A model railway club has sounded its horn for new members.
The Pennine Model Railway Society is on the look out for younger generations to join the ranks and discover the “fascinating” world of miniature railway building.
The appeal by the club, which meets every Tuesday from 6pm at Golcar Baptist Church has been made on its 25th anniversary in a bid to highlight the many skills younger people can obtain through joining it.
Behind the doors of the church on Chapel Lane, dozens of dedicated members come together to create authentic layouts of railways big and small from across the world and learn how to take on roles such as carpenter, painter and electrician.
Graeme Royston, 55, said: “It’s a fascinating past time which offers lots of skills and possibilities and we just want to tell younger generations about it.
“We build railways from small N Gauge size to the popular Hornby size and even bigger.
“Some of the ones we have at the moment include a Wild West theme railway and one that looks like it’s based in an old, grimy Yorkshire town.
“People can bring in their own models they’re working on but because we get money for exhibiting our layouts we are able to buy equipment for everyone to use and work with together.
“We are not about model train sets– it’s a serious business that requires lots of skills which we learn and help each other with.”
Graeme explained the many joys he has got out of the hobby since he took it up several years ago.
He said: “I can’t think of many other hobbies like this where you learn to do woodwork, solder, build structures and engines– nothing is built from a box.
“We work like a theatre works– we create the scenery and all the behind scenes equipment that makes everything work.”
“The best thing about it is getting that it’s a hands on hobby where you get to produce something at the end of it and learn lots of crafts, as well as learning how to solve problems and getting to work together in a team– it’s just really satisfying to be a part of and it’s a great escape from every day life.”
The club will host an open day on August 1 10am to 5pm at St Philip’s Community Centre on Briarlyn Road, where visitors will be able to have a go with the model railways themselves.
Graeme said: “Like most societies we are aging because there are so many different activities competing for young peoples’ interests these days.
“We have quite a good record for people joining us when they are young and then re-joining when they have settled down but we’d really like to get younger people to stay throughout, although we would be also happy for members of any age.
“Anyone under 15 can come to the day for free accompanied by an adult and it’s £3.50 for adults.
“If anyone wants to join our annual membership is £50 for adults and £25 for younger people.”
