East Kent Model Railway Society Whitstable

East Kent Model Railway Society Whitstable Model Railways East Kent Model Railway Society (Whitstable) meets four times a week in its clubhouse found on one of Whitstable’s industrial estates.

It is an old established club and currently has around 35 members. Centrepiece of the club is its 20 feet long OO gauge layout, capable of running up to five trains, independently controlled at one time. The club welcomes new members from 8 years upwards (young people aged between 8 and 15 must be accompanied by an adult to meetings) and holds annual exhibitions in Whitstable and Birchington, near

Margate. Please contact the club via its email [email protected]

A recent, and sad, trend is that we now regularly receive messages or phone calls from the families of model railway enthusiasts who have passed away. Please email us in the first instance via [email protected] with details if you wish. Today’s model trains and rolling stock include a lot of sophisticated electronics and their realism has never been better - which tends to make the models of years past look crude in comparison. As a result, models of childhood times are not as popular nor as valuable. Their condition needs to be excellent to be considered as collectable and having the original box makes them all the more desirable. There are local dealers who may be willing to come to an arrangement with potential sellers. It's also worth looking at Ebay to get an idea of what some items are currently being offered for. We hope you find this helpful. Kindly note the club is unable to accept offers of old railway magazines, books, videos or DVDs.

Only a few days to go until the Birchington Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 9 May – a celebration of the rail thing...
05/05/2026

Only a few days to go until the Birchington Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 9 May – a celebration of the rail thing! The event is to be held at the Centre in Alpha Road, Birchington CT7 9EG. Doors open between 10am and 4pm.

Visitors can expect to see 15 different model railway layouts plus 10 reputable specialist traders, all filling the main hall, bar area, stage and one of the side rooms. The place will be bursting with model trains in a variety of sizes and scales.

The event is organised by the East Kent Model Railway Society in aid of its funds. The last few of the year's limited edition model wagons will be on sale too. The OO scale model depicts the livery of the Deal & Walmer Gas & Coke Company. Only 120 have been made and we have just a handful remaining.

Light refreshments will be on sale. The Centre is a five minute walk from Birchington station, served by services from Margate and Ramsgate in one direction and from Herne Bay, Faversham, Medway and London in the other. Stagecoach buses stop nearby as well. Pay and display parking can be found near opposite the Centre in Alpha Road or, a 15 minute walk away at Albion Road. You may be lucky enough to find a free on-road space in the village too.

We look forward to meeting everyone. Adult admission is £6, children 5-16 £1, families £12 (2+3) and under fives are free.

See you there!

They say the real thing is Coca-Cola - but today we say the rail thing is an event coming to Birchington in less than tw...
27/04/2026

They say the real thing is Coca-Cola - but today we say the rail thing is an event coming to Birchington in less than two weeks!

Birchington Model Railway Exhibition will be held at The Centre in Alpha Road, on Saturday 9 May!

Organiser East Kent Model Railway Society is expecting to fill the building's ground floor rooms with no fewer than 15 exhibits and 10 trade stands.

The club will also be selling the last few examples of its 2026 limited edition model coal wagon, depicting the livery of Deal & Walmer Gas & Coke Company.

Doors will be open from 10am until 4pm. Adult admission is £6, children aged 5-16 £1, families (2+3) £12 and children under five go free. Light refreshments will be on sale in the Centre's bar and tea room.

The club looks forward to seeing you!

Big thanks to the Community Ad magazine for including a full page article about the event in the current issue for Birchington and Thanet.

BTW the event poster comes from a 1950s village holiday brochure created by the late David Burley and resident of Birchington for many years. He retired to the village, living next door to The Centre for many years, during the late 1940s after retiring as a graphic artist from the Southern Railway.

There is little more than three weeks to go until the Birchington Model Railway Exhibition at The Centre in Alpha Road, ...
14/04/2026

There is little more than three weeks to go until the Birchington Model Railway Exhibition at The Centre in Alpha Road, on Saturday 9 May!
Organiser East Kent Model Railway Society is expecting to fill the building's ground floor rooms with no fewer than 16 exhibits and 10 trade stands.
The layouts on display are coming from clubs and individual enthusiasts from far and near in a range of scales and sizes. Some come from Thanet, others from the far end of the county.
The club will also be selling the last few examples of its 2026 limited edition model coal wagon, depicting the livery of Deal & Walmer Gas & Coke Company.
Doors will be open from 10am until 4pm. Adult admission is £6, children aged 5-16 £1, families (2+3) £12 and children under five go free. Light refreshments will be on sale in the Centre's bar and tea room.
A pay and display car park is just opposite the venue, there is some on road free parking while buses stop nearby and the railway station is but a five minute walk away.
The club looks forward to seeing you!
BTW the event poster comes from a 1950s village holiday brochure created by the late David Burley and resident of Birchington for many years. He retired to the village, living next door to The Centre for many years, during the late 1940s after retiring as a graphic artist from the Southern Railway.

Despite the efforts of some spiteful individual messing around with posters around Elham village earlier today advertisi...
08/04/2026

Despite the efforts of some spiteful individual messing around with posters around Elham village earlier today advertising the model railway exhibition, the event is very much going ahead this Saturday, 11 April, at the village hall between 10am and 4pm.

