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The club was started in 1976 by a small group of members with like ideas. Initial discussions to form the society were held in local hostelries. A permanent meeting room to start building a layout was found in late 1976 at the aptly named “Railway Hotel” in Twist Lane, Leigh, which overlooked the site of the Bolton & Leigh Railway. After about 12 months the room had to be vacated and the layout stored. At this point we started to look for a new room, and Leigh Scouts offered a small temporary room.
Whilst the club was based temporarily in that room, one of our new members managed to negotiate with the local cinema (Which is now the “Thomas Burke” pub) to use some of their space. They were given a large room in the foyer to “The Gods” - the top row of the cinema.
In the late 1980’s, the cinema re-organised and we were asked to find a new home again.
Eventually in 1981, the club managed to procure its’ present premises with the generosity of the 20 members and also Greater Manchester council via a grant supported by Councillor Gordon C Thomas.
The club continues to grow with 22 members at present. There are several areas of interest at the moment:
- OO gauge: LMS; GWR; 50’s/60’s BR steam; 60’s/70’s BR Steam/Green Diesel; 90’s/00’s Modern Diesel; German Trams.
- N gauge: LMS/BR steam; Modern Diesel; German Steam and modern diesel; American diesel.
- EM gauge: Industrial steam.
- HO gauge: German 50’s/60’s Steam; German Diesel/Electric 60’s to present.
- HOm gauge: Rhaetischebahn steam/diesel.
- O gauge: BR 50’s/60’s steam; German Diesel/Electric.
Club nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7.30pm until 10.30pm. Prospective new members are most welcome to visit us on any club night.
If you would like to come down to see us one evening, please contact one of our members listed on the “Contact Us” page and we will give you directions.
Lancashire Witch.
The Lancashire Witch has been adopted as the club’s emblem and is worn on our tee shirts at exhibitions. It is taken from a drawing of the locomotive made in 1828.
PLEASE NOTE: The items in the next paragraph which are underlined link to an external website of which we have no control or influence and we take no responsibility of the content of them. If you find that these link to any objectionable or incorrect material, please contact us and we will remove the links as soon as possible.
The “Lancashire Witch” was built by Robert Stephenson in 1828 for the proposed Bolton & Leigh Railway. The locomotive was a development of the Locomotion that had been built by George Stephenson and Timothy Hackworth for the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. The cylinders were placed on each side of the boiler that inclined at about forty-five degrees. The pistons drove the front wheels directly. This made her the first locomotive with steel springs on all wheels.
The Lancashire Witch had two furnace flue tubes which joined together at the front into a single chimney. Robert Stephenson also added nozzles in the firegrate through which air was pumped by bellows in the tender. Using this method it was possible to burn coke rather than coal and therefore reduced the amount of smoke produced. Weighing only seven tons, the Lancashire Witch could pull a load of 40 tons up an incline of 1 in 440 at 8 mph (13 kph).
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