King's Lynn and District Society of Model Engineers

	Important Information for Visitors to the Railway We at King's Lynn SME welcome visitors from other Model Engineering societies to our Club track, especially if you are bringing models to run and/or show. However as it is a small track with limited parking for both cars and locomotives, please contact us first if you intend visiting, that way we can prepare for you and give any information you might need. Finding Us To locate the Railway is quite easy; on approaching King's Lynn from any of the main routes there are brown signs for Lynnsport, follow these to the Lynnsport site. Soon after entering the Car Park, you will see an access road to the left marked as Staff and Services Entrance, and also a brown Miniature Railway sign; go down here and you can see the Railway enclosure at the end. Please take care and go slowly down this access road; Lynnsport staff are regularly in the area moving equipment and bins, and delivery vans are frequent. On Arrival On arriving at the site, please park just outside the gate/station and seek one of our members for guidance. They will ask you to sign the Visitors Book and see to your needs from there. If bringing models to operate, you will need to bring with you the following paperwork: Current Club membership card from your resident Society Public Liability Insurance certificate, you can normally obtain this from your own Club to cover you on visits to other tracks, or from specialist brokers such as Walker Midgely. Current Boiler Test Certificate, if you are bringing a steam powered model This is all standard stuff and will be required at most Model Engineering clubs that you may want to visit. The Lynnsport Miniature Railway We have a 670ft ground level circuit for 3.5", 5" and 7.25" inch gauges, and we have a 6 foot long hydraulic offloading ramp for heavier locomotives. We run in an anti clockwise direction, see the track plan below for more details of the track and its layout. This offloading ramp is also able to act as a turntable to rotate a locomotive if need be; however if you are able to load your loco into your vehicle/trailer so you can simply reverse it out, that would make the offloading process much quicker. Above: locomotive on the offloading ramp/turntable, completed early 2011. The ramp is 6ft long and has taken a large Romulus locomotive. Track Plan of the Lynnsport Miniature Railway Steaming Up and Taking Power For visitors wishing to operate their steam locomotive or traction engine, they must first present a valid Boiler Certificate and a current and valid membership card from the Society who issued the boiler ticket. This must be done before steam is raised. For steam locomotives, we have three waist height steaming bays for 3.5", 5" and 7.25" gauges, with a hosepipe water supply as well as a rainwater barrel. There is also a 12v power supply for locomotive blowers. The steam bays are accessed by a 5ft long 'turntable' type device, unfortunately due to constrictions at the time of building the Railway this is on a curve and cannot be used to actually turn a locomotive. Turning needs to be done on the offloading ramp. Battery electric locomotives can usually set up in the siding adjacent to the offloading ramp, or if preferred they can also use the steaming bay area. For traction engines we have a 12v supply situated beside the main Cabin for blowers, and water can be gained from the tank at the end of the station, or by hosepipe. Railway Running Guidance and Track Training will be given to you before running commences, it is quite simple and there is only one driver-operated point to use. The radius of our curves on the mainline is no less than 40ft, however on the non-passenger route between station and steaming bay the radius is a nominal 35ft. Larger locomotives, therefore, may not be suitable for our Railway. Our pointwork has been built to comply with 7.25" gauge standards and as such we hope most locomotives will pass through it ok; though on your first visit you may wish to do a few laps with caution to ensure all goes well. Hauling the Public If you wish to haul the public on our Sunday running days, this would be welcome and a great help to us. As we all like things to go smoothly and have an enjoyable afternoon indulging in our hobby, there are a few basic rules that we ask you to comply with - these are available in booklet form at the track and will be explained, but as a visitor you will need to know these in advance: You must be 16 or over to drive the public, and be considered competent at driving your chosen locomotive. If you are new to us, we will ask you to do a few laps with one of the regular track stewards on board to be sure you are a competent at handling the locomotive and train. Track Rules requires safety chains to be fitted between all vehicles of a train; including between locomotive and driving trolley. As long as you have a bracket with a 6mm or larger hole fitted to the framework of your driving trolley, you will be fine to couple to our coaching stock's chain, which has a D shackle fitted ready to connect. Our couplings are of the bar and pin type, we have a number of spares so we should be able to couple you up. M6 x 45 bolts or slightly longer are a good 'pin' Steam locomotives with a tender must have a sturdy coupling between the two and the Station Master must be satisfied that it is suitable before public hauling can commence. An effective brake is required on your driving trolley; the trains do not have continuous brakes and we use hand brakes on the driving and guard trolleys. Our gradients are shallow and trains short and speeds low, and we find this arrangement to be adequate for our needs. We exclusively use our own coaching stock for public services as we know these to be a safe, stable design and are preferred by our regular riders, who give us good feedback on these coaches. Clubhouse Facilities The Club cabin is our workbase and also houses our rest area. We have a number of padded chairs and a table, coat hooks and limited space to store equipment. There is tea and coffee making facilities, you may bring your own supplies if you wish but this is not necessary. A microwave is available for use. Toilets are available in the main Lynnsport building and access for KLDSME members and visitors is freely allowed. Also in the Lynnsport building, upstairs there is a bar selling hot and cold drinks, and a range of ready made sandwiches. Vending machines selling crisps, chocolates and cold drinks can be found in the Lynnsport foyer. A short distance from Lynnsport, there are two corner shops and two chip shops; the main King's Lynn town centre is close by with cafe's and restaurants. Any further questions about visiting, please Contact either Ron, Roger or Ben

Important Information for Visitors to the Railway

We at King's Lynn SME welcome visitors from other Model Engineering societies to our Club track, especially if you are bringing models to run and/or show. However as it is a small track with limited parking for both cars and locomotives, please contact us first if you intend visiting, that way we can prepare for you and give any information you might need.