Organisers Elham Valley Model Railway Club and East Kent Model Railway Society have spent the past few months carefully planning the occasion for the enjoyment of local residents and enthusiasts – so something mega would have had to happen for us to even think about cancelling it.

We have been organising model railway shows since 2013 and have never come across anybody deliberately going out plastering 'cancelled' stickers over our show posters. I hope readers will agree this is disgraceful behaviour.

Anyway, to stay positive, both clubs look forward to welcoming one and all this Saturday to enjoy seeing 14 model railway layouts on display in the village hall – we have filled every available space it seems – along with seven or eight specialist traders offering a full range of model railways and their accessories. Weather permitting there will be an outdoor miniature railway to enjoy riding upon as well but please note there will be a separate charge for this.

Refreshments and a tombola will be run by volunteers from Pilgrims Hospices and their profits will boost end of life care in East Kent (trying to prevent a charity from raising funds is very poor form – bad sticker person, please note).

Parking at the village hall will be limited but, in hope weather stays dry, people should be able to park on the Gore football field just down the road, as well as in the village itself. Please be courteous to the parking team who will be happy to help you.

Buses run from Folkestone and Canterbury at hourly intervals and take about half an hour to reach Elham.

Admission to the exhibition is adults £6, children 5-16 £1, families £12 (2+3) and under fives are free. Look forward to seeing you for what should be a very happy occasion!

There's just over three weeks to go until the Elham Model Railway Exhibition at the village hall on Saturday 11 April be...
17/03/2026

There's just over three weeks to go until the Elham Model Railway Exhibition at the village hall on Saturday 11 April between 10am and 4pm. The event is being organised by the Elham Valley Model Railway Club and the Whitstable based East Kent Model Railway Society and they are expecting 15 layouts and eight traders to attend on the day.

It promises to be great fun for train enthusiasts across the age range with exhibits ranging in size from just three feet to 15 feet in different scales too. Traders will have a wide range of models and accessories for sale.

EKMRS will be selling its latest limited edition wagon showing the livery of the Deal & Walmer Gas & Coke Company, made by Dapol. Only 120 have been made and there aren't many left.

Admission is £6 for an adult children 5-15 £1, families £12 (2+3) and under fives are free. Parking is limited at the hall – blue badge holders – excepted so please leave the car in the centre of the village and walk down if you can.

Hourly Stagecoach buses run on route 17 from Canterbury and Folkestone to Elham and take about 30 minutes from either end.

See you there!

You probably don't realise this but there are only two months to go until East Kent Model Railway Society hosts its spri...
10/03/2026

You probably don't realise this but there are only two months to go until East Kent Model Railway Society hosts its spring exhibition in Birchington, at The Centre in Alpha Road, on Saturday 9 May!

At this stage we are already expecting to fill the building's ground floor rooms with no fewer than 16 exhibits and 10 trade stands. Save the date in your diary and the cub looks forward to seeing you then!

BTW the poster comes from a 1950s village holiday brochure created by the late David Burley and resident of Birchington for many years. He retired to the village during the late 1940s after retiring as a graphic artist from the Southern Railway.

Just wanted say huge thanks to everyone who came along to our exhibition in Deal yesterday. It proved to be a record b...
08/03/2026

Just wanted say huge thanks to everyone who came along to our exhibition in Deal yesterday. It proved to be a record breaker with no fewer than 986 people coming through the doors of the Landmark Centre during the course of the day. Absolutely fantastic! We couldn't have hoped for more.

Lots of people were saying kind things about the venue, the quality of the exhibits and really enjoyed themselves.

Don't worry we will be back before too long! If you can't wait, EKMRS next show will be at Elham Village Hall on Saturday 11 April. If you didn't get the chance to buy one of our limited edition Deal & Walmer model wagons, we will have some on sale there.

We are busy getting everything ready for this Saturday's (7 March) model railway exhibition at the Landmark Centre in Hi...
04/03/2026

We are busy getting everything ready for this Saturday's (7 March) model railway exhibition at the Landmark Centre in High Street, Deal (CT14 6BB).

It's the first event of its kind to be held in Deal for 12 years and it's probably the biggest event this club has organised. We're expecting 21 exhibits and 12 traders, all to be found in two large upstairs halls and a ground floor hall. A small lift is available for those who need it. The Centre should be full to bursting!

Doors open from 10am until 4pm. Adult admission is £7, children 5-16 £1 and families (2+3 u-16) £12. Children under five are free. Yes, admission prices have been skewed slightly to encourage families along.

The Centre's cafe will be open until 2pm for a variety of refreshments too. You can expect to see a wide variety of model railway layouts, anything from four feet to 20 feet long showing trains in a range of settings and eras. Our visiting dealers will selling a huge selection of models and accessories between them - that elusive spare part or rare model may yet surface on the day?

The club will also be unveiling its limited edition model for 2026 - bearing the livery of the Deal & Walmer Gas & Coke Company. Only 120 have been made for us by Dapol and each comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity.

We are really looking forward to the day and can't wait to meet you all!

Address

Whitstable
CT53PS

Opening Hours

Monday 6pm - 9pm
Tuesday 10am - 12pm
Wednesday 6pm - 10pm
Thursday 6pm - 10pm

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