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Museum celebrating model railway's 75th anniversary

George TorrDerby
News imageVisit Derby A man in a blue polo shirt in front of a model railway.Visit Derby
Music mogul and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman will be in Derby for the event

A museum is marking a milestone for its model railway which was created 75 years ago.

The railway was first set up in 1951 and is now displayed at the Museum of Making in Derby with a team of enthusiastic volunteers maintaining the post 1900s "Derbyshire scenery" and track over the decades.

Railway enthusiast and renowned music mogul Pete Waterman is set to take part in a question and answer session as part of the celebration.

Hope Slater, who has helped organise the event, told the BBC: "It's fantastic that it is still part of our display and it is a big draw for model railway enthusiasts."

Waterman, who himself is an avid model railway enthusiast, was part of a world record-breaking feat by building the largest model railway of 694.9 m (2279 ft 10 in) at the NEC in Birmingham in 2024.

The model railway in Derby's Museum of Making is set in a fictional landscape but "heavily inspired" by Derbyshire and its surroundings at the turn of the 20th Century.

Built in 1951, it sat in Derby Museum and Art Gallery before moving in 1974 to what was the former Derby Industrial Museum.

Slater said they were "extremely proud" of the model railway and its "attention to detail" curated by their volunteers.

News imageDerby Museums Model railway scene with trains and houses.Derby Museums
News imageDerby Museums Model railway with two men stood in background.Derby Museums
The model railway was first set up in 1951
The railway is set in a fictional landscape but "heavily inspired" by Derbyshire and its surroundings at the turn of the 20th Century

"It's amazing to hear that some of our volunteers first saw the model railway as children and are now part of the team maintaining it.

"The model railway has been a firm favourite for many visitors over the years at Derby Museums so it's fantastic that it is still part of our collection," they said.

"We thought it was very fitting to celebrate 75 years of such a mainstay of the museum."

The evening will feature a "special night-time opportunity" to see the model railway in action and people can meet Waterman and some of the volunteers who have spent many thousands of hours on the railway.

The event is set to take place on 30 May.

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