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The London Festival of Railway Modelling: March 18 & 19, Alexandra Palace


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TICKETS ARE NOW ON-SALE FOR THE LONDON FESTIVAL OF RAILWAY MODELLING

Book in advance to save money & enter the show from 9.30am (pay-on-the-door visitors can enter from 10am). Remember, this show offers FREE CAR PARKING!

 

Here's what makes the 'Ally Pally' show the UK's best!

 

 

It's only £14 if you book in advance plus you get a FREE showguide and access to the show 30-minutes (from 9.30am) before pay-on-the-door visitors. Car parking is FREE and we also have a FREE shuttlebus running continuously on Saturday and Sunday between Alexandra Palace Station, Wood Green underground station and the venue. Last bus from the venue will be 5.15pm each day. Find out more here

 

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR TICKET

 

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BCC 2022.jpg graham-farish.gif         MRC-LOGO.gif

 

LAYOUT NAME    GAUGE SCALE
Bunkers Lane    On9
Ingatestone    OO
Norwich Central    Ofs
Hook Basin     O

Hook Basin.jpg
Whiteleaf Light Railway (G)    G
New Sodbury    OO
Knott Littlefield    N

Knot Littlefield.jpg
Norge    HO

Norge.jpg
Templegate Wagon Works    O
Moretonhampstead    2mm fs
Plumpton Green    P4
Kingsbury    O fs
Arcadia    S

Arcadia.jpg
East Lynn Quay    S
McKinley Railway    OO
St Etienne-en-Caux    HOe
Pwllheli    P4
Reevy Road West    OO

Reevy Road West.jpg
Wolfe Lowe    O

Wolfe Lowe.jpg
Westwick    N
Lakeside    HO USA
Bristol Goods Shed    O scale broad gauge
Melton Mowbray (North)    N

Melton Mowbray North.jpg
Westcliff    EM
Hartley Poole Too    N

Hartley Poole Too.jpg
Wolfstatt    HO
HRCA (O)    O
Copper Wort    OO

Copper Wort.jpg
Blackfriars Bridge    P4
Strood Dock    O
Dovington Camp    OO

Dovington Camp.jpg
Spirit of Swindon    N
Strood Dock    O
Alderford    OO

Alderford.jpg
Blowers Green Wagon Repair    O

Blowers Green.jpg
North Ballachulish    EM

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Lets hope Avanti get their act together, I cannot yet book tickets for this event, the earliest appears to be 25th Feb and then it's 80-90 quid return, might as well book on off peak at this rate.

 

They are being told to improve(again) as they've failed to really make any progress since the last time they said things will get better.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-64376008

 

But at those sorts of prices I would not be going to Ally Pally this March.

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7 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

it's 80-90 quid return,

 

£46.50 return on a few different times with West Mids.

 

07:13 Crewe [CRE]

London Euston [EUS] 09:24 

 

2h 11m

 

West Midlands Trains service from Crewe to London Euston 

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24 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Lets hope Avanti get their act together, I cannot yet book tickets for this event, the earliest appears to be 25th Feb and then it's 80-90 quid return, might as well book on off peak at this rate.

 

Not just Avanti.

 

In my part of the world, it's GWR - the cheapest return* is also in the 80 - 90 quid region - assuming, of course, that they're not on strike (for "Warley", loads of TOCs weren't running on the Saturday - on the Sunday, I couldn't get there until late lunchtime).

 

*  Apparently, there might be "special offer" singles, adding up to the 40 - 50 quid region - if I commit to specific trains a couple of months in advance. Still not cheap - and past experience suggests that, if they're on strike, I'd be on my own and they'd make no efforts to get me there when the show's on!

 

Please note that I'm not commenting about workers' right to go on strike. My issue is that I can't commit - months in advance - to trains that operators don't commit to running - certainly not if the operators don't commit to providing acceptable alternatives if this happens.

 

Ultimately, uncertainty over public transport is one reason why I also wouldn't be able to commit this far in advance to a "golden ticket" which needs to be used on a specific date.

 

 

I'd like to stress that I've been to the "Ally Pally" show in the past - and I hope to go in future. Whether I'm able to get there this year remains to be seen.

 

 

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Well, as per usual I have booked my ticket and intend to be there for the 09:30 opening on the Saturday, it is my one big day out of the year all to myself and I always try to make the most of it.

 

At the moment, no word on any engineering works on route which is slightly ominous but not fatal, if however anyone announces a strike (and they only have to give two weeks notice) then I am going to start to get rather angry, they have been warned...

