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The London Festival of Railway Modelling is a 2-day annual event that takes place every spring at Alexandra Palace in North London, drawing this year just under 10,000 model railway enthusiasts, and often their loved ones (sometimes less enthusiastically!), from all over the South East and further afield.
Fortunately for me, it’s right on my doorstep – I can see Alexandra Palace from my home – though I haven’t visited the show for several years. That’s partly because I’m not a model railway modeller. I just enjoy looking at model railways. And this year I had a free afternoon to myself.
The London Festival of Railway Modelling is run by BRM magazine and the Model Railway Club, the world’s oldest model railway club launched in 1910.
All in all there were around 140 exhibitors (scroll through photos above) including over 40 UK & overseas layouts across all major scales and gauges. Many of them were specialist model shops and manufacturers exhibiting and selling track, engines, accessories, media (books, video, prints) and tools, which to be honest I found every bit as interesting as the layouts themselves – especially the specialist manufacturers who just make the most amazing scaled buildings or trees or lighting, or landscapes.
There’s a nice time lapse video of the show here.
Factbox
Location:
Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY.
Getting there: Go to Finsbury Park tube station (Victoria and Piccadilly lines) then a W3 bus to Alexandra Palace.
Prices (2016):
Adults £12.00
Children £6.00
Family £36.00
Opening Hours (2016):
Sat 10am – 5pm
Sun 10am – 4.30pm
Next Event:
The next London Festival of Railway Modelling is 25-26 March 2017.
Other similar events:
- Association of Larger Scale Railway Modellers show – Reading, 7 May 2016
- National Festival of Railway Modelling – East of England Showground, Peterborough, 15-16 Oct 2016
- Warley National Model Railway Exhibition – NEC Birmingham, 26-27 Nov 2016
