The Lincoln & District Model Railway Club was founded in 1977 . . . by the late Geoff Hurst, and the first meeting was held on 22nd January of that year . . .

 

The original Lincoln & District Model Railway Club meeting room was in St.Martin’s Church Hall on Furnace Road, Stamp End, the Hall has since been demolished but its use was arranged by Geoff who worked for Ruston Gas Turbines and ran the fledgling Model Club that already met there.

Ten enthusiasts attended that first meeting, and Geoff Hurst was elected Chairman. Rules were adopted and the annual subscription set at 10 shillings (that’s 50p in modern money) plus 2 shillings (10p) per meeting attended.

Members began work on a portable ‘OO’ Gauge Layout that could be exhibited in order to help raise funds as well as enable running on Club Nights, which were Tuesday evenings from 7.30pm – 10.30pm.

The first public exhibition held on 28 – 31st of October 1979 (jointly with the scouts) was actually a Railway Film Festival in the Church Hall, as the club layout was still under construction.

The LDMRC also started organised visits to places of railway interest, such as the remains of the Kirkby In Ashfield Motive Power Depot in November 1970 and visits to other model railway exhibitions and shows across the UK.

The Club affiliated with the N Gauge Society in 1973/74 and also went on to join with the then Model Railway Club in 1974/75.

The Club’s first annual model railway exhibition was held on 29 – 30th of October 1979. The venue was used again for a few more years, after which the annual exhibitions moved to larger venues such as the old Co-operative Education Centre in Broad Street, Ermine Boys Club and the Yarborough Leisure Centre in Lincoln.

LDMRC also took the Club Layouts along to other local exhibitions, to show what it was doing and to help recruit new members. The first of these events was the Sleaford Model Railway Exhibition held at The Village Hall Ruskington in June 1979.

In those early years membership fluctuated a lot, with as many as fifty members at one stage, and as few as only six on another less memorable occasion.

As a reflection of the amount of interest and the growing status at the time, a Club Tie was produced in 1973 (at a cost of £1 each) with the LDMRC badge based on a Robert Stephenson 2-2-2 Locomotive and Class 47 Diesel (to reflect on the joint interest of the clubs members) resplendently embroidered upon it.

The Club issued it’s first traditional Newsletter called Local Lines in 1984, a welcome vehicle for both Members and Non Members which lasted well into the late 1980’s.

Early in 1982 the Church Hall became unusable due to lack of a heating system which in turn lead to problems of damp and general decay of the buildings structure, and a move to the present Club meeting rooms at the Birchwood Community Centre was arranged.

All links with St.Martin’s Church were then amicably severed, which also brought about a change of name to the Lincoln Model Railway Club which it held until 2006.

Further changes, to both the Club structure and its Committee lead to it’s name changing once again to the current Lincoln & District Model Railway Club. which it proudly still holds to this present day.

The Club found itself going through a period of great change during 1986 – 87 with a new Committee, a new Clubroom and a whole new audience

Club History Timeline