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

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

PART ONE

Your guide to the galas, special events and main line railtours

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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.