It's been a rough ride but a dedicated team has brought a railway back to life

The region's 51 minature and model railways range from tiny engines being run a couple of days a year to major tourist operations.

Chris Webber visits the Saltburn Miniature Railway as volunteers prepare to reopen it after a £150,000 refurbishment

EVERY schoolboy wants to be a train driver. So it was not surprising that as a schoolboy Reg Blacklock decided to spend a few hours helping out at Saltburn Miniature Railway.

That was 1950. A working lifetime later and he's still there, still a volunteer, and still mad about trains.

Now he and a team of eight volunteers are proudly putting the finishing touches to a £150,000 refurbishment before a grand reopening this Sunday.

It's a long way from the moment back in 1983 when Mr Blacklock and other enthusiasts, saddened by the state of the derelict railway and its forgotten, flooded locomotive, formed the Saltburn Miniature Railway Association.

It took four years of coffee mornings and jumble sales and an immense amount of physical labour to finally get the engine back on the track.

Even then it was no great attraction. The team would be lucky to take £20 a day at the height of the season.

But, after yet another Herculean effort, they turned that around too.

Last year there were 16,000 paying customers - not including block bookings which could push the total up to about 20,000.

No doubt it was that kind of interest which encouraged Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to apply for £150,000 European Union and National Lottery funding to build an engine storage station, and pay for work on track-laying and a fresh lick of paint.

The new-look railway was given the all-clear by Health and Safety Executive inspectors last week and now the volunteers, who have never taken a single penny for their work, are bracing themselves for the rush of Easter holiday-makers.

"It's been hard work, but well worth it," said Mr Blacklock, beaming with pride as the sun shone on the fruits of the volunteers' hard work. "Now we have a miniature railway that stands comparison with any in the country - something we can all be proud of."

* Saltburn Miniature Railway will be open until mid-September, from 1pm to 5pm Saturdays and Sundays, and daily throughout the school holidays except Mondays. An adult single fare is 60p and a return £1.20. A child single is 30p and return 50p. For party bookings, phone 0781 3153975.