About Our Railway
Opening in 2025, the Severn Beach Miniature Railway is set to bring back a slice of history while creating an exciting new attraction for families, railway enthusiasts, and visitors of all ages. Decades ago, Severn Beach was home to a beloved miniature railway that delighted generations of locals and visitors alike. While that railway is no longer in operation, we are thrilled to rekindle its spirit and create a modern experience that honors its legacy.
Nestled in the picturesque coastal village of Severn Beach, this new railway will offer scenic train rides, family-friendly play areas, and plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Our mission is to create a unique destination that combines nostalgia, education, and fun while celebrating the charm of miniature railways.
Whether you’re a local eager to reconnect with a cherished past or a traveler excited to explore something new, the Severn Beach Miniature Railway promises to be a must-visit destination. Stay tuned for updates as we bring this dream to life and let the magic of miniature railways live on!
Follow Our Progress
Raffle updates. For the residents of Severn Beach ive planned a Christmas Hamper and gifts raffle. We will make about 5 Hamper filled with items families can actually use at Christmas. There will be several raffles running concurrently for the different prices. The ticket draws with be in Miriams Just as you are Tea Cottage. Were looking at dates around 1st week of December. We may make a super big Hamper which could be auctioned. All the proceeds raised will go to the Miniature railway project.
RAILWAY RAFFLE. Junction Railwayana and Collectibles have kindy donated a number of fine Railwayana items we can use to generate additional funds to construct the line. These items will be baffled off at some stage, we are looking into to best way to do this and the best method is to sell tickets either over the phone or online. The raffle would be filmed showing tickets being drawn so everything is clear and fair. The video would be posted and the winning numbers shown. We are in this process and setting ticket prices which will vary as some of the items are quite valuable. Details to be posted soon. Constructive comments welcome please .
Dear followers. Well were now into the shorter days, cold wet and miserable. However although we are still waiting on our planning decision things are looking very promising. We may even have a decision before Christmas. Our team and I are still busy behind the scenes planning stations, fencing, crossings, signals, signage and of course the fun part......track laying! Our Steam locomotive SEVERN PRINCESS is all cleaned and hibernating after several success steam events. Work will focus soon on restoration and re styling of our diesel hydraulic steam outline tender locomotive. Work is progressing by Joe Nemeth Engineering Ltd of a new build design of a wheels access vehicle wagon. This fine wagon Ive designed will look so good. Its will have air brakes, handshakes brake, drop down doors which allow for easy boarding and dismount by users. Extra seating for carers and family and a carriage design which does not compromise dignity. As im getting older I have had some nasty accidents in my earlier days or working which now are causing mobility issues. I have the greatest respect how wheelchair users and people with disabilities simply get on with their lives trying to be independent as possible. Our railway won't hamper this in any way! We have several volunteers on the railway with a range of disabilities and they all take part in railway duties. Over the coming weeks i will show pictures of the carriage build.
APPEAL!!! Are there any businesses or individuals out there who hay a small excavator which we may borrow for preparing the track base. We have 3 members who know and have experience of operating one. We would of course take great care of it, lock it away in a shipping container in our compound. We would advertise on our site how you've supported us. We would consider buying one depending on costs. We are also looking to borrow a hydraulic post drive which fits a standard 3 pin linkage on our tractor. We need to erect 460 metres of fencing so probably 2 to 4 days would be sufficient. If you can help with thid please contact Joe Nemeth. Lead project engineer
07794 399335 thankyou.
Well it great to see North Somerset Council are pushing to get the miniature railway at Clevedon reopened. Clevedon is along the Severn Estuary and has also had a long miniature railway history, since 1952 and Severn Beach since 1936. Sadly we are now 5 months and still waiting for South Gloucestershire Council to make a decision. We have everything ready and were prepared to have had our railway opened last Easter. Don't give up on us as we are doing everything we can to get a decision, maybe you can help by emailing South Gloucestershire Council planning departments Susan D'Arcy. Susan is the planning officer handling this application. Here's some interesting reading and comments from residents at Clevedon .
