Since 15 July 1959
About the club
More than sixty years of building, running and showing model railways in and around Winchester.
Redbridge Wharf. Photo: Jamie Warne, courtesy of British Railway Modelling
The fuelling point at Lockton Lane
Who we are
A friendly club with a long history
Winchester Railway Modellers have been together for more than sixty years. Our members enjoy a wide range of interests in real and model railways, from pre-grouping through narrow gauge to modern image, in gauges T, N, P4, EM, NG7, OO and O, with both analogue and DCC control.
Skills in the club include scratch-building locomotives, kit building in all sorts of materials, buildings and rolling stock, figure painting and weathering, and using Templot and Arduinos to design and control layouts.
We exhibit across the south, and sometimes much further afield, so you may bump into us wherever you are. As well as bringing a layout, we sometimes demonstrate modelling skills and share tips with visitors.
From the archive: visitors crowd round an early club layout at an exhibition
Route map
Our line through the years
1959
On 15 July, fourteen people meet and agree to form the Winchester and District Model Railway Club. Meetings are every other Wednesday, and the subscription is £1 a year.
1960
Maurice Graves is elected treasurer, a post he holds for 47 years.
1961
Our first club room, at the Lawn Tavern in Eastgate Street, Winchester.
1968
A founder member of the Wessex Model Railway Association. The club moves into the air-raid shelter at Hyde Church, Winchester.
1971
A founder member of SHARM, the South Hampshire Association of Railway Modellers, whose first exhibition is held at Eastleigh Town Hall.
1974
A move to the first floor of the barn at the Cricketers, Owslebury. The following year John Shaw is elected chairman.
1987
Members renovate a new club room at Itchen Stoke, helped by an anonymous donation. It will be home for 35 years.
2006
Abbotstone, the 0 gauge club layout started in 2000, is exhibited for the first time.
2019
Redbridge Wharf, started in 2011, makes its exhibition debut. Months later, Covid shuts everything down two days after a show at Romsey.
2022
Redbridge Wharf wins the Bachmann Trophy for the best 4mm layout at Warley. The celebration is short-lived: the club is given notice to leave Itchen Stoke.
2023
The club leaves Itchen Stoke and meets at venues around Winchester and Chandlers Ford, with the layouts stored in garages and garden sheds.
2024
John Shaw’s 50th year as chairman is marked by a presentation from Pete Waterman at the Great Electric Train Show, where Redbridge Wharf wins the public vote. New club premises in the west of the county are announced.
2025
Settled into our new club room near Broughton. John Shaw becomes Life President after 50 years as chairman, and Dave Renshaw takes over.
2026
Work starts on Eastleigh, our new N gauge exhibition layout, and the club room hosts a day celebrating 40 years of Network SouthEast.
Who runs the club
Club officials
Life President
John Shaw
Chairman
Dave Renshaw
Secretary
Nick Hargreaves
Treasurer
Tony Pierson
Every year members vote for the Mick Rich Trophy (4mm), the Keith Dear Trophy (7mm), the Peter James Trophy (Show and Tell) and the Winchester Trophy for general contribution to the club, presented at the annual dinner.
Join us
