THERE’S an event on this weekend which is a must for anyone interested in trains — big or small!
The Kerry Model Railway Club’s annual festival has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, in fact, last year over 1,000 people visited the exhibition during the festival to see the model railways and antiques.
The event is on from Saturday, August 4 to Monday, August 6 and will see new Irish and UK model exhibits with model train enthusiasts on hand to answer questions, including Simon Starr from England who has been coming every year.
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The model railway exhibit at the Blennerville Windmill Centre is a treasure trove of railway memorabilia with some great local photos from times past of the old Tralee to Dingle railway line as well as many donations from people including an old trunk dating from the 1800s with ‘Arthur Blennerhasset inscribed on it.
The local club has put a tremendous amount of time and work into the exhibit over the years since they set it up in Blennerville in 2013. The intricacies of workings of the models were explained when we called out on Monday evening and we also found out it wasn’t cheap to keep an exhibition like this ticking over.
Billy Nolan said people in the locality and beyond have shown wonderful generosity with donating memorabilia, especially old photographs of staff from the Tralee station over the years, which are displayed just inside the entrance to the exhibition room.
The Kennelly family of Kerry’s Eye have also been very good to the club, giving them large photos of trains taken over the years to display in the room.
A number of model railways will be operating in two rooms over the course of the weekend and with music and great spot prizes it’s set to be great fun for young and old with an interest in all things locomotive.
The price for entry is €7 for adults and €3 for a child. A family ticket is €20. Students and OAPs are €5.