Early Days
1920s During the decade a group of model power boat enthusiasts began to meet regularly by the lake in Rowntrees Park. Mr Jackson had also opened a shop in Micklegate catering for modellers’ needs and displaying locomotives of a variety of gauges from 1 ¼” to 7 ¼”. The shop attracted a regular clientele. It was from these two groups that an embryonic society was formed.
1923 The first attempts to form a model engineering society in York were made in February of that year when Mr. H. P. Jackson placed an advertisement in the Model Engineer for like minded people to get together but it proved unsuccessful.
1929 An advert was placed in the local press for a meeting to be held on the evening of Friday, 15th September to be held in Mr. Jackson’s rooms in Micklegate.
36 people attended that initial meeting and a new society “The York City and District Society of Model and Experimental Engineers” was born. The “Experimental” part of the club’s title was eventually dropped after a few years.
The first subscription was 2/6 per year after an initial joining fee of 1/6. Juniors (under 18s) were catered for with half fees and subscriptions.
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Beer & Flash Steam
Meetings of the new society were held in a variety of places, mainly city centre public houses. Although the meetings were mostly discussion nights, “Live Steam Nights” were a regular feature when locomotives were run on 
a test bed, stationary engines demonstrated and even a flash steam boat was put into action.
Transporting these models to the pub backroom must have been a problem, though all the members at that time lived within the city and wouldn't have had far to go. The flash steam boats such as "Virago", shown above, were popular at the time and one such model was worked so hard on one evening, and the temperature of the superheated steam so high, that the cylinder head began to glow!
According to the records, this latter event was extremely noisy “ a terrific din” but the group didn’t seem to outstay their welcome in the particular pub and remained at the venue for several meetings. They were probably a very thirsty lot and likely kept the pub tills going in quenching their thirst.
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The club made good use of the Bishopthorpe site, which was set in a grassy orchard. The next 17 years were comparatively stable and, one might say, fruitful ones. A circular raised track, pictured right, was built using the Stockton Lane sections and facilities gradually improved over the years. The membership grew to about 50. The Society Exhibitions and track open days were now a regular feature.
The happy years at Bishopthorpe came to a halt sadly when the site was sold in 1966 and the new owner was not sympathetic to the Society. Once again a new site had to be sought.
The picture on the right shows two of the key members in the early years of the Society, H. P. Jackson, driving, with Bill Shearman as his passenger on the new Bishopthorpe track.
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By Hogg's Pond
The Society found success in 1967 through the generosity of a local builder, Messrs. Birch & Co.. The owner, Jack Birch, indicated that he was willing to allow the use of part of his site at Moor Lane, Dringhouses, only a mile or two from Bishopthorpe but within the city boundary, until required for building.
The new track, close by the East Coast mainline, became very well known to mainline travellers. Rail passengers from South of the city always knew that they were approaching York Station when their train passed the York Model Engineers’ track. Many a young passenger, and older ones too, strained to see if there was anything running around Hogg's Pond on the club's track as their train glided past.
Over the next 18 years the Moor Lane site was developed and the track was provided with a station, roofed steaming bay and other facilities.
Once again, in 1986, a sale of land ended the club's stay. Part of the land was eventually sold for private housing and the new owner, besides taking part of it for his garden wanted a fairly large annual rent of the remainder. It was decided to that the Society would have to move. When this was conveyed to the new owner, he wanted immediate vacancy and the track and facilities dismantled and placed in storage with Messr. Birch.
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Finding a Permanent Home
Meetings moved to a local Methodist Church Hall and a search began to find an alternative site. Tentative approaches were made for sites over a 15 mile radius before a suitable came to light in 1987.
An opportunty arose when British Rail were in the process of electrifying the East Coast Mainline and were using an old section of sidings at Dringhouses, bordering the mainline and quite close to the old Moor Lane site, for contractors storage. Negotiations took place to purchase this land but occupancy would have to wait until the electrification was complete.
The picture left shows a steam special travelling south on the ECML from York in April 1984 passing the Dringhouses sidings, left, and the marshalling yard to the right of the picture. The sidings, only just in view, are now occupied by the Society's clubhouse and the miniature railway tracks.
