Hilcote Valley Railway - Eccleshall, Staffordshire,England, UK.
N 52° 51.617 W 002° 14.170
30U E 551426 N 5857001
The Hilcote Valley Railway is located at Fletchers Garden Centre, Bridge Farm on Stone Road in Eccleshall.
Waymark Code: WM103CV
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/18/2019
Views: 2
The Hilcote Valley Railway is located in the grounds of Fletchers Garden Centre in Eccleshall.
"The railway was constructed by Roger Greatrex, who commercially builds miniature railway equipment under the name of Knightly Light Railway Engineering, and first opened in 1993. The line is a circular route with a station which has a booking office and a signal box, the train takes passengers around a lake and through a tunnel and the motive power is a Union Pacific petrol hydraulic locomotive pulling 3 carriages on a 7 1/4 inch gauge track. The Loco is Number 6610 and named Hercules. Type 4-4wPH built in 2003.
Some years later Roger sold the Railway to Bill Fletcher of Fletcher's Family Garden Centre, it then passed onto Bill's son Rupert after Bill's passing. Before Bill's passing he had asked Mick Adams to take charge of the railway. During Mick's charge he cleared a lot of tree's and shrubs to further extend the railway. Old sleepers and track were also replaced. In 2017 whilst still under Mick's wing a new undercover station canopy was also added and a second platform planned for 2018. Stu & Corey Harris joined "Team Adams" in February 2018.
Sadly Mick passed away unexpectedly in May 2018 before the new Platform was finished. Now completed, the new platform is named "The Mick Adams Platform" in memory of a legend and great friend of Fletchers Family Garden.
Today, the railway is operated and maintained by Stu & Corey, a father and son team and "young Jack Harvey" the three remaining members of "Team Adams" along with selected members of the garden centre staff and volunteers Steve, Brynn & Dave and our Lady Driver Danii when cover is needed.
Stu commented of Mick, "We will never be able to fill Micks boots here at the railway, but we will keep it running in his honour. Mick was a great character and much loved member of the Eccleshall and Scouting community. We shall miss him deeply".
It's also good to know that Mr Rupert Fletcher and family are 100% behind us in keeping the railway, and Mick's memory alive.
We look forward to seeing you soon on what is probably the best value 7 1/4 gauge railway in Staffordshire." Source: (
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The Hilcote Valley Railway can be seen at the following YouTube link: (
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Address
Fletchers Garden Centre,
Bridge Farm,
Stone Road,
Eccleshall,
Staffordshire,
ST21 6JY
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Visit Instructions:Provide a picture of something with the train or related to the train. Possible photos include the train itself at any location along the route, a picture of the scenery with part of the train in view, the kids borrowing the engineer’s hat or of a family member with one of the miniature r.r. crossing signs. Show us you had a good time visiting the train. If the train isn't running when you visit get a photo of one of the miniature railway related items that can be found in locations like this