An Okehampton resident is determined to set up a new model train group after rescuing a former enthusiast’s collection.

Feeling his old model railway club met too infrequently and was too ‘cliquey’, Louis Denning decided to start a new club when he acquired an enthusiast’s collection (and the premises in which it was housed) after the former owner passed away.

He said: “What sold it for me was the bridge and the station depot. I’m hoping to get a model railway club up and going. I got quite a few members already. We are all about running trains. At the moment, we are looking at opening five days a week.”

Members are already coming from far and wide — some as far away as Bridgwater, Weston-super-Mare, Newton Abbot and Exminster.

Currently, group members are updating the old railway track from analogue to digital and hope soon to be able to control the trains from an app on their phones.

If successful, members have also started discussing the possibility of expanding into a second room with another track or even working with Okehampton Station to have a model railway set up there. They currently meet at Fatherford Farm.

The group can be found on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok. To follow, search for ‘Exeter Junction model rail club 83C’ on Facebook or ‘Exeter Junction’ on X, Instagram and TikTok.