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
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.
Today has been a blisteringly hot day, we've been setting up the railway for Tomorrow's Severnfest. The track is down and locomotive and stock on site. Tomorrow is bolting the track together and getting it level. Thanks to everyone who helped and especially Dave Bryant international transport services who supplied the lorry and his staff FOC. Dave is an amazing community spirited guy who often helps out. Will bring you updates tomorrow.
Some of our volunteers and I have been busy last few days helping the parish council to prepare the site for Severnfest this Saturday. We have been cutting grass and weeding on the promenade gardens. We decided to cut the grass at both station sites as it needs to look its best. In the early spring I sowed about 3 kilos of wild flower seeds and now their popping up everywhere. Heres a few pics showing how the site is looking.
Just to let everyone know that the Severn Beach Miniature Railway will be setting up for the Severnfest this weekend. It will only be for one day just for this amazing event. Please come along and meet the team and myself and get a real taste of how the railway will look. We will lay 120 metres of track on the grass and will run from 1pm when the festival opens. The event goes on to 10 pm with 3 stages and over forty bands. Star act wilk be ABBA tribute band and Toploader! Large funfair with Dogems, loads of attractions for children and families. Licensed bars and plenty of top class catering. We would like to say a very big thankyou to local transport haulier Dave Bryant of DB International transport services for providing the transport FOC for this community project. Without his help this would not happen.
