Model Engineering
The Club has a very strong engineering membership which is heavily involved with the
constuction, operation and maintenance of our own dual 5 inch & 7¼ inch gauge line, the Bentley Miniature
Railway, which is situated close by to Uckfield in the grounds of the Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum.
The Railway provides the opportunity for members and guests to operate their locomotives over
a ground level circuit of approximately 800 metres hauling suitable length trains for the benefit of the general
public visiting Bentley.
Members own a wide range of locomotive types including live steam, battery electric and petrol
constructed to both standard and narrow gauge designs. The Club itself owns several 7¼ inch gauge locomotives
including Hercules, a small but powerful live steam 0-4-0 saddle tank, and a battery electric powered Beyer Peacock
Hymek which is based on the BR Class 35.
The Railway also gives the opportunity for members to involve themselves in other activities.
Whether these are in the areas of civil engineering, building construction, track fabrication, signalling or just
cutting the grass there is something for all. A small workshop is provided at the Railway to enable onsite
maintenance to be carried out.
Of course whilst the Railway is open for passenger rides, members turn their hand to ticket sales, platform duties,
train guards, signalman and of course driving. A process of training and certification is undertaken with members competency
being assessed before a role can be taken up. Our junior members also have the opportunity to undertake this training including
learning to drive locomotives under instruction.
Although activities are centered around the Railway we do have engineering facilities within the
Clubroom for our members to maintain and build
locomotives, rolling stock and items for the Railway. The engineering area is closed of from the rest of the Clubroom
for health and safety reasons and contains several machine tools including a Colchester Bantam lathe, a Wadkin controlled
milling machine, a couple of pillar drills (both bench & floor standing) and a heavy duty grinder.
The Club owns a portable track in 7¼ inch gauge which we take out to a couple of events each year.
The first of these is our annual outing to Brighton Modelworld at the Brighton Centre in February where we give rides to
visitors behind both steam and electric locomotives. The track layout involves a couple of turnouts, one remotely controlled,
to enable a quick turn around of trains. Our other outing is to the Nutley Village Day held in June where we provide a simple out
and back ride hauled by one of the battery powered Bulldogs.
If you would like to get involved in the Model Engineering side of our activities, please contact us
via our contacts page.
| 
