Today, I slipped into Suffolk to visit the Ipswich Railway Modellers Association Open Day.

I was impressed by their club house. There are three big rooms downstairs. There’s space for several large layouts and, because the club own the premises, they can leave them set up all the time. Upstairs there’s a ‘loft space’ with a kitchen, plenty of comfy seating and a library of railway books. Hmmm…. I’m jealous !

The Ipswich team had a large second hand sale with everything from locos and stock, to buildings and kits, to track and point motors. It was very tempting…

The members were running trains, working on layouts and chatting to the visitors. I really enjoyed talking to people and watching the operations. Everything was ‘as is’. Some of the layouts were finished, some were being upgraded and others were still being built. I find it fascinating to see these ‘works in progress’.

The catering got my thumbs up too. A nice cup of tea + a bacon roll + a slice of coffee and walnut cake = one happy modeller.

Many thanks to the Ipswich team for a really interesting Open Day. Oh, by the way they are holding another one in April next year. I might see you there 🙂

Here are some snaps of some of the layouts. Click on an image for a gallery of larger pictures.