It has been said there is a train driver in every grown man, so perhaps this is true of David - who has a lifelong interest in rail and has spent his working life in the industry.
As regular walker of the Flitch Way from Braintree to Rayne, he was impressed with the museum, which is housed in a 1968 carriage at Rayne Station. And he wanted to help.
Run by Friends of the Flitch Way, the museum was opened in 2014 and is home to a working model of Rayne station and the surrounding area as it would have been around 1944-45.
David was delighted to see parents and children visiting the museum, but felt it needed an important addition.
“It has been my ambition for a while now to see the quintessential BR Eastern Region Class 31 loco on the layout, to complement and widen the rolling stock viewing experience.”
Thanks to his donation, the 00-scale model now has the train plus a healthy financial boost. His interest in railways began, as for many others, at an early age.
“It was first stirred by a Triang-Hornby model railway my late father bought for me, when I was a little boy. That experience has stayed with me forever. My overwhelming aspiration is for the Rayne railway station layout, with my small charitable additions, will continue to inspire the youngest generations to similarly dream about trains and maybe a career in engineering – the way I did a very long time ago.”
The model railway was built by volunteers with assistance from members of Chelmsford Model Railway Club. The museum always needs more volunteers. Contact can be made via the Friends of Flitch Way website www.friends-of-the-flitch-way.org.uk or call 01376 329245.
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