 Hello, thank you for joining me. I'm walking through a peaceful park in Ashford today. This is Ashford Kent Just down there is the River Great Stour and on the other side of the park is River East Stour And just north up here somewhere of the park, the two rivers join together And there was once a Ford there and that is where supposedly the name Ashford, Ashford come from I've come here today though to go and visit the Ashford Miniature Railway So I've never been to this town before apart from passing through on a train So what I'm going to do, I'm just going to have a little look around the town and then So we'll see the town centre and then we'll walk out to find this Miniature Railway So I'm just going to follow the Great Stour a little way and as I said Let's just go over. We'll see the East Stour and then We'll, as I said, go and find the Miniature Railway. There's an old mill here I think it looks possibly derelict now, but I think at one point after a big fire in the 70s It was converted to a nightclub, but it looks like it could be derelict again, which is a bit of a shame So here is the other River Stour Down there. So we have two rivers I'm now going to make my way into the town centre One thing Ashford is well known for is there was a railway worker here and they'd have seemed like a worker And it appears to be highlighted here with this fountain with a steam locomotive wheel in the middle of it So here we are, we're here in Ashford town centre. Lots of ice tulips out. Seems quite pleasant place As I said, I've never been here before but there's a real mixture of different styles of buildings I'm going to go down this narrow street here and go through have a quick look at the church And then as I said, we're going to carry on through the housing estates We're going to go and find this Miniature Railway because it's I'm not sure exactly how far, I'll know when I've walked there But it's not actually in the town centre, it's in housing estate So it's quite an unusual location for Miniature Railway, but I'm really looking forward to seeing it So go down this short little suit here, this one here There's the church of St Mary de Verge in front of us And it opens out into this really pleasant area, completely traffic free And you've just got these houses facing the church And the church isn't open so unfortunately we cannot go and have a look inside But let's have a look at the building And keeping in with Ashford's railway heritage, there's something around here I'm going to show you, we get round the corner, we come to Ashford Museum It's this building here now, it's not open today but it's free entry So maybe another time we will go there, it's the old grammar school Let's have a look at this sign here It's in the style of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway For Ashford Museum, so maybe another time we'll come to Ashford, we can have a look in there And in the meantime I'm now going to find my way towards the railway station And we're going to go out and see the Miniature Railway So we're going to go round here and we're going to go down this rather attractive road here All the daffodils are out, cherry blossoms out, it all looks really nice and attractive When I get to the end of this little, I don't know what to call it, it's an alleyway or street Or quite what it is, but it's the path around the church But as you can see people actually do live on here And when I get to just up here, I'm going to turn left, leave the town centre And just go and find the Ashford Miniature Railway I'm going to leave you with one more view of the Merida Virgin Church I've just left Ashford town centre, it's over there And I'm walking over the railway lines now It's quite a complex junction here because you've got high speed one and you've got the classic lines All in one junction, so we get quite a good view of it from here High speed one is down there, you can see the yellow and black building In front of it there's like a box, high speed one is down there in that box So if you were going on a train to Europe, you would pass down there And then it goes up onto a flyover And if you look out, you'll get a brief glimpse of Ashford International Station In the foreground is all the classic lines, you can see their third rail The high speed lines are overhead So then the lines between the box and the third rail lines That's where the stopping euro stars would use And so would the domestic trains, which come down high speed one So quite a complex junction here I've passed through it many times, although I haven't ever actually been on the line from here Towards Tumbridge, but we'll do that one day So I'm going to continue on out that way through the park and into the housing estates And find this miniature railway I just grabbed a coffee from the kiosk down there I'm now walking through Victoria Park, this isn't necessarily the most direct way to the railway But whenever I go somewhere, I do like to explore I make a bit of a walk of it and I saw a park on a map So I thought well, Marks will come this way And you know, it seems quite pleasant So I'm just going to make my way through the park, if I find anything else We'll certainly have a look at that And then as I said, we'll go to the Ashford Miniature Railway I'm just coming down this footpath here This is a bit of a shortcut to take me into the housing estate So if you were coming by car, you wouldn't come this way But I believe now we are very close So it's been a bit of a walk, but if you were to come by train You could always get a bus I've seen plenty of buses out this way to this part of Ashford So as we come out of the footpath, we come into a housing estate I find this quite an unlikely place for a miniature railway But that's what makes miniature