CDOGG History

Towards the end of the 1990’s a series of summer model railway exhibitions were held at the Sands Centre in Carlisle. Through these exhibitions a couple of O gauge modellers got to know each other and discussed the possibility of forming a group to further the interests of 7mm modellers in Carlisle and surrounding districts. Other O gauge modellers were approached and then on the last Wednesday of November in the year 2000, this small group met all together for the first time at the Cumberland Wrestlers pub in Carlisle. The Carlisle & District O Gauge Group, or CDOGG for short, was up and running!

After a few regular monthly meetings of just chatting about modelling and putting the world to rights, someone suggested building a test track to be able to run trains. An idea was formed and soon wood was cut, baseboards built and eventually a test track had been erected in a shed, belonging to one of the CDOGG members.

A few limited running sessions were held in the shed, but it was all too apparent that the shed was far too small to be able to hold a ’proper’ running session and open day weekend, so a village hall was hired. It was also obvious to the small group of members that for CDOGG to grow and become the group they envisaged, premises more suited to railway modelling and of a more permanent nature, were required. Luckily, a chance meeting between a CDOGG member and a Virgin Trains employee, led to the acquisition of the current CDOGG club room in the undercroft of Carlisle Citadel Station. What could be a more fitting location for a model railway than at a real life railway station?

A lot of hard work eventually got the club room cleaned up and decorated and in early 2006 the test track baseboards were moved from the shed to their new home. Unfortunately, due to the change of environment, the baseboards shrank and the track expanded and so, after much frustration, it was eventually decided to rip up the track and start again from scratch. A new track plan was designed and work started on relaying the track, building a control panel and wiring it all up. Once the track work had been thoroughly tested the scenic work was started. It was decided that the layout would be called ’Kinchley Lane’ and over the years Kinchley Lane has continued to be developed, both scenically and operationally. A modified control panel now enables both DC and DCC running. Over time the track work has been extended, with more scenic areas and cameos being added, including in 2025, the Gibsons Agricultural Warehouse scene.

Over the years CDOGG membership has continued to grow. The presence of a club room and permanent layout, on which to run trains has, without doubt, attracted new members from within the Carlisle area and surrounding districts. An ‘Associate Membership’ was also introduced, which enables those who live a distance away from Carlisle, or who may not be able to visit the club room on a regular basis, to still enjoy the benefits of being part of CDOGG. After recently celebrating the 25th anniversary, members are now looking forward to the future and many more pleasurable years of O Gauge modelling as part of the Carlisle & District O Gauge Group.