Unless stated otherwise, all photographs on this site are by Tony Wright, courtesy of British Railway Modelling
The first task in the new clubroom was the depiction of South Devon's Moretonhampstead as it would have appeared in the 1930s. This was the club's first model of a prototype station and, with an overall scenic length of twenty-five feet, demonstrates just how much space is required to accurately model a small rural branch line terminus station. On completion in the early 1980s, Moretonhampstead joined the exhibition circuit and over the subsequent quarter of a century has made numerous appearances throughout the country and still receives occasional exhibition invitations.
The building of Fordley Park began in 1976. This was again 00 gauge and fictitious but based on BR(ER) practice with BR(LMR) incursions. It was quite successful on the exhibition circuit making many appearances over a period of several years including visits to York, Nottingham and Warley. However, the frequent service of heavy trains eventually took its toll and by 1984 it was considered to be in need of major renovation. Unfortunately the wear and tear turned out to be heavier than originally thought so a reluctant decision was taken to scrap Fordley Park and conserve resources with the idea of building a replacement. The next big advance came in 1982, when the club moved into its new clubroom, of which we enjoyed exclusive use. This was a major benefit as it allowed layouts to be left in position at the end of club nights making their construction and maintenance much more convenient, quicker and easier, although at the cost of higher subscriptions.