The Society is a non-profit making organisation with the objectives to:-

– advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of all aspects of railway modelling including through public Exhibitions and Open Days;

– encourage, develop and support a high standard of railway modelling amongst members of the Society and the general public.

Membership is of the society is to open to all over the age of 8 irrespective of gender and ethnicity and every effort is made to accommodate members with disabilities

Our Facilities

Thanks to generous donations from some of our members and other kind donors and the sterling efforts of several members, our new building is now complete. Particular thanks are due to our Chairman, Robin Gilchrist, for the considerable amount of time and effort he has put in to drive the project to completion.

Having our own premises also allows us to work on multiple layouts. Click here to find out more about our layouts.

The society meets on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and on Friday afternoons. Click here for more details.

Our History

The society was founded in late December 1971 by a break-away group from the local Model Engineering Society. Its early years were spent in a former pig sty which had been previously used by a local band before the society took it on. In 1987 the society moved to an old scout building when the Kempshott Scout Group moved into a new purpose-built brick building next door to the old wooden scout hut. In its early days, the society held an exhibition every two years. It now holds an exhibition annually on the second weekend in March.

In 2018 the Society’s team, ‘The Basingstoke Bodgers’, took part in the televised Great Model Railway Challenge on Channel 5. The team won heat 3 to qualify for the final. Sadly, the team didn’t win the final but it did provide the starting point for what became The Royal Albert Bridge layout.

2024 saw the completion of our brand new club building (see above) which provides all the modern facilities required to take us into the next era of the society.