Our 40th Anniversary
2026 - A year of celebration...
2026 will see The Moss Bank Park Model Engineering Society celebrate our 40th Anniversary. The Society was founded by Albert Stones in 1986 after he built the Moss Bank Park Miniature Railway to safe guard the railway for future generations.
April saw us launch a photo appeal asking the general public to help us collate images of people enjoying our trains throughout history. With the support of the Bolton News, That's TV Manchester, Bolton FM and through our Facebook social media page we were able to spread the message far and wide. We have had a wonderful response and are excited to share the images as part of a display at our upcoming anniversary event on Sunday 14th June.
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A parliamentary visit...
On Sunday 7th June the society was pleased to welcome Phil Brickell MP (Member of Parliament for Bolton West) for a VIP visit to our railway.
Phil was given an early preview of the history and photo displays we have prepared for our upcoming anniversary event, and was talked through the history of the society by the clubs chairman, Stuart Rothwell, before embarking on a tour of the club facilities to see where the trains are stored and our small workshop where maintenance and restoration projects take place.
Following this Phil took to our track with Operations Manager, Alfred Molyneux, for a lesson in driving model trains. Phil was a natural and was soon enjoying driving around our track!
Phil then spent some time with our Publicity Officer, Amanda Wilkinson, who explained about the clubs community initiative - 'Community Hour' which helps local groups from schools, nurseries and care organisations to have exclusive access to the railway for educational visits and for people who maybe disadvantaged or disabled and so unable to enjoy the railway on standard running days.
Phil also took great interest hearing all about the clubs recent event days and how they are used to raise funds for the railways development projects which include; the addition of a new loading turntable, the purchase and refurbishment of two additional locos, the laying of a third rail to allow the track to run 3.5 inch gauge locos in addition to the original 5 inch gauge and new development of new infrastructure to support future steam operation.
Phil Brickell MP
Member of Parliament for Bolton West
It's been an honour to visit the Model Engineering Society and the railway! I have very fond memories myself, visiting as a child in the 1990s. Thank you to all the volunteers for keeping the local loco passion alive.