Tucked away in a wooded backroad in Kent in southeast England, is a club for model train
enthusiasts called The Gravesend Model Marine & Engineering Society - where, since 1953,
hobbyists meet to work on their mini locomotives.
And even though the trains are small, the work that goes into them is massive.
Most locos to actually build - it takes five to 10 years.
Some people have been on them even longer than that, 20-25 years.
And it's not only running them, you've got to maintain them and that takes quite a lot
of doing as well.
The club is open to the public on Sundays - hosting birthday parties, charity runs and
other events for children.
It's a great hobby to have because I think a lot of the youngsters that come up here
do appreciate what we do.
I've got grandchildren of me own and I know how much they enjoy it.
And over the years I have had three, four engines.
Unfortunately … do you want me to talk about - sorry.
Do you want me to talk about the robbery or not?
On February 14 of 2019 the unthinkable happened … and the club would never be the same.
We just sat down to eat breakfast when I received a phone call from Derek, one of our members
who's a dog walker, who uses this pathway.
And he just said, Tricia, I'm sorry.
Tough to tell you, but we've been burgled.
As we came through the gates, the door to the clubhouse was off its hinges and laying
on the ground.
Both these containers were open, the debris inside where they just gone through everything
broken into the locks where the trains were.
In total four trains were stolen - two belonging to individual members and two owned by the
club itself.
The value of the goods was estimated at 25,000 pounds.
Letting people know what had happened, calling them up to tell them was probably the worst
thing I've ever had to do.
It was horrible.
There were tears.
They may be grown men, but there were tears on my side and theirs.
When I walked in here and realized that my engine had disappeared, I must admit at that
time I felt like packing up to be honest.
To have that year, that engine over 20 years and to maintain it and keep it running, it
was devastating really, be honest, absolutely devastated.
And my grandchildren - well my grandson especially, cause he loved it and it really upset the
young fella, it really did.
The second member whose train was stolen decided to leave the club.
He was too heartbroken to continue.
Others, like Tricia, focused their energy on investigating the crime.
We now know that the thieves had a van of some sort parked at the end of this farmer's
pathway at the edge of this field.
They walked down this pathway, cut the farmer’s fence, climbed over, which brought them to
the back of our containers.
On entering, they angle-grinded through all these hinges.
They did this with the same one here.
And the last container here is where our two club engines were stored.
The police believe there must've been about four of them, as the engines obviously are
really heavy and to lift them over that fence must have taken some strength.
The police were unable to uncover any additional clues, but that night, Tricia received a phone
call from a model railway shop in Hemel Hempstead - a town about 90 minutes from Kent by car.
A man was offering to sell some model trains from his van, but when asked about paperwork
- a requirement for all engines - the man drove off.
It was matter of seconds, he said, when his helper in his shop came out and said, you'll
never guess what, Gravesend Model Marine had four locos stolen.
He was gutted.
From there we've had no real leads at all.
What we're hoping more than anything is that these people will leave them somewhere because
they can't use them.
They can't get rid of them without the paperwork.
They’re nothing as scrap.
And to the members, it would be lovely if they were found in a ditch somewhere or a
field anywhere - even if they’re damaged.
We've got the facilities where we can repair them.
The members were quiet for a few weeks.
Gradually we were lifted by the community around us who decided to do Just Giving page
for us and raise money.
Donations to the club totaled over 5,000 pounds - mostly from small contributions by friends,
community members, other clubs, and complete strangers.
The frowns, the tears gradually turned to smiles again.
We had such support from the community, a lot of us couldn't believe it because we just
saw it as a love of our own.
It was like a hobby that just keeps us busy.
But when we saw the support from the public, it was just brilliant.
We have bounced back very well actually.
Well, I went out and one of our club members - he happened to have a loco for sale.
I said to him, look, if you want to sell one of your engines, I’d be quite happy to pay
for - to buy one off you.
I feel a bit sorry for him really because the loco he’s given me is better than the
one he’s got.
I should think it’s quite funny actually.
The culprits are still at large, but the club is as strong as ever - chugging right along
with a newly completed expansion of their track.
These people will not stop us because we love what we do and that's the truth.
And if you enjoy what you’re doing, there’s nothing better than that.
And I think that says it all really.