Keen railway modellers in Ipswich threw open the doors of their clubhouse on Saturday to show off what they can off rail enthusiasts.
And they also gave people who may have been given a model train for Christmas the chance to run it on a much larger layout than they have in their own home.
The Ipswich Railway Modellers’ Association (IRMA) has several layouts of different gauges at their Norfolk Road headquarters in the town.
Some are complete, some are still taking shape – and some are kept in storage waiting to be taken to an exhibition or set up for a special event.
The club holds a few open days every year to give anyone the chance to see what they do – and their early January event is always popular.
On Saturday there was a steady procession of visitors through the doors – in the past many people who have come along to an open day have become regular members of the club.
Paul Morris from IRMA said: “It is important for us to be able to show what we have to offer here, and there has been a steady flow of people through the doors today.
“I originally came to one of these open days a few years ago because I wanted to learn some model-making skills for if I ever had room at home to make a model, and I’ve been coming along ever since.”
As well as layouts of different gauges, there are also layouts featuring different rail eras and different types of train.
The OO gauge is the most common – and the Association has large layouts featuring a modern day freight depot operation as well as a 1950s/60s large station with both steam and diesel trains passing through.
Mr Morris said: “We get people of all ages and interests coming here, from those who want to learn how to make and paint intricate models to those who want to set up complex track layouts.
“We also have people who just want to run their trains on a large track area – we all want to do that at some time!”
The Association meets every Tuesday evening at its headquarters in Norfolk Road – and new members are always welcome to come along to learn more about the world of model trains.
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