ABOUT THE SOCIETY
Our Society was founded in 1978 and since the mid 1980's we have established our headquarters at Whissendine with the co-operation of the Whissendine Sports Club. Our site includes both raised and ground level railway tracks for the running of miniature passenger carrying trains of 3½”, 5" and 7¼” gauges and is available for members’ use throughout the year.
The sports field is ideal for running miniature road vehicles.
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We hold meetings in the Sports Club main hall on the second Monday of March, April, May, September, October and November and visitors are always welcome. These meetings take the form of talks, films, ‘work in progress’, demonstrations and an annual auction. All of our activities are aimed at encouraging all aspects of model engineering.
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Our members are involved in the building and operation of various types of models, including traction engines, railway locomotives, rolling stock, steam wagons and rollers, stationary engines, boats, clocks, workshop equipment and many other items too numerous to mention. Many members build to commercially available sets of drawings while others work from combination of measuring surviving examples of old machines and studying archive photographs, and yet others build to their own designs. As modern technology is being introduced into the hobby and several model engineering suppliers are offering pre-machined parts and kits, this enables would-be builders to complete a model in a much shorter time often without the need for expensive machines and tools and the skills and experience to use them. And so, it is not necessary to be an engineer to build a working model - just enthusiasm, determination and the interest to see a long-term project through.
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The major event in the Society's calendar is our annual Whissendine Steam Rally held on the first full weekend in June, when visiting model engineers and enthusiasts will join our members in running and operating miniature locomotives, traction engines and other road vehicles together with displays of model engineering, aircraft, fairgrounds and other models at a friendly and informal event run by model engineers for model engineers
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In addition, our members run their locomotives on ours and other engineering societies tracks during the summer months. We also often receive invitations to run on several private tracks that are not normally open to the public. many of our members run their road vehicles at various steam rallies during the season as well as supporting other model engineering exhibitions and events
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If you would like more information and have a real interest, why not come to our meetings, enjoy the informal friendly atmosphere, talk to members and start to get your own model underway. For further information, please contact us using the details on this site and we would love to welcome you along someday!