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-track engine shed. This was the extent of the Society's infastructure at the start.

The society also wished to contruct a ground-level track in order to run larger models that would not be suitable for the raised track. The Society was allowed use the basement of the old clocktower building as a workshop, yet despite this, members managed to construct the entire ground-level line by hand, no small feat considering that means all the rail sections had to be assembled, carried and laid by members. 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 building, which today is where we service our locos, as well as hold meetings and store records. It features numerous booths and lines in which to store locomotives and rolling stock in. It features a 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 around twenty 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 rides 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, planning started on the ground-track field project, in line with the Marlay Park Master Plan. It would see the installation of a new cricket pitch in the field, which would require the relocation of our track. We entered talks with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and submitted plans for a new, reconfigured ground track. The council approved the plans, ensuring DSMEE can continue to operate larger models in the park.

In mid 2024, 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 was featured on 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.

In mid 2025 a new gantry was erected outside the raised track shed. This facilitates the easy moving of heavy rolling stock such as passenger carriages from the line into the shed. The society also took delivery of a wheelchair-compatable passenger car and a passenger coach from Cromar White.

On September 10th 2025, an 8.8 kWp solar array was installed on the roof of the society's workshop, along with a 22.4 kWh storage system.

During the summer of 2026, construction started in the ground track field on a new cricket pitch and pedestrian pathway for the park which necessitated the reconfiguration of the ground-level track to run around the perimeter of the field. The old ground-level line had a total length of 900 meters, all of which was made of steel rail and catered for 7¼" gauge. it was the longest 7¼" ground line in the Republic and the second longest on the island. 591 meters of the ground line was dual gauge, catering for both 7¼" and 5" gauge. The 5" gauge line was, we believe, the only ground level line of this gauge in Ireland.

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

Last updated: 16/08/2026