History behind the club

The club was formed in 1979 from a section of the Bradford Model Engineers Society by a small group who were mainly interested in small scale railway modelling. At that time the club held meetings in the Eccleshill Community Centre, renting two rooms for our activities. Unfortunately the building became unsafe in the late 1980's and had to be demolished.

For a period of about eighteen months members kept in touch by holding occasional meetings in member's homes and other meeting places, all the time trying to find suitable alternative premises. Eventually the club was offered a a small upstairs room at Sedbergh Youth and Community Centre. Whilst this was not big enough to fulfil our needs it did enable the members to meet weekly and carry on with some modelling. After a year at the centre we found premises at Dudley Hill Amateur Rugby League Club where we rented a Portacabin. After being plagued with vandalism and a rapidly deteriorating building for a number of years we moved back to occupy a much bigger room on the first floor at Sedbergh in 1997.

Activities

The aims of the club are to foster and encourage railway modelling in Bradford and the surrounding area, through the construction of layouts in various scales and gauges. There are many skills acquired during the building of a layout including art, mechanical engineering, electronics, woodwork, architecture and landscaping. Much social discussion (usually over a pot of tea!) also takes place and there are plenty of opportunities for people at all levels.

The club regularly supports other model railway clubs and societies by exhibiting layouts at exhibitions. These are also excellent opportunities to meet other modellers and share skills and experience, as well as picking up that bargain from the trade stands.