History of DSMEE

The Society was founded in January 1901 in the Grafton Tea Rooms, in Grafton Street, Dublin, when a group of like minded enthusiasts got together. this makes it one of the oldest model engineering societies the world, having been formed only 3 years after the Society of Model Engineers in London, which was founded in 1898. We recently celebrated 120 years of existence in 2021.

Due to a lack of a suitable site, DSMEE did not have a railway open to the public until 27th August 1949, when a short track was opened in Herbert Park in Dublin. It was a quaint setup, just a straight line where a train would run forwards and backwards. By the 1970s, the society wanted to expand the track, however to facilitate that would have required removing some trees, and that put an end to any chance of expansion in Herbert Park.

It was then that one of our own members, Cecil Pollock, approached Dublin County Council about moving the railway to a vacant plot of land in the newly opened Marlay Park. The council obliged, and in 1981, the Society moved to its present location in Marlay Park.

In 1965 the society started building a LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 "Springbok" in 5" gauge. The project was good in theory - every member would make a part of the locomotive, so it truly was a "club" locomotive. However, due to the wonderous forces of procrastination, the model was passed around and tinkered on until 1987, meaning it took twenty-two years to build. Today she regularly pulls weekly passenger services.

in 1988 the society was briefly featured in an RTÉ documentary about Rathfarnham as part of a montage showing off the amenities of Marlay Park. At the time, "Springbok" was painted black, and the raised line passenger cars were a dark green with "MPR" initials on them, which stood for "Marlay Park Railway"

The facilities that those members had when they moved into the park were a far cry from what we have today. The council constructed the wall for our raised track, as well as our old station and raised-level engine shed.

The society's workshop at the time was located inside the basement of the old clocktower/stable buildings, yet despite this, members managed to construct the entire ground-level line while being based out of this workshop, no small feat considering all the rail had to be carried and laid by hand. Members such as Cecil Pollock and the late Victor Gilmore were instrumental in bringing these plans to fruition. The ground track was complete by 1995.

In 1996 the society was invited to offer train rides at Inchicore Works 150th anniversary open day. Our petrol-hydraulic 201 class was built for this event, and still continues to pull trains to this day.

Sometime around 2001, construction started on our new workshop/depot building, which today is where we service out locos, as well as holding meetings and storing records. It features an elevated turntable along with numerous booths to store locomotives and rolling stock in. It features very unusual elevated turntable and steaming bays.

Unfortunately, around 2011 the ground track suffered extensive damage as a result of ongoing construction work in the park. On top of that, both the raised line and ground line's wooden sleepers - now having been sat out in the elements for twenty odd years - were starting to rot, and needed replacing. Instead of using wooden sleepers which would have to be replaced in another twenty years, the society opted instead to use reconstituted plastic sleepers. This material is much more durable than wood, and is made from recycled offcuts from plastic production. The society continues to use this wood-substitute material today for sleepers and other track accessories.

It has taken the society the better part of a decade to replace all the sleepers on both tracks, as well as re-lay the line that was damaged years before. As of writing, both lines are fully operational.

From October 28th to 30th 2017 the society attended a model railways exhibition in Blackrock College, Co. Dublin.

Around the mid-2010s the society held an exhibition in the Orangery in the park's regency garden.

Around 2019 the society constructed our Gauge 1 line behind the workshop.

In the early 2020s, the society, like the rest of the world, was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. All train-ride services stopped and many events had to be cancelled. In march of 2020, we took delivery of two Ride-on-Railways passenger carriages for the ground track. These sit-astride coaches replaced old sit-in in-house built carriages, which were awkward to get in and out of, and which were no longer fit for purpose.

Around the same time, an opportunity for the society to expand arose. We submitted plans to DLR CoCo for a new ground track (check our project page to see a simplified view of it!). The council approved the plans, and have offered to provide groundwork assistance that will accommodate the new track.

In mid 2024, phase one of the project - a new station that will serve both the raised and ground level lines - was completed.

During the course of 2024, the Society took delivery of a wheelchair passenger carriage and sit-astride passenger carriage from Cromar White.

In early 2025 DSMEE featured in RTÉ's Nationwide programme. While the segment focused on a members' family's multi-generational modelling project, a brief history of the society was recounted, along with who we are and what we do. You can watch the episode for free on RTÉ Player here.

We graciously thank DLR CoCo for all their support; past, present and in the future. We look forward to working with them as we provide this much-loved amenity to the park.

Updated: 29/03/2025