by When most homeowners move into a new property, they expect to have a few bits and bobs left behind – perhaps a few appliances or old cleaning supplies. But most people wouldn’t expect to find a massive 150m model railway track buried in their new back garden.
Lauren Grundy has revealed just after moving into her detached 4-bedroom house in Derbyshire in November – and she’s revealing more tracks while tidying up the back yard. She is now on a mission to get the track back to working condition and has gained over 13,000 followers on TikTok who are eager to see her dream become a reality.
Lauren told Yahoo News UK: “We’ve found about 150-200 metres, at a guess, and it could be more, because there’s a lot of double lines that you can’t see at the moment.
“I’m a total newbie at this – I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m just winging it – but the TikTok people are full of useful information.”
Lauren knew of at least one section of the railway from when she and her husband Sean came to view the property, but much of it was covered by huge bush at the time, and she had no idea how much which was lying further back in the house. the garden.
“I’m uncovering even more. I’ll find some tracks buried in the mud,” she says.
“I think the garden is full of trees and because it hasn’t been maintained for so long, the leaves are falling and composting, and every year it’s getting a little deeper.
“It’s like I’m digging it. Every time I find more and think the track might be missing, I find it further down in the mud.”
When Lauren and Sean, both 35, moved from a housing estate in Derby to their new home near the village of Morley, they had a lot of tidying to do, both in the house and in the garden.
The previous owner, a model train enthusiast called Frank Hammersley, was an elderly man who lived alone, having lost his wife and child, which meant the property was under-maintained before it got he died in his nineties.
Lauren is thinking of ways to honor Frank after he restores his track to its former glory – as a station or train named after him.
“I’d love to see what he looked like, once in a while. People keep saying they’ve seen him work on TV but I’ve been looking for footage and haven’t found it yet.”
It is still relatively early days for Lauren, who has been carefully cleaning the tracks using a dust brush and brush, and a leaf blower, claiming that a pressure washer could blow some sections of the rail across the garden.
“I joke in my videos that it’s like doing an archaeological dig, because you’re so careful not to damage anything when you’re uncovering it,” she says.
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Before moving into her new home, Lauren wasn’t particularly into model trains compared to Sean, who works as an engineer.
“The train track is what sold this house to my husband. He thought, ‘this is it’, as soon as he saw it. He has never built a model train, but he always wants to. He likes his cars and stuff like that.”
After moving in, Sean agreed to focus on renovating the house itself, while Lauren worked in the garden, allowing her new enthusiasm for model railways to flourish.
“I have this image of sitting there in 20 years waiting for a train to bring me another drink,” says Lauren, who stays at home to look after her two children.
Lauren’s three-year-old son is already having fun playing with his Hot Wheels on the tracks, and she thinks her 16-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal, will be “so excited” when there’s a train. up and running.
Some sections of the track appear to be missing for reasons that are not clear, meaning that Lauren and Sean may have to spend around £60 per meter to replace those sections.
Rather than settling for cheaper battery-powered trains, they plan to buy mini-steam trains for the railway, which can cost up to £1,000 each.
Lauren has picked up some useful tips from staff at her local model shop and plenty of model train enthusiasts online.
A hobbyist who had a fully functioning railway in his garden, whom Lauren had contacted online, offered some words of encouragement, telling her: “Keep up the hard work and this will be yours. You will this before you. know it.”
Lauren adds: “People have offered to send a little train line to build a bridge where the bridge is missing. It’s incredible and so beautiful, so I’ll definitely give them a go if they have happy to help with that.”
As for the physical work itself, however, Lauren is happy to do most of it herself, with a little help from some friends who have offered to help.
While the response to her online project has been “overwhelming” and mostly positive, Lauren says there have been a few “disgusting” comments, with some calling the tracks “dark-eyed” as they should be. for her to “crack up”.
“That’s what I want to do more to be honest,” she says. “This man poured his heart and soul into this, and it would be a shame he wouldn’t run again.”
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