MRC Open Day

 

I like London on a Sunday. It's quieter, but most of the shops, especially in the run-up to Christmas, are still open. 

My reason for visiting was that The Model Railway Club were having an open day. OK, if I'm honest, this gave me the main hook to hang my trip on, but I also looked forward to strolling around Kings Cross and St Pancras, generally enjoying the capital in festive garb. 

A warm welcome to the clubrooms saw me start with the test track area, where there were some new Heljan locos to poke and prod. The ES1 looks particually nice, although I understand that if you really know the prototype, it's the "wusrt model in the wurld evahhhh". Niggles aside, the announcement was a surprise, and handling the pre-production model, it felt solid. Only a lack of funds (OK, a lack of desire to allocate funds), and no real use for the thing, stops me owning one in the apple-green BR livery. 

There was also a second-hand stall that I bought a couple of items from to be polite (!). 

Upstairs though, I had the chance to meet a modelling hero. Back in the 80s (I think), Adrian Garner built some models of the Listowel and Ballybunion railway inconjunction with Colin Binnie who developed a kitchen table injection moulding machine that they used for the A-frames in the track. 

At the time, he also built the text loco used to promote the system. It made the front page of a magazine, which I still have, and to my great joy, that very model was sat in front of me. 

Adrian was kind enough to take the glass case off so I could get some proper photos, and we chatted for ages about his modelling and I learnt some of the tales of how Colin developed his moulding skills. 

Also present was his more recent model of a South Amercian use of the Lartigue Monorail system. Readers of Narrow Gauge and Industrial magazine a few years ago will remember the write-up. Both are fascinating models, and it was a real pleasure to have the chat. Worth the trip on its own!

Downstairs, the rest of the MRC layouts were on show, including a very interesting Port of London layout in the early stages of construction, and of course, Coppenhagen Fields. But as I've taken enough photos of that this year, I didn't worry about many more...

A couple of hours well spent. Followed by a trip to Camden for more wandering and some food. Mind you, I found out that that's where all the crowds go in London when the rest of the place is quiet!