railways so exciting They do sometimes turn up But perhaps you wouldn't expect to find a miniature railway So if you were coming to this housing estate You might as well get a sound of a de-switch A miniature railway It's just there So let's have a look We'll go around here There's the miniature railway See, two trains waiting at the station So what I'm going to do I'm going to go and buy my ticket And we'll go for a ride So here we are Here's the ticket office of the miniature railway See they've got a few stalls on So I'm going to buy my ticket And then we'll go get on the train And have a ride on the Ashford miniature railway I've got my ticket Let's go for a ride So come round here Here is the station So I believe we're going to let me in Hello Can I see your tickets please? Yes, there you go There we go Thank you very much I've dropped my ticket Can I open my gate over this way? Thank you very much So here we are Here's the train I'm going to jump on And go for a ride I'm going to let you on the other back He's Merlin So I'm sure we'll also get a bit behind Merlin So what I'm going to do I'm going to have another ride I think End of the line Now down here Hello And this is Ollie's railway So I'm going to have a bit of a chat with Ollie And he's going to tell us A bit about the railway Indeed So, yes, the Ashmit Railway is a non-profit organisation Run by myself And my brother George Who is currently driving the trains We started work in 2017 And we had our first open day in September 2019 Here at the railway we've got four locomotives Merlin who's sat here behind me Bridget who's a hard at work Putting trains as well as petroleum Our work source And our class 47 Which is currently being rebuilt So is there anything you'd like to ask me? So it's Seven and a quarter inch gauge Am I right there? Three gauge Yep We run on 21 mil aluminium track Great, yeah There we go There's a view of the track So the one thing I think is quite impressive About this railway Is the fact you are on quite a small site And I'm sure quite a lot of people would probably say Well, I'd love a minute's railway You know, in my garden But I can't Because I don't have enough space So what would you say to someone? Basically, we have a diamond crossover To be fitted in the next season We're going to fit a turntable in And we've got two platforms on the front of an island And that's on the other side So it can be done It can fit a lot in We've got plans for a tonne of possible things And our full significant system To change the system That would be interesting Yeah, I saw you've got a token system going That can be seen on the video I think is this Here comes the train So that's your other low code That's out today, isn't it? That's Bridget The newest 7.25-inch gate loco in Britain So today, I've had a ride Probably on the newest Maybe even the newest locomotive in Britain Yeah, I like that The other question I've got is You're in the middle of a residential area What do your neighbours think of you? Well, our neighbours We get along with them personally So our neighbours this side Gave us half-day round the way So we can put them Shed them a new siding in the future And our neighbours this side Absolutely love it Because their children can get free train rides And even the parents can get lucky sometimes It's helping out That's great to hear Get along quite well Good, that's really nice to hear So what would you say In the future? Have you got any particular plans? I know you said you've got a tunnel Possibly coming Yes, we've got a tunnel possibly coming On the alleyway section So we can run up to three breaks So basically two coaches and a wagon So the Diamond crossover Can you show us where it's going to be? Yes, of course That would be interesting to see that So we've got a crossing here So this is where you were saying So this is straight off and over Straight into the Diamond crossing here And to another siding It will be where our four aspects Our sides and stuff are at the moment So you've got, yeah If it's not, we can just Poncaloco there and something else Because we go past Yes, that would be interesting Now there's one other thing If we walk back up to the station Well, there's no trains running Just as I walked off the platform I know you have a Lister engine here Yes Would you like to tell me about that? Because I'm quite interested to know This is my Lister For the Wholesome price of £30 So we got down there We took it down We nearly broke the car with the suspension Due to the sheer weight of it But it needs a little bit of work done to it It needs the injectors And the fuel line to be plumbed And once that's done It will be going hopefully On to a seven quarter inch gauge List of auto truck of a sort With hopefully a five speed gearbox But when and when that's going to get done Is down to all sorts of factors But that would be something new for the future as well We look forward to seeing that So, yeah, thank you very much For telling you about the railway No worries Soon I shall, when the train arrives Empty, I'll enjoy the ride Back to the other end Definitely I've had a great afternoon here At the Ashford Minutes Railway Thank you very much, guys See you later If you're in Ashford area Do come and visit them It's a really nice little railway As I said, I've really enjoyed it I'm going to now make my way back to the town centre If you don't want to walk up here There are buses that come out this way So if you've come by train Or if you've parked in the town centre Do come and visit the Ashford Minutes Railway It's a really nice little railway So I hope you enjoyed this video Thank you very much for watching Please do feel free to like, subscribe And comment And from a housing estate in Ashford That has a miniature railway Goodbye