All aboard for an English hobby

We English tolerate a lot of eccentricity. Train spotters perhaps get a hard time, but what about Train collectors ? Well I spend yesterday looking over such a collection at Mangapps near Burnham-on-Crouch run by the Jolly family.

In the words of its own web site

Mangapps Railway Museum is a privately owned working museum established on a farm at Burnham on Crouch, Essex. It features a mile standard gauge passenger carrying line, with restored stations, signal boxes and ancillary equipment removed from various sites throughout East Anglia.

To operate the line the Museum has 10 steam and diesel locomotives and over 80 carriages and wagons, some of considerable historic and technical interest.

What I really like about this sort of place is the open enthusiast nature, much like the Brookland's Museum conveys.

If you live in Essex then its a good Sunday afternoon out option. As ever the polish and "visitor centre" sheen is missing - but that's really the charm and perhaps part of the point.

It equally alarming to see items I've used - like platform ticket vendor machines - now in a museum !

PS Note you'll most likely need a car if your a family - its not easily walkable from the the railway station at Burnham-on-Crouch.


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