A RETIRED aircraft engineer who has raised more than £20,000 from a model railway in the garden of his Wiltshire home has come to the end of the line.

Former British Airways Jumbo jet engineer Neville Boulton has decided to call it quits after 35 years of giving train rides for charity.

Over the years he has raised funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Bulkington Village Hall, the local school, Help for Heroes and Ukrainian refugees.

He has just packed up around 2,000 feet of track in his garden and his collection of three steam and diesel engines and has sold them to various buyers.

Wiltshire Times: Fundraiser Neville Boulton (right of cheque) with Dr Rosie Furse, pilot Simon Gough and paramedic Louise Cox with the cheque donated to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Photo: Trevor Porter 69831-2Fundraiser Neville Boulton (right of cheque) with Dr Rosie Furse, pilot Simon Gough and paramedic Louise Cox with the cheque donated to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Photo: Trevor Porter 69831-2 (Image: Trevor Porter)

Mr Boulton, 90, of Bulkington, used his miniature railway to give rides to hundreds of Wiltshire children and adults on charity open days.

He decided to close it down last autumn after realising that he was getting too old to maintain it safely.

“I am 90 years old now and I’ve got two broken feet. I was once told that I would be in a wheelchair by the age of 55.

“I was on a plane that caught fire at Heathrow Airport in 1968 and I had to jump off a wing after helping passengers to escape.

“In addition, my wife Thelma has got long Covid and needs looking after.

“I’m looking forward to a bit of a rest. I still have three-quarters of an acre of garden to keep up.”

Wiltshire Times: Neville Boulton drives one of the trains on his Great Bulkington Railway. Photo: Trevor Porter 67960-4Neville Boulton drives one of the trains on his Great Bulkington Railway. Photo: Trevor Porter 67960-4

Along with friends, the BA aircraft engineer spent months building the five-inch gauge miniature railway as a retirement hobby.

Opened in 1988, his Great Bulkington Railway track featured a 40-feet long tunnel and a working signalling system.

Mr Boulton and two friends, his dentist and a truck driver, laid more than 1,600 recycled plastic sleepers to hold the rails.

The last rail was fixed to the track with a ‘golden spike’ made by his dentist from a gold tooth filling extracted from one of his patients.

He and his engineering volunteers offered twice round the garden rides to children and adults for just £1 a ticket.

Over the past 35 years, Neville has provided more than 20,000 trips to visitors from far and wide.

“I keep on getting phone calls asking if they can come and have a ride on my trains,” he said.

Last year, he and his volunteers raised £742 to help provide essential items for Ukrainian refugees.