will open in a new window)

Mangapps Farm Railway
Their own website, and a jolly good one it is too. (sorry about the pun)