All aboard the back garden railway

By Paul Bromley, volunteer reporter

A retired railway worker who has built a full-sized working track in his back garden is planning to open for more open days following the success of charity fundraising events.

Adrian Backshall’s tours of his Eastbourne garden railway have included solar-powered rides on a converted platelayer’s trolley which has been fitted out as a carriage.

A special event last Friday brought rail enthusiasts from as far away as Shropshire to his garden in Willingdon to raise money for St Wilfrid’s Hospice. In June, an open day for Eastbourne residents brought in more than £2,000 for the hospice.

Adrian, 64, said: “The visits have been such a success and we enjoyed it so we want to do more charity open days next year.”

The Eastbourne Reporter joined a select group of members of the Branch Line Society for the latest glimpse behind the scenes of the rail enthusiast’s pride and joy.

It all started when Adrian, above, joined British Railways in 1979 at Haywards Heath working as an engineer on the live rails. He stayed with the railways all his working life and ended up with Network Rail.

With the help of former colleagues, he had collected various railway items, including rescuing a Victorian platelayer’s trolley which had been left rotting in Brighton sidings.

When he moved to his current home in Willingdon, it was his wife Ruth who suggested he could put a railway in the garden.

“So it’s all her fault!” says Adrian as the couple serve cups of tea and chocolate brownies to their guests in the garden beyond the buffer stop at the end of the tracks.

During the Covid lockdowns, the idea took hold and other friends – including blacksmiths and signwriters – used their skills to help him fulfil his dream of a moving carriage on a section of track.

It initially ran for 30ft using a rope winch but Adrian had to wind the mechanism by hand which meant he could not travel in the carriage.

Since then he has extended the railway to 50ft (after laying down more track while his wife was away for the weekend) and developed it to run via a battery charged by solar panel.

It means Adrian can enjoy the fruits of his efforts just like the many friends and visitors who have been for a ride in his converted carriage.

The inside is fitted with comfortable chairs and a heated stove. Adrian uses it to entertain friends and even sleeps in it on occasions using a plank and cushions.

It has received widespread publicity and won the ‘unique’ category in the Shed of the Year competition in 2020.

“A friend calculated that it travels at about one third of a mile per hour and I reckon about 100 people have travelled in it by now,” said Adrian.

The charity tours started after a suggestion from a visitor to the couple’s home for an art Open House event. Ruth is a painter and Adrian makes items out of driftwood.

“They suggested we should also open the garden railway to visitors for the hospice so we did it this year on a very hot day in June. It was a success and so we will do it again next year,” he explained.

Branch Line Society member Stuart Chapman drove from Shrewsbury in Shropshire to view Adrian’s garden railway.

He told Eastbourne Reporter: “I like unusual railways. This sounded somewhere a bit different so I thought it would be interesting to visit.

“This is a standard gauge railway in an average-sized back garden. It shows you what can be done with a bit of effort and imagination.”

Fellow enthusiast Geoff Noakes travelled by train from Motspur Park in south-west London to attend the event.

“It’s not every day you find a working railway in someone’s back garden,” he commented.

After the train rides (including sheltering inside the carriage during a sudden downpour), Adrian showed us the contents of his garden shed, above.

As you’d expect, it’s decorated on the outside with railway items and is full of railway items including a Southern Railway train driver’s chair, signalling equipment and signs.

Adrian has a boyish enthusiasm as he explains the origin of each artefact in his collection. He says he doesn’t like to see anything thrown away and wants to maintain the tools used by previous generations of engineers and craftsmen.

As we leave, he delights in having shared his passion with other rail enthusiasts.

The final word though goes to Stuart as he prepares to drive back to Shropshire.

“This is the most fun I’ve had on a railway all year,” he said.

:: Paul Bromley is a qualified journalist and broadcaster who worked for 40 years for regional newspapers, the Press Association and Sky News. He now works in community rail.