The Society purchased the land and got possession in 1989 when work started on a clubhouse and the erection of the track. The site, being an old siding, is ideal for the track. There is an association with railways well back into the Victorian era as the major part of the ballast is ash from NER & LNER Railway locomotives shedded at York.
The Society is very fortunate in acquiring this site, which now consists of 4 1/2 acres of beautiful woodland. The colonisation by woodland is so fast that the new growth needs to be constantly managed. The raised track runs out of sight through this woodland setting.
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Everything including the Kitchen Sink
Once planning permission was granted, the club began to erect a meeting house and construct a raised track of about 600 feet.
The clubhouse was constructed using prefabricated concrete panels.
Careful attention was paid to security and the roof space, window shutters and doors are all steel lined. Despite numerous attempts, these ‘defenses’ have met the challenge on all but one occasion. The club house is now fully alarmed and the noise of the siren is so great that members open up the club house with a degree of fear and trepidation.
When fitting out the clubroom, the aim was to do it right in the first place and the club now boasts a well appointed meeting place which is fully heated, ventilated and carpeted. It is equipped with a small but well furnished kitchen, toilet and wash facility.
Fittingly, the new clubhouse and site were opened by the man who had generously allowed the use of the previous piece of land, Cllr. Jack Birch.
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Bursting at the Seams
Membership has flourished since the 1980s and has trebled to about 150 members in the last ten years.
The original raised multi-gauge track has been extended and the extension opened in 1998 by the Lord Mayor of York.
The first phase of the extension of the clubhouse was completed in 1999/2000 to cater for the very high attendances at meetings. Meetings attendances are regularly 50+ and can be as high as 65 persons. As well as increasing the size of the meeting room, the facilites for meetings were improved. The club room is fitted out with a hearing loop and sound system. The audio visual equipment includes built in screens, video, overhead and slide projectors and magnetic white board. Ramps have been constructed for wheelchair access too.
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Links with Hobbyists in Australia
The club entered into a unique arrangement in 1999 when it twinned with the Hornsby Co-operative Model Engineers Society in New South Wales, Australia. Visitors from both clubs have already made the long journey and enjoyed the hospitality of their opposite numbers.
Photo right shows York members with visitors from the Hornsby club, Summer 2000.
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The biggest society project in recent years was the construction of an extensive dual gauge ground level track. The completed track was opened in July 2004 by then Model Engineer Editor, Mike Chrisp, as part of the Society’s 75th birthday celebrations.
The full track, now known as the Charles Erskine Memorial Track, consists of a 1/3rd of a mile long circuit with a loading and steaming facility. The introduction of 7 1/4” gauge has caused a sudden spate of locomotive building in the larger scales within the Society.
Recent Developments
Site Developments
In 2005 the Society was fortunate to be able to establish a relationship with Askham Bryan Agricultural College. Students from the Landscaping and Forestry Departments of the College used the Society's 4 1/2 acre site in their studies. A survey of the site and its flora was carried out before the students produced a site development and management plan which was presented to the Society. The plan has provided the basis for the improvement and enhancement of this valuable woodland. The Society was very pleased with the students' work and made a significant donation to the College Library as a thank you.
The College survey of the trees in the main area of the site showed that there were a number of trees which were diseased and a number that were a potential danger. Following further consultations with the College and with the Council Environmental Officer, a number of trees were identified as needing removal and this work has now been done professionally.
With the necessary tree removal completed, the Society has begun the job of site improvement which includes the planting of new trees, the polling of the existing elm trees and the sowing of woodland flowers.
It is hoped that a boating pond, as well as a wildlife pond, can be constructed in the near future. Several picnic areas are proposed and a traction engine track built.
Ground Level Developments
Development of the Charles Erskine Track has gone on apace. The original loading and unloading area proved to be too congested and a much larger loading and steaming area has been built. This includes a hydraulic traverser capable of handling all but the very largest of 7 1/4" Gauge engines.
A loop for the station has been built and now only awaits the station platform. The track signalling has been designed and tested and will be installed when the trunking for the cabling has been laid.
Membership and Meetings
The membership of the Society has continued to increase and attendances at meetings are often very high. The fairly recent extension to the clubhouse was welcome at the time but space is tight once again and the Society now needs to consider a further expansion of the clubroom facilities to accommodate the increasing membership.
Of course, none of the above developments will happen overnight and it will be a few years before all our plans can be fulfilled.
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