SOMPTING & DISTRICT MODEL RAILWAY CLUB
Welcome
to the web page of Sompting & District Model Railway Club. It is part of the website of our web hosts
and our HQ, Sompting Village Hall. Our
club is home to more than 20 model railway enthusiasts, including some of the
leading railway modellers in West Sussex.
About the club
The club has thrived at Sompting for 14 years and caters for members from juniors, 8 to 15 years of age, to nationally known very experienced and expert modellers. Our club nights, very sociable occasions, are held at Sompting Village Hall on the second and fourth Friday (and, if there is one, the fifth) of every month, from 6 until 10.30pm.
The
main feature of our club night is the use of our large running board (24ft x
12ft). It has eight tracks, each with a
passing loop, which we believe is unique in this area of the country. Four of the tracks are 16.5mm gauge for
OO/HO/On30 scales, and four are 9mm gauge for N/HOe/OO9 scales. One of the OO/HO lines is dual gauge 16.5/12
mm, to accept Swiss Narrow Gauge stock in HOm scale and TT/3mm scales. Some tracks have been modified so that they
can also be operated using DCC control where members can connect their own DCC
control equipment to run their DCC equipped trains.
On club nights, members also work on our British practice OO scale exhibition layout that is under construction and a smaller N gauge running board that is undergoing scenery work. We also have another small OO/HO running board that is sometimes used on club nights but is mainly kept to use at our exhibitions and hall open days for children to operate our little collection of “Thomas” trains. Prototype interests of members include British, German, Austrian, Swiss, Italian, French and American railways in models of all the gauges mentioned above. Members are invited regularly to exhibit their own layouts at Model Railway Exhibitions throughout the south and sometimes farther afield.
Club exhibitions
We hold an annual exhibition at Sompting Village Hall. The pictures below are from one such exhibition, with thanks to the Herald newspaper group.
We always aim to show an interesting selection of layouts in various scales, and are supported in this by two local traders, namely Morris Models of North Lancing and a respected local second-hand model railway dealer.
Excellent refreshments are also available at our exhibitions.
Membership
We welcome new members, be they juniors from 8 to 15 or experienced modellers. We also have a grade of supporting member, usually a parent of a junior or the partner of a member, who does not participate in the railway modelling activities. In addition, we host the local branch of the German Railway Society, whose members attend on a casual basis.
The annual full membership fee covers, normally, 28 meetings. There are reduced fees for juniors and supporting members. Fees are charged pro-rata from the date of joining for part of a year. The first attendance is free but, because of insurance considerations, new members must enrol on their second attendance. There is a nominal fee per visit for GRS members.
Contact and further information
For further information please contact us at sdmrc@tiscali.co.uk, and/or
visit our website by clicking here.
A chance for youngsters of all ages to operate a model railway layout at a Sompting Village Hall Open Day