Rasen group on track for national exhibition spot

Rasen Model Railway Group will be taking part in the UK’s Premier Model Railway Event later this month, the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at Birmingham’s NEC.

This year marks the Golden Jubilee for the show and the Silver Jubilee of its NEC location.

Club member Keith Franklin said they were thrilled to be given the chance to show off the Market Rasen layout at the event.

He said: “If you get the layout there, you really have arrived.

“I never thought I would help build a layout, let alone be displaying it, at one of the most prestigious railway exhibitions in the country.”

It was back in 2010 the group officially formed, and four years later they had created their Market Rasen layout .

The layout even has two guises - showing the station pre-1940s when it had an overall roof, and later without a roof, allowing contemporary trains for each time period to run on the tracks.

The layout has delighted model railway and heritage enthusiasts alike with its detail, and even featured in the Model Rail magazine.

The current layout requires a van and six people to transport it and to set it up, so the group also has two smaller layouts they are working on, which will be more transportable.

Fellow member Chris Middleton said: “One of the layouts is computerised and has sound.

“We needed to stretch ourselves with our modelling skills and learn all about the latest technology available.

“It is not based on Rasen, but will be bang up to date - so watch this space.”

The Warley exhibition takes place at the NEC on November 25 and 26.

It is also hoped to be able to put the layout on display in Market Rasen sometime next year.