Dear followers, we are very sorry for the lack of updates but we are waiting still on South Gloucestershire Council to sort our planning permission out. Many of you know we were given the go ahead back in February and would have had a basic railway operating for Easter. Sadly we were dealt the devastating blow that the original agreement was worthless. Muck of this summer was spent with the help of our local parish council in gathering up information and arranging specialist surveys to be able to submit a formal planning application. We are now hopeful that we will get this sometime in October November. In the meantime we have been working on other areas of the railway. Earlier this week some of our volunteers headed up by Mark went to the workshops to prepare SEVERN PRINCESS for winter hibernation! Thanks to all who made such a splendid job.
We are delighted to announce we are commencing the design and build of a wheelchair access vehicle for the Severn Beach Miniature Railway project. Its hope the railway will have two of the vehicles in time, more details once the design and calculations etc are completed. We are preparing some new items in readiness for the Frampton Fair on September 14th. We want to make some lineside features to give our passengers a more interesting train ride. Please visit our website to see what's happening.
Severn Beach Miniature Railway
www.sbmr.co.uk
URGENT: We Need Your Support! – Severn Beach Miniature Railway Needs Your Help to Become a Reality! (January 2025) (Summer 2025) (Summer 2025) (January 2025) (Summer 2025) (Summer 2025)
FRAMPTON FAIR SUNDAY 14th
SEPTEMBER. We have been invited by the Directors of Frampton Country Fair to set up our railway at this famous event. We met with the organisers yesterday to agree an area where we can set up, and boy, do we have an amazing location! This event sees in excess of 20 thousand visitors on the day with something for everyone.
On behalf of myself and my dedicated team of volunteers we would like to say a very big thankyou to all of you who follow our project. We invite you to join and share your comments. We are looking for volunteers and there are plenty of different jobs volunteers can take part in. Please contact me for more details. Joe Nemeth, project leader. 01291 790354
youtu.be/E8Ek0Hml5qM?si=JpTLlYkOnzpy_hg8
Some young children were really enjoying themselves on the train rides.
How nice for us that Clare Young MP was at Severnfest, even better was that she came to meet us at the railway. After a long interesting discussion with her on many different topics Clare wanted to learn more about the railway. Clare does of course know about our mission as its part of her job to know something about everything. I decided to find out a little more about her and what her role is. I found on Internet her maiden speech in Westminster. I was Impressed that more of her speech was about the communities she serves. Ive never seen an MP go into this much detail and passion for their constituency. Ive taken the opportunity to share this link of her maiden speech, enjoy!
youtu.be/LwwUFCG010w?si=O-kDAtUNSuEcFhlx
Showing the preparation work we all had to do in blistering heat the ladybird plague. Festival was a great success and Railway project met all its goals.
Our MP, Clare Young on the footplate of SEVERN PRINCESS. So many new residents to Severn Beach were thrilled to hear that our locomotive was named after the old Aust ferry boat which operated between Aust and Beachly up to 1966 when the Severn Bridge was opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth II. There was four ferry boats SEVERN KING, SEVERN QUEEN, SEVERN PRINCESS and SEVERN PRINCE. Severn Princess has survived and is slowly being preserved in Chepstow.
Clare Young, MP visited our railway and went firstly for a ride on the train, she bought a ticket! Clare enjoyed it so much and wanted to know more. When I offered her a footplate ride I didn't have to ask twice. The background noise isnt the locomotive but the air blowers for the bouncy castles.
SEVERNFEST SUCCESS!!!!!
It was a very hot day yesterday and the crowds came on droves. Please of locals and visitors from all over. So many happy young children went on the train and recieved a colouring set of the locomotive. Many children and grownups had their pictures taken on our locomotive. Later in the afternoon Clare Young MP for Thornbury and Yate visited the festival to meet constituents. Clare later visited our railway to learn what the project was all about and how it aligns with community needs, Clare even travelled on the locomotive to get a feel what its like to be a driver. My wife and I would like to thank Adam and Nick from Severnfest for inviting the SBMR , thanks to all our amazing volunteers who help build the railway, run it and then help dismantle it. We still have more to do and we were all delighted to hear the public comments of how quite the train was, how smooth the ride was, no smoke from the chimney except the sweet smell of homegrown Welsh Steam Coal . The range of comments were all positive and some came to see what the railway would be like who were actually objectors initially. After we explained in detail how the railway would be built, operated and how it looked their concerns were dropped. All the public wished us good luck with our planning application and said they can't wait to see the railway built.
