Full steam ahead for old railway station

DECADES have passed since the location saw its last train and a pub now stands in its place.

But Hull's Botanic Gardens railway station has not been forgotten and is being recreated – in miniature.

The station and its surrounding train lines, as it looked in 1913, was one of the layouts on display at the 30th annual Hull Model Railway Show, which was held at Costello Stadium in west Hull at the weekend.

Botanic Gardens station stood at the corner of Princes Avenue and Spring Bank, west Hull, before being demolished.

The Old Zoological pub now occupies the site.

The enthusiasts behind the miniature model – Chris Leach, 56, and David Burman, 65, both of Cottingham, and James Wells, 26, of Cherry Burton, near Beverley – are painstakingly recreating every part of it, and the engines which used the track.

They are members of the Hull Miniature Railway Society and the idea was first discussed by members in the early 1990s.

After years of research, which included work from other members, the project got underway in 1997 and the friends hope it will be completed within the next five years.

Mr Burman said: "It's the enjoyment that comes from creating something. This is very much a work-in-progress.

"The response has been very positive. Lots of people have come up and said they remember the area and some used to catch the train from there to Hornsea and Withernsea."

The two-day show, which attracted more than 1,500 people from across the UK and was organised by the Hull Miniature Railway Society, also included modelling demonstrations and the chance to buy the essentials for creating model railway layouts.