Tom Drury celebrated his 100th birthday on November 14, which has led to claims of his being the oldest active railway modeller in the world.

“I would like to believe so, and I think I would be,” he says, and he’s very happy to offer up his 100th birthday card from King Charles, who he shares his birthday with, to prove his age.

Tom moved to Australia from the UK and came straight to Canberra in 1972. It wasn’t until 2013 that he joined the Canberra Model Railway Club.

He says his interest actually began with model aircraft, which he used to build for his son to play with, but has evolved to include trains.

“I grew up in Yorkshire and there weren’t really many trains around, so I find them really interesting now,” he says.

“I have my own model layout at home, too. It keeps me busy and keeps my mind going. If you’ve got a good mind, it will help your body keep going, too.”

Tom lives with his daughter June at their Dunlop home, where his model layout takes up a whole car space in the garage.

“We had to get rid of a car for me to be able to keep going,” he says, “so it’s pretty big. I’ve built it all, done all the carpentry, the track laying, everything.”

Tom says his daughter often tells people that she will go to drive into the garage and sees his legs sticking out from under the table, while he’s doing electrical work.

So, he says, being 100 hasn’t slowed him down at all.

“I’m still very capable, very strong.”

Tom worked as a pattern-maker in his younger years, and says he’s always liked building things, but now he attends the Canberra Model Railway Club for more social reasons.

“I like the camaraderie, I look forward to coming here in the morning and everyone here is nice, I’ve never had an argument yet,” he says.

“I really, always look forward to our expos too, seeing everyone’s train displays and seeing what people are making.”

On March 25 and 26, the Canberra Model Railway Club will host its 34th exhibition at the University of Canberra High School, Kaleen.

Vice-president Chris Neil is working closely with president Bob Morton, and “worker bee” Ron Geeves in organising the exhibition.

“We’re expecting to exhibit 35 layouts,” says Chris.

“Last year we saw 2700 people attend, but usually we expect to see around 2500 people.

“The exhibition will also have 18 modelling and hobby equipment suppliers, including model trains, scenery items and small tools for creating modelling items.”

Exhibitors and suppliers come from as far away as Coffs Harbour and Perth, with Ron saying it’s possibly the largest exhibition outside the metropolitan area in NSW.

“There are no real hobby traders here in the ACT, so the beauty of the expo is we can bring together people who sell trains, scenery items and building prerequisites,” says Bob.

“And, for the University of Canberra High School, I think the expo takes the place of a fete.

“The school takes care of the parking, we pay them to do that, but they also run a barbecue and the canteen so it’s a really good fundraising weekend for them.”

But there’s also a local focus, with the Canberra Model Railway Club running a mentoring program with students in years 7 to 10 from the school.

“We use building layouts and running trains as a means of getting the students interested,” says Chris.

“We have the mentor layouts that we put into the exhibition as well, and the kids can man the stand and talk about their own layouts, too.”