Finding Us

To locate the Railway is quite easy; on approaching King's Lynn from any of the main routes there are brown signs for Lynnsport, follow these to the Lynnsport site. Soon after entering the Car Park, you will see an access road to the left marked as Staff and Services Entrance, and also a brown Miniature Railway sign; go down here and you can see the Railway enclosure at the end.

Please take care and go slowly down this access road; Lynnsport staff are regularly in the area moving equipment and bins, and delivery vans are frequent.

On Arrival

On arriving at the site, please park just outside the gate/station and seek one of our members for guidance. They will ask you to sign the Visitors Book and see to your needs from there.

If bringing models to operate, you will need to bring with you the following paperwork:

Current Club membership card from your resident Society
Public Liability Insurance certificate, you can normally obtain this from your own Club to cover you on visits to other tracks, or from specialist brokers such as Walker Midgely.
Current Boiler Test Certificate, if you are bringing a steam powered model

This is all standard stuff and will be required at most Model Engineering clubs that you may want to visit.

The Lynnsport Miniature Railway

We have a 670ft ground level circuit for 3.5", 5" and 7.25" inch gauges, and we have a 6 foot long hydraulic offloading ramp for heavier locomotives. We run in an anti clockwise direction, see the track plan below for more details of the track and its layout.

This offloading ramp is also able to act as a turntable to rotate a locomotive if need be; however if you are able to load your loco into your vehicle/trailer so you can simply reverse it out, that would make the offloading process much quicker.

Above: locomotive on the offloading ramp/turntable, completed early 2011. The ramp is 6ft long and has taken a large Romulus locomotive.

Track Plan of the Lynnsport Miniature Railway

Steaming Up and Taking Power

For visitors wishing to operate their steam locomotive or traction engine, they must first present a valid Boiler Certificate and a current and valid membership card from the Society who issued the boiler ticket. This must be done before steam is raised.

For steam locomotives, we have three waist height steaming bays for 3.5", 5" and 7.25" gauges, with a hosepipe water supply as well as a rainwater barrel. There is also a 12v power supply for locomotive blowers.

The steam bays are accessed by a 5ft long 'turntable' type device, unfortunately due to constrictions at the time of building the Railway this is on a curve and cannot be used to actually turn a locomotive. Turning needs to be done on the offloading ramp.

Battery electric locomotives can usually set up in the siding adjacent to the offloading ramp, or if preferred they can also use the steaming bay area.

For traction engines we have a 12v supply situated beside the main Cabin for blowers, and water can be gained from the tank at the end of the station, or by hosepipe.

Railway Running

Guidance and Track Training will be given to you before running commences, it is quite simple and there is only one driver-operated point to use.

The radius of our curves on the mainline is no less than 40ft, however on the non-passenger route between station and steaming bay the radius is a nominal 35ft. Larger locomotives, therefore, may not be suitable for our Railway.

Our pointwork has been built to comply with 7.25" gauge standards and as such we hope most locomotives will pass through it ok; though on your first visit you may wish to do a few laps with caution to ensure all goes well.

Hauling the Public

If you wish to haul the public on our Sunday running days, this would be welcome and a great help to us. As we all like things to go smoothly and have an enjoyable afternoon indulging in our hobby, there are a few basic rules that we ask you to comply with - these are available in booklet form at the track and will be explained, but as a visitor you will need to know these in advance:

You must be 16 or over to drive the public, and be considered competent at driving your chosen locomotive. If you are new to us, we will ask you to do a few laps with one of the regular track stewards on board to be sure you are a competent at handling the locomotive and train.
Track Rules requires safety chains to be fitted between all vehicles of a train; including between locomotive and driving trolley. As long as you have a bracket with a 6mm or larger hole fitted to the framework of your driving trolley, you will be fine to couple to our coaching stock's chain, which has a D shackle fitted ready to connect.
Our couplings are of the bar and pin type, we have a number of spares so we should be able to couple you up. M6 x 45 bolts or slightly longer are a good 'pin'
Steam locomotives with a tender must have a sturdy coupling between the two and the Station Master must be satisfied that it is suitable before public hauling can commence.
An effective brake is required on your driving trolley; the trains do not have continuous brakes and we use hand brakes on the driving and guard trolleys. Our gradients are shallow and trains short and speeds low, and we find this arrangement to be adequate for our needs.
We exclusively use our own coaching stock for public services as we know these to be a safe, stable design and are preferred by our regular riders, who give us good feedback on these coaches.

Clubhouse Facilities

The Club cabin is our workbase and also houses our rest area. We have a number of padded chairs and a table, coat hooks and limited space to store equipment. There is tea and coffee making facilities, you may bring your own supplies if you wish but this is not necessary. A microwave is available for use.

Toilets are available in the main Lynnsport building and access for KLDSME members and visitors is freely allowed. Also in the Lynnsport building, upstairs there is a bar selling hot and cold drinks, and a range of ready made sandwiches. Vending machines selling crisps, chocolates and cold drinks can be found in the Lynnsport foyer.

A short distance from Lynnsport, there are two corner shops and two chip shops; the main King's Lynn town centre is close by with cafe's and restaurants.

Any further questions about visiting, please Contact either Ron, Roger or Ben

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