Axminster Model Railway exhibition on Sunday June 30

Organiser promise a 'feast of model railway fun' with some fascinating layouts coming together for an exhibition at the town’s railway station.

The initiative comes from Jack Price, owner of the Railway Kitchen cafe, which operates on the platform of the station.

Working alongside Jack is the team of enthusiasts who have over recent months initiated the ‘For the Love of a Railway’ model of the Axminster to Lyme Regis line and displayed it in an empty restaurant in the town centre.

They are currently, in the process of turning that model into a town centre experience for the community and visitors alike.

For the 30 June exhibition, they will exhibit a ‘work in progress’ 00-gauge model of Axminster Station and the wider town, that they are currently revamping for long-term display at the Community Waffle House in Axminster.

The exhibition also gives the group a valuable opportunity to raise funds for their new centre in Chard Street, Axminster.

Other layouts lined up to run at the exhibition include:

• Crossways Wagon Works by John Cavell - a large scale 0-gauge layout that operates without curves or points and uses two different rail sizes. The manoeuvring of wagons in a tight space is intriguing.
• Happy Shunting 2 by Geoff Trenholme - another amazing 0-gauge that operates as a shunting puzzle. The user picks a random card and is then challenged to shunt wagons to a given final order.
• Backbrook by Richard Ball - a cameo layout based around a small goods warehouse adjacent to a town in the south of England. Another layout with a built-in puzzle that demonstrates that you don’t need much space to create something special.
• Quarry by Craig Harwood - the layout began quite simply with a box of a given size into which Craig planned his quarrying scene to fit.
• Two layouts contributed by Axminster station employees, one of them featuring Thomas the Tank Engine. 
• There will also be a stand where enthusiasts can buy model railway merchandise, while local model railway experts PECO will be bringing display material.

Jack Price, from Axminster Railway Cafe at the train station said: “The huge popularity of the ‘For the Love of a Railway’ initiative has demonstrated just how attached local people are to the railway and to the legend of the old steam locos that ran on the Lyme Regis line.

“We have had so much interest in the plans for an exhibition that we have had to negotiate further space within the station itself. I am really hoping we will have strong support from local people and also from model railway enthusiasts from a wide surrounding area.”

“If there is sufficient enthusiasm we will certainly think about making the Axminster Model Railway Exhibition an annual event at a larger venue where we can display more layouts.” 

The Railway Kitchen will provide refreshments to support the event, which is otherwise free and will operate between 10 am and 3 pm.

More information from the Facebook pages of the Railway Kitchen and ‘For the Love of a Railway’.