Hills Garden Centre Miniature Railway History
The garden centre at Hills is in Allostock, south of Knutsford, on the A50,and was built by Chris Halsall, a real enthusiast for miniature railways.
A 7 1/4” gauge 'drive your own tram' ride was opened in 2001, the station being called 'Toby Halt'.
Construction of the 7 1/4” gauge railway started in 2002, with a short circuit of about 300 yards being laid by May, followed by the engine and carriage sheds and turntable and a tunnel. The station buildings followed closely behind, with a signal box, proper station building and platform canopy, the name chosen being 'Allostock Junction'.
The first steam loco was 0-4-2T 'Jean', backed up with an American GP40 outline Canadian Pacific 6602 'Sir Richard'.
Public running started in April 2003, with the official opening on Good Friday. By May 2004 there were three steam locos on site, additional engines were 0-4-2T 'Amy Louise', and 0-4-2T 'Callum'. Also in the stable was 0-4-2 Petrol Hydraulic "Peter the Great". There were four 'Pullman' coaches, each seating four and fitted with roofs.
Phase two opened in March 2005, with an extension around the growing area to give a total run of about 1/3 of a mile, with trains running round the larger loop followed by the original loop.
The line closed in June 2008 with the closure of the garden centre. The steam locos and most of the stock were removed, and just 'Peter the Great', the four 'Pullman' coaches and the first class coach remained at Hills. Fortunately this was not to be the end, as the new owner of the garden centre was sympathetic to the railway. It reopened on 3rd August, being operated for a time by Stockport South Model Engineering Society. The trains were hauled by members own locos and 'Peter the Great'.
In Febrary 2009, Stockport MES having given up on operating the line, the railway was taken over by Derek Moss, whose existing business lay in making locos and rolling stock. A small loco called 'Scamp' was discovered at the back of another storage shed some months later. As the transmission of 'Peter the Great' was giving concern, Derek rebuilt it as a battery electric, as he specialises in electric transmission systems. It proved to have too long a wheelbase for the 25 foot radius curves, the wheels wearing at a frightening rate. Derek therefore set to and built a battery electric loco on the lines of a tram engine, with the driver sitting in the centre. It was intended to be a temporary expedient, but having run a whole 2009 summer season and all the Santa specials it is still going strong.
The 'Pullman' coaches proved to be somewhat heavy and unstable, and have since been scrapped. Derek built a prototype four seater coach, 8 feet long, built entirely of plywood with no separate steel chassis. This proved amply strong, so three more have been built by the garden centre on the same principle.
A new loco arrived on the 15th November 2009, in time to assist with the Santa Specials. It is a scale outline American F7 twin unit, in yellow Rio Grande colours, and was bought for the line by Reuben Fielding, the owner of the Garden Centre.
The Santa Specials were mainly pulled by the tram engine, by now named 'Biff', pulling 3 coaches garlanded with fairly lights. It also pushed the Santa Sleigh and 3 reindeer, all illuminated from within and looking a treat as the light faded.
Despite 2009/10 being the worst winter for some years, trains ran every weekend except one, when by the time we had chiselled the ice off the tracks it was time to go home! Derek also discovered that the skirt on the front of the Rio Grande made a good snowplough, the derailing bars on the coaches finishing the job, the flying clouds of snow looking quite impressive.
With thanks to Neville Knight for his article in 7 1/4 “ News, Miniature Railway World web site and numerous references in Narrow Gauge News magazine, from which this history has been compiled. If you have any comments or corrections, please email Colin at colin@colinedmondson.com.
View our Video clips of the Railway.