Established in 1934, the club first began with members getting together at each other’s homes before graduating to a room in the old Mobil station in Evans St, where Couplands is now located.
Now at the corner of Rose and Catherine Sts, the club is documented as being the second-oldest of its type in the country.
A celebration was held at the end of September to mark the anniversary, which included both boating and train displays as well giving the public a chance to check out the club’s newly refurbished rooms.
Committee member Robin Jacobs said the club had gone through a tough patch in recent years but was starting to head in the right direction.
"The club has stayed the same for quite some time — it stagnated really.
"We’re starting to grow now — it’s all about trying to promote ourselves, get ourselves out and there and get some young people in.
"Out of all our members I’m probably one of the younger ones.
"If we don’t bring the younger people in, then all of a sudden we haven’t got a club."
"Two years ago I was talking to Ben [Sewell] and he is part of the Christchurch Roadie Group.
"They try to get around as many of the modern railway clubs in the South Island as they can.
"They have come down every year since and it basically gave everybody a kick in the a...."
Mr Jacobs said Mr Sewell showed the club what could happen with just a little bit of a change.
"The first night run they had here was absolutely insane.
"We had people lined up at the bridge and they went down the hill and back towards the park, just waiting to come over the landing and get on the trains.
"It was crazy.
"I just could not believe the turnout that happened.
"That’s the power of social media and a bit of advertising."
He said finally refurbishing the clubrooms was a big step towards future-proofing the club.
"I didn’t want to see the club fail — it had to grow.
"So there have been a few changes within the realms of the committee, and I’m not saying that’s done anything but we’ve got this [the clubrooms] now, whereas in the past ideas have stagnated and nothing’s ever happened.
"Things got talked about but never really progressed but this time we made it actually happen.
Mr Kissell said though it cost more than they expected it did not matter now it was done and the outcome was far better than they expected.
"People are walking in and going ‘we’re not in the same building’."
He wished to thank Todd Risman from FloorPride for donating and fitting the carpet and vinyl for the clubrooms and BuildLink, which ran a lot of the mouldings for free.
The clubrooms were just the start of a wider project, he said.
"It’s all about image. People would walk in and just see a drab old building but now we have something to be proud of and we have been given the opportunity to grow further.
"The old rifle club building is vacant so we’ve got room to grow there, especially with the likes of the small model railway society and bringing them in as part of the group.
"You could have slot cars set up over there — there’s a whole lot of potential.
"We could run our own groups where you could have schools or kids come in and explain to them how to do this and how this stuff works."
Mr Kissell said the club would also now be looking to reintroduce its public open days.
"We really need to promote the right side of it and get things kicked into gear.
"One Sunday a month, the sign will go out and the public is welcome to come in and have a go with the trains and boats."
The club is also available for birthday party bookings, which can be made by contacting scmes.secretary@yahoo.com.
