Full steam ahead! Model railway enthusiasts show off their restored track in all its glory after it was destroyed by drunken yobs and well-wishers including Rod Stewart donated £100k to fix it

• Members of the Market Deeping Model Railway Club in Lincolnshire looked delighted in Birmingham today
• Their ‘life’s work’ had been ruined after youths trashed the £30,000 display at Stamford, Lincolnshire, in May
• But pictures from today’s gathering at the NEC show the model enthusiasts smiling with their revamped set

A team of model railway enthusiasts have showcased their new display after it had to be restored when vodka-fuelled vandals destroyed it.

Members of the Market Deeping Model Railway Club in Lincolnshire looked delighted as they stood proudly next to their set in Birmingham today.

Their ‘life’s work’ had been ruined after youths trashed the £30,000 display at Stamford, Lincolnshire, on May 18.

But pictures from today’s gathering at the NEC show the enthusiasts smiling with their revamped display.

Members of the Market Deeping Model Railway Club in Lincolnshire looked delighted as they stood proudly next to their set at the NEC in Birmingham today (pictured)

Pictures from today’s gathering show the enthusiasts smiling with their revamped set (pictured, one of the platforms at the NEC today)

It has taken 30 members of The Market Deeping Model Railway Club around 1,000 hours to restore their displays, making the train, track and buildings by hand (pictured today)

Exhibits worth tens of thousands of pounds were destroyed after vandals broke into the school in Lincolnshire and smashed up models belonging to Market Deeping Model Railway Club (pictured in May)

It has taken 30 members of The Market Deeping Model Railway Club around 1,000 hours to restore their displays, making the train, track and buildings by hand (pictured today)

A surge in crowdfunded donations, including £10,000 from singer and model railway enthusiast Sir Rod Stewart, allowed the club to raise more than £107,000 to go towards repairs.

The sets are now restored and on display at the Warley National Model Railway Show at the Birmingham NEC.

It has taken 30 members of The Market Deeping Model Railway Club around 1,000 hours to restore their displays, making the train, track and buildings by hand.

The wires and electronics beneath the set also had to be completely rebuilt.

Market Deeping Model Railway Club chairman Peter Davies said he was ‘delighted’ at the restoration of the display.

He said: ‘We had to rebuild from the platform up. As chairman of the club I am proud of all of the guys.’ 

The wires and electronics beneath the set also had to be completely rebuilt. Pictured: Members of the club at the NEC today (pictured)

Market Deeping Model Railway Club chairman Peter Davies said he was ‘delighted’ at the restoration of the display (pictured today)

Mr Davies added: ‘We had to rebuild from the platform up. As chairman of the club I am proud of all of the guys’ (pictured today)

The small models are now back in top condition following the huge donation that allowed the team to restore their impressive set(pictured today)

This picture shows the level of detail of the display, with the houses beside the railway tracks having people outside as well as paths (pictured today)

Editor of Railway Modeller Steve Flint (left) presenting Sir Rod Stewart with a model wagon gift after his model railway that has been 26 years in the making has finally been unveiled. The musician donated £10,000 to a crowdfunding appeal to repair the exhibitions damaged earlier this year

Four youths were arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage and have since been released on conditional bail. Above: A destroyed model lies on the floor of the school hall

Members of the Market Deeping Model Railway Club rebuilding their railway models. Pictured left to right: Peter Davies, Chairman, Colin Broom, Bill Sowerby and Mick Quinn

The trail of destruction left railway enthusiasts distraught. The club was blown away by a flood of donations on a Just Giving website

Mr Davies said that it took 25 club members 1,000 hours of work to restore the models by hand, with some of the originals having taken years to build.

Commenting on Sir Rod’s ‘amazing and truly humbling’ donation, he added: ‘This kind of thing doesn’t happen, model railway exhibitions don’t get trashed.

‘To have that sort of donation has enabled us to get back on track.’

Model railway enthusiast Sir Rod Stewart, pictured with a huge set from his Beverley Hills home, donated £10,000 to Market Deeping Model Railway Club

This picture shows the scale of the damage, with flipped tables, chairs and destroyed equipment

Members of the Lincolnshire-based club were left devastated after the destruction led to the cancellation of the model railway event at Stamford Welland Academy

Pictured is Paul Andrews from P & D Marsh Model Railway club who had brought his own models to the exhibition only to see them destroyed

Mr Andrews had model railway sets as early as he can remember as a child, and began making them himself when his oldest child Louis, now 35, was interested in Thomas The Tank Engine

He said he was going to meet the singer and now honorary club member when they both appear as guests on the BBC’s The One Show on Monday.

In August, Lincoln Youth Court heard that three ‘mindless’ youths shared a bottle of vodka as part of a pre-exam night out before deliberately destroying the exhibition, which was on display at the Stamford Welland Academy.

The 16-year-old schoolboys, along with a fourth defendant, went on a 4am ‘rampage’ by pushing tables over and throwing parts of displays against the wall.

The Warley National Exhibition is on Saturday and Sunday and showcases more than 90 model railway layouts from the UK and abroad.

Peter Davis (left) and Bill Sowerby from Market Deeping Model Railway Club lost years of work in the raid at Stamford Welland Academy in Stamford

Thousands of pounds worth of model railway exhibits have been destroyed in an act of ‘total wanton destruction’

Thousands of pounds of model railway exhibits were destroyed in an act of ‘destruction’

Mr Andrews said the destruction was ‘mindless’. ‘It’s depressing. It’s frustrating someone has destroyed a big chunk of my business,’ he added

The models which Mr Andrews constructed were painstakingly constructed over hundreds of hours but were smashed to pieces in just a few minutes

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