Club secretary John Nelson said the event had been running for 40 years.
This year the show had been pushed back from its usual February date and would be stretched out across two weekends, due to concerns around Covid-19 .
He had a lifelong passion for scale railways, which was sparked by his father buying him a model train when he was 8, Mr Nelson said.
At the club’s Kettle Park headquarters at the weekend one room was filled with scale model trains, boats, submarines and aircraft.
A 3-D printer was being used to make train whistles. The next room displayed two large-scale railways. Thousands of hours of volunteer time had been dedicated to filling the room-sized exhibits with painstaking details, including intricate automated playgrounds and model shipyards. The scene was always evolving, Mr Nelson said. Outside there was a rideable scale model railway taking enthusiasts for a spin.
Over the years the hobby had changed as new tools had brought down the cost of entry, making it much more accessible.
The club had about 70 members and was a supportive environment for socialising and sharing knowledge with people who shared similar interests.
Some members built and others collected.
The exhibit also attracted ‘‘closet railway enthusiasts’’ who loved coming to see the models but never took the next steps to get more involved.
The club was always recruiting and it liked to say there were no stupid questions.
One of the best things about the club was that ‘‘you’re never by yourself,’’ Mr Nelson said.
The next part of the exhibition would likely be held in October, although the date was still to be decided, he said.
