We are now 100 years old!
On 16th March 1925, at the home of Arch Dean, eight people met and agreed to form an association to be called “The Manchester and District Model Railway Club“. In 1931 this club was renamed to “The Manchester Model Railway Society“.


J. A. Dean (Arch Dean) 1893—1990
Founder of the Manchester & District Model Railway Club, later to become the Manchester Model Railway Society


The home of the world’s longest running model railway show

We extend a warm welcome to all railway modellers and railway enthusiasts. The MMRS was founded in 1925 and is one of the oldest model railway clubs in the country. We are based in Sale, five miles southwest of Manchester city centre, approximately half a mile from the M60. Our clubrooms are home to six layouts in most of the popular scales, one is fully complete, three are largely complete, and two are in progress including a brand new one which is in the early stages of construction.

“Starter” Layout

The intention to build a “starter” layout, to encourage members wishing to develop construction skills, with the assistance of some of our experienced modellers, was announced at the 2023 Exhibition as part of our recruitment drive.

At the initial meeting on Tuesday 9th April 2024 the proposed layout was discussed and the general design of the layout and baseboards was agreed.

More details are available here.

The Jim Whittaker Modelling Resource

Jim was a prolific note-taker. Here you can view and download items from his extensive archive and sketchbook.