Introduction

Welcome to the website of

Southport Model Railway Society
(SMRS to its friends)

The Society has been going for about 30 years, at a variety of premises around the town, some more salubrious than others. The last one was on a local geological fault line, and allowed track gradients to be built-in to layouts simply by laying the track on the baseboard - the house provided the vertical component for free.

Our current premises are more conventional in gradient but unusual in being an old stationmaster's house, the first railway building in Southport. 150 years on, the service to Liverpool is little faster and probably no more reliable, but that's another story.

The location means that we are within the loading gauge of the grown-up line. We therefore need to be careful to avoid sudden movement whilst taking the air near the garden fence, or else stress-related illness in Merseyrail drivers would reach greater heights than ever before.

The lease on the building requires us to maintain it, so we have to periodically find funds for repairs and renovations. Our main source of income is the annual exhibition, which so far has helped us to remain in the black (or at least the pale grey) within needing to raise the the subscription beyond a modest 50p a week.

Current membership is a little over the round score; fortunately not all of them try to attend at once as they would not readily get in, certainly not in the front lounge. However every member has a key, and can use the clubhouse at any time.

Click here for more on the where, the what and even perhaps on the why.