- cross-posted to:
- rail
- cross-posted to:
- rail
When most homeowners move into a new property, they expect to find a few bits and bobs left behind – perhaps a couple of appliances or old cleaning supplies. But most people wouldn’t expect to find a giant 150m model railway track buried in the undergrowth of their new back garden.
Lauren Chessum uncovered just that after moving into her 4-bedroom detached home in Derbyshire in November - and she’s been unearthing more and more track as she tidies up the back yard. She’s now on a mission to restore the track to a working state and has gained her more than 13,000 followers on TikTok who are eager to see her dream turn into a reality.
Lauren told Yahoo News UK: "We’ve found around 150-200 metres, at a guess, and it could be more, as there’re a lot of double lines you just can’t see at the moment.
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Lauren was aware of at least one section of railway track from when she and her husband Sean came to view the property, but much of it was covered by a huge bush at the time, and she had no idea how much was lying further back in the garden.
“I’m still uncovering more. I’ll find some tracks buried in the mud,” she says.
"I think because the garden’s full of trees and because it hasn’t been maintained for so long, the leaves are falling and it’s composting, and every year it’s getting a little bit deeper.
“It’s like I’m excavating it. Every time I find more and think the track might be missing, I find it further down in the mud.”
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The previous owner, a model train enthusiast named Frank Hammersley, was an elderly man who lived alone, having lost his wife and child, meaning not enough maintenance was being carried out on the property before he passed away in his nineties.
Lauren is considering ways to pay tribute to Frank after restoring his track to its former glory - such as a station or train named after him.
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“I joke on my videos that it’s like carrying out an archaeological dig, because you’re meticulously being so careful not to damage anything as you uncover it,” she adds.
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Lauren’s three-year-old son is already having fun playing with his Hot Wheels on the tracks, and she thinks her 16-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal is going to be “so excited” once a train is up and running.
A few parts of track do appear to be missing for reasons that are unclear, meaning Lauren and Sean may have to spend about £60 per metre replacing those sections.
Rather than settling for cheaper battery powered trains, they plan on buying mini-steam trains for the railway, which can cost upwards of £1,000 each.
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That’d be a dream come true for me. The fact that she’s restoring it instead of just laughing while ripping the track from the ground is really cool.
It’s amazing, and I really hope the project to restore it goes well.
All I find digging in my garden is bricks and chicken wire.I found a few skulls and some money. No trains though!
Boring!
she thinks her 16-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal is going to be “so excited” once a train is up and running.
Not everyone with autism is into trains. That said, it is awesome and I bet he’ll love it, as will everyone else (from the sounds of it, the husband is itching to get stuck in too). I’d probably try and make it all Star Wars themed.
I imagine she knows her son well enough to make the comment.
My nephew is into elevators. Dude is 8 and will not say much but get him talking about elevators and he’s a chatter box. He likes anything mechanical so he’d probably be down with a mini steam powered train in the back yard!
I think most people would - not everyone though and the previous owner is lucky to have got new owners that are prepared to put the time and money needed into it (which will be a major undertaking, although they already have offers of help). Some people would tear it all out and tastefully landscape their garden to look just like everyone else’s.
What you say is a painful truth.
My previous house was Victorian and someone had ripped put the fireplaces; redid the porch and binned the stained glass; chiselled the moulding of the doors and nailed plyboard over the mess; got rid of the bannister uprights when they moved the stairs (moving the stairs was the only good thing they did), etc, etc. You are really only the custodian of a house for a while…
As a person who is the current custodian of a 1912 Tudor Revival that’s on the National Registry, I feel you. Our house is almost exactly as it was in 1912
The daughter of the guy who had it built lived there alone for almost all her life.
The history of old houses is something I do love
That sounds fantastic - 2 careful previous owners is ideal.
The previous owner of my brother’s house fancied himself as a carpenter (even had his own lathe in the garage) and my sister-in-law has a long list of things to remove/replace.
