Love little trains? We recently visited the oldest model railway club in the world — check out the video.
Thousands of miniature trains will pull up at Alexandra Palace this March, for the London Festival of Railway Modelling.
Now in its 25th year, the massive celebration of diddy trains will fill out the north London venue's Great Hall, with 40 working train track layouts based on regions in the UK, and further afield.
Around 10,000 people are expected to show up over the weekend of 16-17 March, so let's pray the life-sized trains are running OK.
The huge layouts are the real draw of the weekend; among those on show this year are Tucking Mill (an idyllic North Somerset scene), a miniature version of the modern Bremen Tramway in Germany, and the American Purgatory Peak, which looks like a shrunk-down cross between something out of Indiana Jones and Back to the Future III.
Altogether, over 100 traders and societies, plus retailers and manufacturers, will be on hand for tips and demonstrations. But despite the show being attended by plenty of the kind of people who know what a Tenshodo Coreless motor bogie is — don't be put off if all this is new to you. If you're dipping your toes into a potential new attic hobby, or just want to feel like a giant while watching replica Mallards zoom underneath your nose, this is a welcoming space. In short: all aboard!
London Festival of Railway Modelling, Alexandra Palace, 16-17 March 2024.
