Smalmstown MOD Railway

[Elmgate]

Has anyone been watching the BBC Series "Great British railway Journeys", with Michael Portillo? Last night (14/01/10) he was in the Gretna Green area, and the programme featured a NG railway at an MOD facility, where armament shells are made. This has been in existence since 1916. The film showed a Barclay diesel on 2 ft or 2 ft 6 in track, and the "guide" stated there is over 20 miles of track (this may include some standard gauge sidings also).

The track plan is visible on Multimap (or other mapping providers) by searching for "smalmstown". This includes a large oval (about 1 mile by 3/4 mile!) and multiple sidings into the various manufacturing areas. An idea for a model perhaps? The programmes appear to be available on BBC iPlayer - but only for a short time.

Tim Sanderson