Ely and District Model Railway Club Ltd has over the last 45 years sometimes been constrained in the permanent set up of layouts, the ability to have work benches and restricted access times compromised by the need to put everything away at the end of a Club night. At one time we met in rooms at the back of an Ely pub and then, a bit more recently, in a small upstairs room accessed by a very narrow and steep staircase in a social club in a nearby town. Our Membership was limited by these constraints.
We found a brilliant solution some 10 years ago, when a friendly farmer allowed us to build a purpose built workshop/clubroom in a redundant agricultural barn he leased near Ely. The premises are secure and some distance from a main road but accessible to members 24/7 subject to normal Health & Safety constraints. For security reasons, we don’t publicise the location of our Club premises, but introduce potential new Members with a pre-arranged guided tour.
It was with a huge leap of faith to invest most of our Club funds in the construction of a substantial new Clubroom within the space we were offered. In effect, we would occupy about a quarter of the overall building’s internal space. To make it ideal for our needs required fully insulated stud walls and ceiling to the main workroom (some 35ft by 25ft), separately metered electrical circuits with ample power points, decent lighting and heating. What joy it was to have a warm, well lit facility with a small kitchen and 24/7 level access at last!
Club meetings and attendance quickly expanded on both Tuesday evenings and Thursday mornings (and small groups often meet at other times too). This wonderful space allowed us to erect Thurston (until that layout was sold) and then build it’s successor Wickham Market, a 22ft x 12ft OO “roundy-roundy” (which we are close to completing) along with other Club layouts in both N and O.
As Membership rose it was then loosely capped at 25, ensuring that adequate space for a variety of model railway activities could then be undertaken in relative comfort.
In 2022 a change of tenancy of the farm meant that we had to negotiate with a new Landlord, a complex process, but fortunately one with a very successful outcome. What is even more pleasing is that our new Landlord is equally amenable and has even allowed us to expand our Clubroom into an adjacent space – effectively almost doubling our Clubroom’s floor space. Once again we decided to splash some cash converting this draughty area to our requirements. We erected new stud walls/dry lining, fully insulated the structure and fitted LED overhead lighting and of course ample power points. Now that is completed, we are creating wide doorways to link it to our existing space. By the way, the LED strip lights are so good (and use such little power) that we’ll be fitting the same kind in the “old” Clubroom to replace ageing fluorescent tubes at the first opportunity!
In summary, we have a progressive and friendly Model Railway Club, with fantastic newly expanded Club premises! We are looking forward in anticipation to the coming year with new projects mapped out. importantly, our financial position means that our (modest) Club Membership fees cover the rental costs of our expanded Clubroom.
This extra space means we are now able to welcome new Members into this fantastic hobby of ours. This is a great opportunity to learn new skills and become involved in existing and new projects. You can see details about us on our website: http://www.elymrce.org.uk and on here, our Ely Model Railway Club Facebook page.
So, if you are located in our catchment of East Cambridgeshire/West Suffolk and interested in joining then simply contact us on the email below. We’d be delighted to meet you!
David Abbott – Club Secretary E&DMRC Ltd – davidjabbott70@gmail.com
Press release from Ely and District Model Railway Club
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