Being too young to go to Shildon in 1975, my railway hobby started with the Liverpool and Manchester Rocket 150 celebrations in May 1980. I have lasting memories of visiting Rainhill for the cavalcade

This is a layout that probably wouldn’t have been built, had not David Joughin battled back against a life-changing medical condition. The results speak for themselves.

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The urge to create model trains can be traced back to the genesis of the real railway. George Dent examines how what was once a pastime of the affluent few became a mass-market hobby that endures to this day.

After outlining the baseboard construction last month, Peter Marriott turns his attention to laying the track and installing a concrete apron on his new Cornish-themed layout.

The model railway hobby may have some issues with the advancing age of modellers, but it’s not all gloom says CHRIS LEIGH .