All aboard! Leeds Model Railway Society held an open day yesterday at Westfield House in Bramley. Community reporter NELSON RODRIGUEZ was on hand to speak to organisers and capture the event with his camera.
Founded in 1947, the Leeds Model Railway Society brings together between 28 and 35 active members who build, restore and operate model railways.
As the society approaches its 80th anniversary, its members are also working to pass on a hobby rooted in craftsmanship, community and personal memories.
Some stories can fit inside a single room. In Leeds, some of them run along miniature railway lines, pass through model stations and carry memories from one generation to the next.
That is the world of the Leeds Model Railway Society, founded on 7 January 1947. Today, the society has between 28 and 35 active members, alongside other members who continue to contribute in different ways, particularly around exhibitions.
But behind the locomotives and carefully built landscapes, there is something more personal: memories.
Barry Oliver, a member of the society, says many of the items displayed on the layouts have their own stories. Some have been built or modified by club members. In his own case, he has pieces made by his father before he died.
The society also hears from local families who have inherited railway collections and do not know what to do with them. On one occasion, a woman brought in a box of historical railway material that had belonged to her late father. The club was able to advise her and put her in touch with a specialist auction company.
A hobby you can build with your hands
At a time when so much leisure activity takes place on screens, model railways offer something very different.
There is something tangible about building a scene, laying the track, working on a locomotive and finally watching the finished model move.
Oliver describes that physical quality as one of the pleasures of the hobby. Unlike many digital pastimes, a model can be held, examined and improved with your own hands.
Some projects take years. One of the models discussed during the interview had been under construction for a decade.
But Oliver says there is no fixed amount of time required. Someone starting out can build a small layout relatively quickly and develop the hobby at their own pace.
Nor does a newcomer necessarily need a large budget. Although new equipment can be expensive, second-hand items and bargains are available, while the society’s exhibitions also bring together traders offering equipment at different prices.
Oliver’s advice is simple: start.
Having someone to turn to when something does not work is also important. Members can share their experience, offer practical advice and help newcomers gain the confidence to keep going.
Keeping the hobby moving
One of the society’s challenges is attracting younger members.
Oliver says the current membership is largely made up of older adults, making it important to encourage younger people to discover the hobby.
Yet the society’s experience with visitors suggests there is plenty of potential. Children who encounter the layouts can become particularly interested in the buildings and scenery. The club also includes women who are passionate about modelling, including one member who previously worked driving locomotives for British Rail and now creates highly detailed models.
An exhibition for the community
The society’s annual exhibition is one of its main opportunities to meet the wider public.
The event takes place at the end of October and, according to Oliver, the exhibition referred to in the interview will be the society’s 61st. The club has previously held exhibitions at Leeds Corn Exchange, although changes to the venue and the disruption caused by Covid affected its activities.
Members also travel to other exhibitions, where they demonstrate different modelling techniques and showcase their layouts.
Oliver, for example, has demonstrated how to recreate the weathered and dirty appearance of railway equipment, adding another layer of realism to the miniature world.
A railway history in miniature
It may be easy to see model railways simply as a hobby involving small trains. For the people who build them, however, they can also be a way of preserving knowledge, objects and memories connected to Britain’s railway past.
The Leeds Model Railway Society shares its work through exhibitions, magazine articles and online publications, helping to introduce the hobby to a wider audience.
Nearly eight decades after its foundation, the society continues to bring people together around a simple idea: building something by hand and watching it come to life.
The trains may be miniature. The memories behind them are not.
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