Market Deeping Model Railway Club is now thriving in cyberspace and during a lockdown is a great time to join!

By Peter Davies, chairman of Market Deeping Model Railway Club

Well I’ll be…! Last May exhibition had to be abandoned through vandalism. Then our landlord decided that he needed the space our clubhouse has occupied at his farm for 16 years because of expansion (good for him but not so good for us).

Now Covid-19 has reared a very ugly head, resulting in the cancellation of our April mini-exhibition at TC Harrison in Stamford (our sponsor) and our main May exhibition at Stamford Welland Academy. Not only that, the club premises themselves are “out of bounds” because of social distancing.

They say things come in threes. We’ve had our three, thank you very much!

Our main exhibition is now planned for May 2021. Third time lucky, possibly.

Whatever happens, Market Deeping Model Railway Club is taking a lead from Chumbawamba (“I get knocked down, but I get up again”).

We are a steadfast bunch who can’t meet regularly to build layouts at present, but we can work on our own layouts - mine has never seen so much progress in such a concentrated period of time. We can also progress club layout baseboards at home and share this online.

Market Deeping Model Railway Club exists online (on Skype) on a Monday night. What do we do though, when online?

Some members have their web cams close to their layouts so they continue to work and chat. One member demonstrated a locomotive running on newly ballasted track. Others demonstrate modelling or maintenance techniques.

On Monday, help was given by more experienced modellers. One member, through the wizardry of technology, was able to send a video feed “down the line” for us all to see the progress on his layout.

We enjoy chatting and sharing all we are involved with. It’s keeping us in contact and is good fun too.

If you are interested in joining our cyber club, contact the me via the paper. If you have a Skype address, please include it.

One thing is for certain; in these times of self-isolation, railway modelling is the ideal hobby. Most model shops can still operate online and our website www.mdmrc.org has links to major suppliers. If you’ve never had time for railway modelling but want to get involved, there’s no better time. It soothes the mind, is immensely satisfying and wonderfully creative.

Happy modelling!