As North-East industrial landscapes disappear under business parks and housing estates, a group of model enthusiasts are ensuring their memory lives on. John Dean reports

IN a couple of cramped rooms, a group of model railway enthusiasts are bringing back to life the landscapes that once characterised the industrial North-East.

The work is being done by Darlington Model Railway Club, which was created in 1971 as the Americana club and today meets at the Railway Museum and Centre, off North Road.

The 21 members, who are aged between 30 and 77 and come from Darlington, Heighington village, Barnard Castle and Northallerton, believe their intricate sets, complete with locomotives, rolling stock, bridges, inclines, quarries and ports, celebrate part of the region's industrial history.

Although one member has a background in railway signal engineering, most have nothing to do with the railway industry, having been employed as everything from joiner to agricultural worker.

Chairman Percy Young, 69, from Darlington, a member from the club's earliest days, worked in the chemical industry before retiring.

The club's greatest triumph was the Darlington and Stockton railway set on show in the Railway Museum and Centre, which took two years to build and recreates Locomotion's famous journey of 1825.

Club members also exhibit their work and, at the end of last year, held their 26th annual exhibition at Darlington College of Technology.

Mr Young said: "We keep coming because we have a great interest in model railways and because of the camaraderie.

"We travel all over the country to shows and use some of the ideas in our own layouts. But when we create a set it has to be right. Cattle are not just cattle - they could be Shorthorns or Herefords - and trees are not just trees, there are many different types. Everything we create has to be right, the right colours, everything right for the period we are recreating."

Secretary Phil Ashlee, from Heighington, a member since 1980, can trace his interest in modelling back to his younger days: "It started when I was 17 or 18. It started with a Scalextric layout which I was building. Everyone in the club has different talents, some can create good scenery, others are good at electrics, some are good at art work, some are good at building carriages. It is a mixture."

There is a real sense of keeping disappearing industrial landscapes alive because although most of the club's sets are fictional, they are based on reality.

Former Darlington solicitor Dennis Perkins, 59, now retired, who joined recently, said: "Those who create modern scenes are recreating them as they are now, but those who model something from the past are recreating impressions of what it was like."

His own involvement is nostalgic: "I was interested in train sets as a kid and was a spotter back in the days of steam. I retained that interest but have become more involved since I retired."

l The club is seeking larger premises. Anyone who can help can contact Phil Ashlee on (01325) 321537.