About us

Dennis Lovett, MKMRS Chairman

40th anniversary: a message from our Chairman

Back in 1969 a small group of railway modellers put together a static display of model locomotives on an MPD section of a layout at Bletchley's Arts & Crafts Festival. From these humble beginnings in a then small railway town, grew the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society.

Despite always being located within Bletchley, the steering group decided to attract a far wider group and it was one of the first organisations to recognise the importance of the newly created designated new city of Milton Keynes (so designated in 1967). Of the four main towns within the designated boundary two, Bletchley and Wolverton, were steeped in railway tradition and quite a few of the early members were (or had been) professional railwaymen.

Today's club is vastly different from the one I joined back then. In those days everything was a struggle (the flooding in the basement being a weekly battle), resources were thin and finances virtually non-existent. Whilst there had in the past been a branch of the Hornby Railway Company, a Bletchley Model Railway Club (closed circa 1961) and a Leighton Buzzard Model Railway Club, they were no longer operational. The new organisation succeeded because of the dedication of its officers, committee and members. Better premises were eventually acquired and from those a move to our existing facilities in Bletchley Park took place 14 years ago.

We now have excellent facilities to house our layouts and we are open at weekends as part of the Bletchley Park museum facilities. We have trains running, static displays and railway relics. We also have displays that tell of our railway history and how they contributed to the Second World War effort.

All this is housed within the communications environment that is Bletchley Park. For it was the railways that virtually created the modern communications systems that we all now take for granted. The railways created standardised clock times, telegraph communication and codes, signalling (originally by flags and people) and enabled both freight and people to move around. Today's railways are ever evolving and at the cutting edge of technical advancement. Like MKMRS, they are totally different from those that were in existence back in 1969.

If you would like to know more about what we do and who we are, then this website will hopefully encourage you to find out more. We have members ranging from beginners through to those who can scratch-build locomotives. We operate trains from clockwork through to the latest Digital Command Control systems - for we recognise not just where our hobby is going, but where over the last 100 years it has come from!

Dennis Lovett
Chairman

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