MODEL railway enthusiasts have thanked the Tele and a local church after getting their exhibition back on track.

Greenock & District Model Railway Club had feared their showcase would be derailed this year after Lyle Kirk - their host venue for the last seven events - was unavailable.

But the parish managed to re-organise their schedule to help the hobbyists hold their event, after reading about their plight in the Telegraph.

It's now full steam ahead for the club members as they prepare for the exhibition later this month.

Brian Thompson, the club's operations manager, is looking forward to the show's return next weekend.

He said: "This is all thanks to the Telegraph helping to find us a venue.

"Back in April we had nowhere, as the Lyle Kirk wasn't going to be available.

"We put an appeal out in the Telegraph about the situation and as a result we were offered three different premises.

"Luckily the Lyle Kirk also read the article and they managed to get the venue back for us by re-organising things to accommodate us.

"We're very grateful to them for that.

"We were getting really anxious about it so it was such a relief when we got told we could use the hall."

This year's event will feature 10 working layouts, with a variety of static displays and stalls for traders.

There will also be a Meccano exhibition and a Thomas the Tank Engine layout for younger attendees to enjoy.

Under-16s attending the show will also be given the opportunity to take part in an art competition, which will challenge them to produce the best drawing of the royal train.

The club will also debut their new layout, which has been under construction since before the pandemic began.

Brian added: "With our new layout, called Kirkconnel, we've taken a bit of modeller's licence but we think it's a good recreation of the village with all of its salient features.

"I've been in the club for 12 years and it's the biggest layout we've built during that time.

"It's all hand-built from scratch by about a dozen of our members.

"It's taken us years to build - Covid interrupted the process but it still took a lot of our time.

"When you go up in scale the wiring becomes much more complicated and it can be a real challenge."

The Model Railway Show will take place on October 22 and 23 at the Lyle Kirk's Union Street building.

The show will run between 10am and 5pm on Saturday and from noon until 5pm on Sunday, with tickets available at the door.