The Club was originally founded in September/October 1977 by the late John McGovern, a British Transport Policeman, as the Model Rail Section of the British Rail Staff Association Sports Club, meeting in the Sports Pavilion in Holtwhites Hill, near to Gordon Hill railway station. The Club soon had 20 members and the first exhibition was held in the Sports Pavilion on 22^nd October 1977. Exhibits included displays by the Chace Locomotive Society, The Great Eastern Railway Society, The Enfield District Model Engineering Society, and N gauge layouts built by two of the members, Roger Elkin and Lawrie Smith. Membership rapidly grew to about 40 members, and the following year the exhibition moved to the larger venue of the Grammar School in Enfield Town, organised by Colin Penn. After a few years at the Grammar School, the venue became too expensive, and exhibitions reverted to the Sports Pavilion, organised by Roger Bowring and then by Keith Plum.

In 1994 the name of the Club was changed to "Holtwhites MRC" to correspond to the change of name of the parent Sports Club. By then the exhibition had again outgrown the Pavilion and moved to St Paul's Centre in Enfield Town. In February 1998, the Club also moved its weekly meetings to St. Paul's Centre, following the privatisation of British Rail and uncertainty about the future of the Holtwhites Hill premises. This resulted in a change of meeting night to Thursdays and the change of name to "Enfield Town MRC"

After the 1999 exhibition in St Paul's Centre the small hall there was converted into a store and office, so was no longer available for exhibition use. This meant that the Club had to find a new, larger venue for exhibitions. In 2001 the exhibition was held in the Lea Valley High School Sports Centre, Bullsmoor Lane, and in 2002 the exhibition moved to the even larger venue of Kingsmead School for the special exhibition to celebrate the Club's Silver Jubilee. Other special 25th anniversary events during 2002 have included a day trip to York by train , a "birthday party" on a member's 0 gauge garden railway, and the publication of a souvenir booklet for members. Regular Thursday night meetings continue in the main hall of St Paul's Centre.