A brief History of the Maidstone Model Engineering Society – To the opening day

This history was written by founding member Phil Davis in 1994 and covers the formation of the Society and the construction of the raised track at Maidstone Park. In 1994 the Society was in the process of laying the 7.25″ gauge ground level track which resulted in some changes to the raised track. We have kept the text in the present tense as written in 1994 however while taking this document from typed original we have added the photos and drawings.

Of the locomotives mentioned in the article:

K911 is in a private collection awaiting rebuilding.

Jumbo was rebuilt from 5″ gauge to 7.25″ gauge and is now known as the Critter.

Jill is still in service as she was built and can be seen running at times on our raised track.

We’re unsure of the current locations of the County and Titch.

A brief History of the Maidstone Model Engineering Society to the opening day

By P.J.D. Davis (1994)

I have been requested to write a history of our Society. At the time of our formation I was employed in the City Engineer’s office, this gave me fairly easy access to the then Mayor, Town Clerk, Councillors and a number of staff members. Special mention should be made concerning the Director of Parks, Mr Allan Morgan. He was a real tower of strength and in the early days most helpful, having more than a passing interest in the area of land we now lease from Council. 

Our history begins in 1967 when I was a member of the Hutt Valley Model Engineering Society. I recall the occasion when I ran my “County” at Petone on a windy day and on returning home found all the inside valve gear covered in sand. The situation was so bad that, to effectively rid all the moving parts of sand, entailed removal of boiler. I was giving vent to my feelings when Allan Morgan called and wanted to know why the air was so blue. I told him in no uncertain terms. No comment was made, but in a week or so he came to the Drawing Office and mentioned he had something of interest to show me in Maidstone Park. 

This was the area of land we now occupy and Mr Morgan thought the area would be suitable for the building of a miniature railway. I agreed with him. The land concerned had been a dumping ground for years, long before Mr Morgan was appointed as Director, and was a real dumping ground for all types of rubbish, such as stumps, old sheds, just to mention a few. However, I could see the potential of the site. The next item was the necessary approval of Council for us to form a Society and the use of Council land. 

The matter was first raised at a Library & Reserves Committee meeting held on 7th February 1967, as a result of a letter written by me on 30th January 1967. At this meeting our proposals were outlined and it was also pointed out in a letter from the Lions Club that they were interested in co-operating with the Society in the construction of the track. A plan of the track was tabled at this meeting; this was a proposal subject to final surveys. After discussion it was recommended that Council agree to the establishment of a miniature railway within the confines of Maidstone Park. 

Our first meeting was held in the Council Chambers on 27th February 1967. 

Present: P. Davis, L. Peace, J. Ross, F. Schneider, L. Kay, A. Cheshire, R. Thomas, L. Burney, L. Gear, D. Ross, B. Ross, S. Welham, M. Gilbert, R. Redward, D. Brown, D. Wilson and R. Kay from Lions Club. 

Apologies: M. Duston, W. Russell, R. Radford and A. Morgan, Supt. Parks & Reserves. 

At this meeting a name of the Society was agreed to, so the Maidstone Model Engineering Society was born. The major item was the election of officers: 

President: P. Davis 

Vice Presidents: R. Kay (Lions Club), L. Kay 

Secretary/Treasurer: S. Welham 

Committee: R. Thomas, A. Cheshire, B. Ross 

Supt. of Motive Power: F. Schneider 

Public Relations Officer: R. Burney 

At this stage Brian Ross offered us the use of Anthony Motors showroom as a meeting venue. (This building is now occupied by Beaurepairs.) 

At this stage the amount for annual subscription was decided upon: 

Adults £1-00 (One Pound) (Two Dollars) 

Students 10/- (Ten Shillings) (One Dollar) 

At a Committee Meeting on 13th March 1967 it was reported that the Mayor, Mr P.H. Kinsman, had agreed to be the Patron of the Society and Mr W.F. Downs, Councillor, had agreed to be Vice President. Mr L.F. Beck, Barrister & Solicitor, had agreed to act for the Society if and when necessary. 

It was at this stage that the Lions Club commenced fundraising. This they did by organising raffles in hotels and suchlike. From memory, an amount of approximately £1100.00 (Eleven Hundred Pounds) was raised by this means. 

Another popular fundraiser was an elephant race in Main Street. I understand that after this event the street cleaners were kept very busy. 

In the meantime, Granville Walker, a staff engineer in the Engineers Office, commenced the associated survey work and drawings for the track. Before leaving the U.K. Mr Walker had been associated with alterations to Kings Cross station yard, so our project was in good hands. 

However, about this time there was an unfortunate split in the Society. One group wanted what they referred to as an exciting railway with sharp curves and steep grades. I pointed out that safety of passengers was paramount and that we had to consider those members with the lower powered locomotives. So I am sorry to say that owing to this our numbers were reduced somewhat. At this time Sam Welham resigned as Secretary and Geoff Madge was appointed as 

Secretary/Treasurer, a position he held with distinction for many years. 

The early phase of our activities had now ended and the real work commenced. The Mayor, Mr P.H. Kinsman, turned the first sod on Saturday morning early in November 1967. Unknown to him we had cut it out the previous evening, this obviating any undue strain on the Mayor’s back. 

It was a great thrill to see the Lions, led by Mr E.E. McCarthy, tackle the construction of our railway. The heaviest work involved the top cutting and the Council’s air compressor was worked to full capacity within the rock cutting. We are very fortunate that many aspects of our track construction has been captured on movie film by Maurie Dustan who had his camera in action without us being aware of it. 

The first day the Lions used two trucks to convey spoil from the top cutting to an area adjacent to the traverser. The Lions placed the piers and reinforcing rods ready for the pouring of the ready-mix concrete. Society members followed up with the timbers and rails etc. The first sod was turned in November and by Christmas we had trains running from the new station site to the beginning of the top curve. Most of the running was done by Frank Schneiders 5″g “Titch”, plus to a lesser extent by K911.

Early in 1968 the Director of Parks expressed dissatisfaction with construction progress. This is when Roy Wilkinson was placed in charge of the project, resulting in the driving of the “last spike” in July 1968. Roy is still one of our boiler inspectors. 

During that year work proceeded on the manufacture of five passenger cars which over the years proved their worth. Thanks to the efforts of the late Harry Tinsley we were able to have built two petrol locomotives, “Jumbo” was the first, followed shortly after by “Jill”. In the dry season these engines were very valuable and they had the additional advantage of being very simple to handle. 

About this time Derek Brown was able to procure for us an old railway hut for storage purposes etc, so I had it placed adjacent to our present steaming bays. As soon as Alan Morgan saw it he said two words, “shift it”. He said there was a danger of flying cricket balls, so this is the reason why it had to be placed in the vicinity of the 40′ radius curve. We always seemed to have plenty of work on hand, priming of timber (we have to thank Mrs Madge for this work), and all steel work had to be painted. We had excellent public support, some Sundays would see a queue from the station down to the amenity block, so we had no financial problems to speak of. Our fare for a circuit in those days was one shilling (or ten cents). 

Thanks to the efforts of the Lions, on Saturday October 4th, 1969 the complex was opened by Peter Gordon, the Hon. Minister of Railways. He also unveiled the monument. 

K911 had the honour of breaking the ribbon, driven by the Hon. Minister. This was followed by a number of locomotives driven by members from other clubs. The Minister remarked that he was not used to opening railways, usually the opposite. 

Until a year or so ago, apart from executive changes, the Society affairs were more or less static. This is the reason that I have only covered the time of our early years, which were full of interest.