Miniature Railway DVDs
Return to Stapleford
RETURN TO STAPLEFORD is a tribute to the wonderful 10.25 inch gauge Stapleford Miniature Railway that runs for 2 miles through the landscaped grounds of the Gretton Estate at Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. Opened in 1958, the railway hosts a vast array of one fifth scale British, East African and North American prototypes and included in this programme are American Nickel Plate Road 'Berkshire' 4-8-2 752, and 'pride of the fleet' New York Central 'Niagara' 4-8-4 6019, as well as visiting LNER 2-6-2 V2 4750 Starlight and freelance NER 'Atlantic' 4-4-2 2003 Emily, together with resident Curwen built Western Region 'Warship' diesel-hydraulic 'The White Heron', which has served the line since 1961. During the course of this programme, which includes on-train footage, we will see the railway's locomotives working hard over the line's testing gradients, through landscaped grounds, tunnels and lakes. where we are able to witness all the aspects of this wonderful piece of miniature engineering. RUNNING TIME: 60 mins. PRICE: £24.99 (inc P&P).
The Forest Railroad Collection: 4 disc edition
THE FOREST RAILROAD COLLECTION: 4 Disc Commemorative Edition is a special commemorative 4 disc DVD set containing over 5 hours of archive digital footage of the final years of the world famous Forest Railroad Park at Dobwalls in Cornwall. Contained within this set is Farewell to the Sherman Hill route (88 mins), Locomotives of the Forest Railroad (80 mins), the original America in Miniature (41 mins) and The Forest Railroad: The Next Chapter (92 mins). The Forest Railroad originally opened in 1970, and for the next 36 years, until its tragic closure in October 2006, gave pleasure to millions, young and old alike! The vision of enthusiast John Southern, these four DVDs explore the legend of the unique Forest Railroad. Farewell to the Sherman Hill route (88 mins) explores the final days of the Union Pacific route, which opened to the public on 7th April 1979, and for the next 27 years prototypical Union Pacific 800 FEF 4-8-4s, such as 818 Queen of Wyoming and 838 Queen of Nebraska tackled the fierce 1 in 65 gradient of the Sherman Hill route. Witness the final train to ever pass over the Sherman Hill route, with cab footage from X4008 William Jeffers, giving the impression of what it was really like to drive and fire a mighty UP 'Big Boy' 4-8-8-4! In Locomotives of the Forest Railroad (80 mins) we explore each of the Forest Railroad's locomotives in turn, from the Rio Grande K36 and K37 2-8-2s 488 General Palmer and 498 Otto Mears to the Union Pacific 4-8-4s and 'Big Boy' 4-8-8-4, to the iconic Union Pacific, Rio Grande and Santa Fe diesels. The third disc, America in Miniature (41 mins), is our original DVD of the Forest Railroad, and filmed in 2005 it shows the world famous park during it last full season before closure. In disc 4, The Forest Railroad: The Next Chapter (92 mins) examines the park's transition from railroad to nature reserve, and we see the locomotives as they work at their new home on Vic Plowman's Railway at West Parley in Dorset, and we see the 'Big Boy' as she makes her first public passenger runs in 2 years, as she hauls trains for the first time in November 2008. Sadly, this legend of miniature railway engineering has now passed into history, with the collection's subsequent sale and relocation to a new miniature railroad in Australia in 2010. This 4 disc commemorative DVD set is a wonderful and lasting testament to this miracle of miniature railroad engineering which was sadly lost forever to the nation in October 2010. RUNNING TIME: 301 mins (approx). PRICE: £49.99 + £3 P&P.