By Lorna Gordon

What began as a diagnosis for a chronic health condition has grown into one of Australia’s most unique community fundraising events. On Saturday, 29 August, the Galston Valley Railway will once again come alive with the sound of miniature locomotives as volunteer teams from across New South Wales take on the Galston 500, a 500 lap endurance challenge raising funds for multiple sclerosis (MS) research.

Behind the event is organiser Allie Thackray, whose own journey with MS inspired her to create something that not only raises vital funds for research but also brings communities together in an unforgettable way.

For Allie, receiving an MS diagnosis in 2013 was surprisingly a moment of relief.

“I’d been symptomatic since I was a teenager,” she explains. “I had strange illnesses, random pains and overwhelming fatigue. Doctors kept telling me it was all in my head. If only one of them had looked properly, they would have realised it actually was.”

Throughout her teenage years and early twenties, Allie struggled with symptoms that resembled chronic fatigue syndrome. Later came debilitating vertigo, worsening pain and fatigue. Eventually, one side of her body went numb and her speech became slurred. Doctors feared she had suffered a stroke, but when the neurologist arrived, the answer was something entirely different.

“They’d sent in the stroke team, but the neurologist said it was MS.”

After years of wondering what was wrong, finally having a diagnosis gave Allie clarity. But it had also forced her to rethink the future she had imagined.

“I wanted to be a vet or a lawyer,” she says. “Growing up on a dairy farm, Mum always thought I’d become a vet because of the way I loved animals. But I couldn’t concentrate, and finishing Year 12 was a struggle. MS took those dreams away.”

Instead of dwelling on what she had lost, Allie adapted. Knowing her health could fluctuate, she deliberately built a career she could manage around her condition, establishing a business specialising in printing logos onto promotional products and working largely from home.

While MS continues to affect her daily life, it has also strengthened her determination to make a difference. That determination eventually found an unlikely home at the Galston Valley Railway.

When Allie met her husband Evan, she knew nothing about miniature railways. Evan, however, had grown up around them, with his father deeply involved in the railway community. The couple decided to marry at the picturesque Galston Valley Railway in 2017, exchanging vows on the footbridge surrounded by steam engines and bushland.

“It turned out to be an amazing day,” Allie says. “I organised everything and had the whole day planned down to the minute.”

After the excitement of planning the wedding, Allie found herself looking for another challenge. Then, while watching the Bathurst 1000 with Evan, inspiration struck.

“I thought, why couldn’t we do something like an endurance race with miniature trains?”

That simple idea became the Galston500. The inaugural event raised around $6,000 for the Kiss Goodbye to MS campaign. Following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Allie and the organising team partnered directly with The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, ensuring every dollar of profit now supports groundbreaking MS research.

Today, all proceeds from the event help fund the work of researcher Dr Grant Parnell and his team as they investigate the role of the Epstein-Barr virus in MS and work towards developing preventative treatments. Their research also aims to improve and simplify the diagnosis process, potentially benefiting people living with other autoimmune diseases as well.

Since its inception, the Galston 500 has raised more than $78,000 for MS research. Allie told me that the goal for this year is more ambitious.

“Last year we donated $16,200. This year we’d love to reach $20,000.”

The event itself is unlike anything else in Australia. Hosted by the Hornsby Model Engineers Co-operative Ltd at Galston Valley Railway, teams from clubs across New South Wales, including Newcastle, West Ryde, the Blue Mountains and Nurragingy, bring their beautifully maintained five-inch gauge locomotives to compete in an endurance challenge unlike any other.

The aim is simple: complete a combined total of 500 laps around the railway’s one-kilometre bushland track. Each lap takes around 15 minutes, meaning the challenge requires approximately 20 locomotives working together throughout the day. To ensure they can do the full 500 laps, the first trains leave the station at 7am, well before the public arrives.

“By the time visitors come through the gates, we’ve already completed a couple of hundred laps,” Allie says.

Although competition between the teams is friendly, organisers keep track of which crews spend the most time on the track and complete the highest number of laps. Each miniature locomotive is a feat of engineering, capable of pulling at least 500 kilograms (and some up to 2 tonnes) by the steam engines which are miniature coal fired steam trains like our grandparents would have travelled on.

While the endurance challenge is the heart of the event, visitors will find plenty happening throughout the day. Families can enjoy train rides through the scenic bushland setting, browse craft and toy stalls, enjoy live music from the Hornsby RSL Pipe Band and local performers, grab a coffee or homemade cakes and biscuits, and visit displays from the Rural Fire Service.

Every year, Allie also introduces a fun dress-up theme for participating teams.

“This year’s theme is ‘Let’s Celebrate’,” she says. “People can dress up as anything they wear for their favourite celebration. That’s part of the fun.”

Children receive free entry to the park, while adults pay an entry fee that helps cover the operating costs of maintaining the volunteer-run railway. Train rides are available for a small additional fee, with all fundraising profits directed to MS research.

Beyond raising money, the event also shines a spotlight on the miniature railway community itself. The railway relies entirely on volunteers, and there are opportunities for almost everyone.

“We’d love more members,” Allie says. “Miniature railways are becoming a dying hobby. If you enjoy gardening, maintenance, electronics, administration, catering, libraries, telecommunications or whatever you do for work or fun, there’s probably a way you can help here.”

As the event has grown over the years, so too has the incredible team supporting it.

“Now everybody knows their role,” Allie says. “The community has taken over in the best possible way. Everyone knows what to do, and that makes such a difference, especially when you have MS because organising events can be exhausting.”

She credits the event’s success to an enormous network of supporters, including major sponsors Hare & Forbes Machinery House and Bendigo Bank, the volunteers from Galston Valley Railway and Nurragingy Miniature Railway, the Hornsby RSL Pipe Band, the Rural Fire Service, countless local businesses, entertainers, community groups, and, of course, her husband Evan.

“My favourite part of the day is seeing everyone enjoying themselves,” she says. “Knowing we’ve raised money for research while bringing the community together makes all the hard work worthwhile.”

Whether you’re fascinated by miniature trains, looking for a fun family day out or simply wanting to support an important cause, the Galston500 offers a truly memorable experience.

From the first whistle echoing through the bush at dawn to the final lap later that afternoon, every kilometre travelled brings researchers one step closer to improving the lives of people living with MS.

The Galston500 will be held on Saturday, 29 August at Galston Valley Railway, with public activities running from 10am to 3pm. Visitors can also support the cause by donating online, even if they can’t attend on the day.

As Allie has shown, sometimes the most extraordinary journeys begin on the smallest of tracks. Find out all the details of the Galston 500 at the website, www. galston500.com