Portsmouth model railway at Bransbury Park set to reopen after shutting down for two years due to Covid-19

The Portsmouth Model Engineering Society will be running their trains at Bransbury Park on March 27.

Its 3.5 and 5 inch gauge locomotives were shut down in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but they will be back on the tracks again.

Roger Doyle, secretary and member of the Portsmouth Model Engineering Society, is confident of a busy relaunch.

He told The News: ‘We are expecting a good turnout.

‘It’s always dependent on the weather, but we can only hope for a nice sunny spring day.

‘Hopefully, that will bring a lot of people out into the park, and if they’re there, perhaps they will take a ride on the train.’

Mr Doyle has been with the society since the 1980s.

He added that members were confined to working on their own engineering projects during lockdown.

As the restrictions slowly eased, they started to have meetings again, discussing when to reopen the railway.

Mr Doyle said the enthusiasm about the society and the hobby is still strong.

He added: ‘We managed to keep most of our members during that time, and there has been quite a wide showing of interest still.

‘People have been asking when we would reopen on our Facebook page.

‘There seems to be a renewal of interest in the society and the running of trains in Bransbury Park.’

After several meetings, the decision was made to reopen the railway.

It usually runs every Sunday from March to October, between 2pm and 5pm.

Mr Doyle said it was ’very very busy’ pre-pandemic and is still ‘very popular with the locals’.

He added the society is looking forward to the relaunch and hopes everything will stay open.

Mr Doyle said: ‘It is still a little bit unnerving, as most of the society are quite elderly, so there is a small fear about the spread of Covid.

‘Hopefully we’ll be able to stay open and operating our railway.’

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Local residents who posted on the society Facebook page are awash with excitement.

Martyn Constable posted: ‘As a 60+ year old man, I shouldn't be excited, but I am!’

Kerry Louise Siddall also wrote: ‘I'll definitely be down my kids.

‘They will love it as they love trains.’

More information about the railway can be found on Facebook, or on the society website.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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