About Twickenham & District MRC
TWICKENHAM & DISTRICT MRC is a long established Club, formed in 1961. Today, approximately Fifty modellers enjoy membership of TDMRC. This page is an overview of our history, facilities and activities.
Brief History:
A small group of modellers and the owner of the Whitton Model Shop (Richardsons) were responsible for originating Twickenham and District MRC. Membership grew quickly, with initial premises in in the centre of Richmond.
Property redevelopment and a growing membership saw the club move to the Parkshot Adult College until a further move, in 2004 to our present home, ‘Kerswell Hall’ in Whitton.
Over the years Twickenham & District MEC has gained an enviable reputation for building several award winning layouts that have been exhibited throughout the UK and parts of Europe.
Club Location:
‘Kerswell Hall’ is home of the 1st Whitton Scouts in Wills Crescent. With their enthusiastic support we have providied secure storage and level access to our shared club room for the layouts. Disabled access to the Twickenham & District MRC club room is available, please contact the secretary if you have any concerns.
Activities:
Layout building and operation is our main activity. Over the decades we have had a vibrant membership who have created several award winning layouts. Most of these have represented various aspects of British railways, both standard and narrow gauge types.
If your interests lie elsewhere; Chinese, American, Japanese and European Railways or Trams are all part of our member’s modelling enthusiasm and your models are welcome on any of the layouts witihin the club.
From time to time we arrange club outings and social events whilst a mini-exhibition is usually held in late summer to showcase our activites.
Layouts
We have several layouts that are operational or under construction and are described in detail on the Layout pages. All layouts are portable and are stored on wheeled trollys, greatly reducing manual handling. .
Rationalisation of older projects has enabled us to provide space in our storage unit for new 00 and N layouts. These are at the planning stages or under discussion.
A prized possesion of Twickenham & District MRC is a large Multi-gauge running track. This comprises five circular, continuous run circuits. providing about twelve different gauges ranging from ‘Z’ to ‘G’. Three rail operation in 32mm and 16.5mm gauges is possible. This versatile and popular facility is ideal for testing locomotives and stock. DC and DCC controllers are provided. This track is noemally operatiomal three Friday’s per month.
Exhibitions:
Exhibiting can be an exciting change from the usual cub room activities. Two of our layouts attend exhibitions, as do a small number of members personal layouts. This provides an excellent opportunity to participate in this interesting facet of the hobby.
Exhibiton trains are selected to fit with the layout theme, whilst in the clubroom members may run any of their own stock on any compatible layout.
Membership:
Annual membership is £76 per annum. Reduced rates for several categories are available and payments may spread througout the year.
With one exception, we make no other membership charges. A small fee (£5 max) to cover hall hire costs applies only if attending periodic, Saturday work days.
Our members have a varied mix of skills and abilities and they are always willing to offer advice and assistance. We admit that we don’t have all the answers, but you may well be able to help us.
No self respecting model railway club is complete without a kitchen for tea, coffee and snacks to lubricate the chat – ours is no exception!
For more information check out the contacts page and get in touch, we would love to hear from you.