Mid-West Model Railway Club exhibition receives a return ticket for 2026

Midwest Model Railway Club exhibition receives a return ticket for 2026. Fiona Malone of O’Connor Sutton Cronin Consulting Engineers, Tom Cassidy, P.R.O. with the Mid-West Model Railway Club, and James Brinn, also of O’Connor Sutton Cronin.

The Midwest Model Railway Club exhibition is set to make a return journey to Castletroy Park Hotel for 2026 on June 20 and 21

MidWest Model Railway Club are set to return with their annual exhibition for a second year running at Castletroy Park Hotel on June 20 and 21.

The model railway club, which draws members from Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, and further afield, has announced the exhition is on track to display the highest standards of miniature crafting and engineering skills at its Second Model Railway and Hobbies Exhibition, set to take place over the Father’s Day weekend.

The venue runs at Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick City, with doors open from 11.00 am through to 5.00 pm, and will bring the layouts and displays of prize-winning designers, engineering experts in miniature, skilled craftspeople, and artistic wizards from all over the island of Ireland.

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Badlands, which depicts a rural halt somewhere in the central United States in the 19th century, is one creation coming from a club in Cork.  By contrast, The Drain evokes 20th-century rail operations in Britain before the massive privatisation programme was put in place.  A total of 20 layouts will be on display.

Limerick and the Midwest is the ideal location for both an active modelling club and a model railway exhibition, as it was the focus of the first Act of Parliament to provide for a railway in Ireland- the line being designed to link with Waterford and the southeast.

Commenting on this connection to Ireland’s railway history, Club Chairman Evan Kelly stated, “We are delighted our exhibition coincides with the 200th anniversary of the signing into law in 1826 of the legislation that provided for connecting the mid-west with the rest of Ireland through steam power”.

The Mid-West Club will be displaying its own layout named Treaty Junction. Over the past twelve months, much work has been put into depicting scenery attributable to West Tipperary.

The Club’s Scenery Wrangler, Stephen Sheehan, describes their efforts as achieving a marriage between the scenic route through the borders of the Glen of Aherlow and a standard cutting by which railway lines make their way through challenging terrain.

Club Treasurer, Keith Moore, expressed the members’ thanks to their Sponsors.  He stated that those supporting the exhibition came from many different backgrounds, ranging from consultancy firms engaged in the reinstatement of the Foynes Line, through model railway retailers, to those engaged in the health sector.  

He said, “All our supporters, as do our partners in St. Mary’s Men’s Shed where we are based, recognise the practical benefits of an engaging hobby for general well-being, good health, and longevity.”

The Exhibition, which also caters for other hobbies and suppliers of materials and kits, will be open to the public in the Castletroy Park Hotel from 11.00 to 17.00 on both Saturday and Sunday, June 20th and 21st. Tickets are priced at €5 for Adults and €3 for those aged between 5 and 18.