BRAYBROOK Secondary College will celebrate all things locomotive when the school plays host to a model railway exhibition this weekend.

Featuring more than 30 displays of miniature trains from all over the world, the exhibition is expected to attract about a thousand railway enthusiasts.

Sunshine Model Railway Club president Joe Saliba said that although he had been running the event for more than a decade, this year would be a little different.

The exhibition is being held in memory of the club’s former president and founder, Peter McLachlan, who died 10 years ago.

A rail worker for more than 30 years, Mr McLachlan’s lifelong passion for trains saw him establish the club in September 1995, as a forum for like-minded enthusiasts to meet and discuss their shared interest.

Sadly, Mr McLachlan did not live to see his club flourish to its present state of 40 strong members.

Barely three years after starting the club, Mr McLachlan suffered a fatal heart attack and died, at the age of 49.

“It was very sudden,” said Mr Saliba.

“I’d known him for about three years before he passed away. It was very sad. We were all very sorry that it happened.”

Determined to keep his memory alive, his former club mates rallied around Mr McLachlan’s wife and daughters, making them honorary life members.

“They told me it was what Peter would have wanted,” said Maryann McLachlan.

Mrs McLachlan and her daughter, Melissa, plan to attend the exhibition this Saturday, to present the Peter McLachlan trophy to the winning entry in honour of their late husband and father.

Mr Saliba said it was important to pay homage to Mr McLachlan’s achievement in establishing the club.

“I’m trying to keep it going for him … I’ll keep doing it for as long as I can; as long as my health keeps me going.”

The exhibition will run this Saturday and Sunday 9 and10 August at Braybrook Secondary College. Details on 9312 2900.