Edited by John M Upton
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I'm really looking forward to being there as part of the James Street operating team. I've only been to one of the shows at Ally Pally before, the one before that was in Central Hall! Looks to be a good show with a lot of excellent layouts in all gauges......

 

Dave

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On 25/01/2023 at 18:03, peterfgf said:

McKinley Railway!  It can't be the same one as on YouTube surely?  I can't identify too many northern layouts (aplogies if that's down to my ignorance of their names).

Peterfgf

Its the team from McKinley Railway with a DCC & computer automation demonstration layout. David Townend and his friends give practical advice to help modellers at all experience levels. It's very interesting stuff and well worth a visit to see what they do, they were at Southampton show last weekend.

 

The actual McKinley Railway which features on Youtube isn't portable and doesn't go out.

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I guess this is something that we could not have anticipated, not easy to find a work-around, yet in all our minds…..  Will the trains (the 12inch to the foot ones) be running? 
Alexandra Palace is within the Ultra Low Emission Zone, so driving is no longer an option for plenty of us. If GWR is on strike and I can get to Reading, will the Elizabeth line be running? Probably not. Do London Underground come out at the same time? Who knows! 
I usually have my ticket by now, but am waiting ‘til the week before. I fear it will either be a poorly attended show, or a last moment rush to book tickets. 
Anyone fancy cycling in🥵

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47 minutes ago, AyJay said:

Alexandra Palace is within the Ultra Low Emission Zone, so driving is no longer an option for plenty of us.

 

I wondered about that a week or two ago (and also fear a railstrike) and the current guidance on cars in the ULEZ is as follows:

 

Petrol cars that meet the ULEZ standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after 2005, although cars that meet the standards have been available since 2001

Diesel cars that meet the standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after September 2015

 

ChrisH

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6 hours ago, AyJay said:

I guess this is something that we could not have anticipated, not easy to find a work-around, yet in all our minds…..  Will the trains (the 12inch to the foot ones) be running? 
Alexandra Palace is within the Ultra Low Emission Zone, so driving is no longer an option for plenty of us. If GWR is on strike and I can get to Reading, will the Elizabeth line be running? Probably not. Do London Underground come out at the same time? Who knows! 
I usually have my ticket by now, but am waiting ‘til the week before. I fear it will either be a poorly attended show, or a last moment rush to book tickets. 
Anyone fancy cycling in🥵

If ASLEF are on strike then the Elizabeth Line should be working as that union is not in dispute with MTR-EL or TfL.   However, if the RMT call the signallers out then it might be affected depending on what level of cover NR can provide for the TVSC at Didcot and the Romford signalling centre.  There has been a dispute between the RMT and TSSA with MTR which resulted in one strike day.  Generally speaking LU is not part of the current round of disputes but can go on strike over anything.  

 

Just hope for the best and book within the last two weeks.  As mentioned above, the unions have to give two weeks notice of a strike so you can have a degree of certainty.

 

If the attendance at GETS and Warley last year, both on strike days, are anything to go by then I don't think Ally Pally will be "poorly attended".

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7 minutes ago, Mike_Walker said:

 

 

If the attendance at GETS and Warley last year, both on strike days, are anything to go by then I don't think Ally Pally will be "poorly attended".

I was at both GETS and Warley for the whole weekend exhibiting layouts. GETS was very busy both days and didn’t seem to be affected at all. Warley NEC was quieter than ever before on the Saturday (strike day) but busier than ever before on the Sunday.  
I hope there won’t be a strike. Think I will wait and see what is announced before booking advance tickets. Meanwhile I haven’t been to the Doncaster show for a while so I will get a ticket for that one.

Edited by Chris M
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On 03/02/2023 at 13:45, 2750Papyrus said:

It would seem possible to pre-pay an emission charge but the status of car parking seems confused.  It would seem an operator has been chosen and charges are to be introduced but that it remains FOC for the moment.  Have I got this right?

Correct, the parking is free for this show! There's a free shuttle bus too, which is ran throughout both days between Alexandra Palace Station, Wood Green underground station and the venue. 

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On 03/02/2023 at 06:52, Gilbert said:

 

I wondered about that a week or two ago (and also fear a railstrike) and the current guidance on cars in the ULEZ is as follows:

 

Petrol cars that meet the ULEZ standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after 2005, although cars that meet the standards have been available since 2001

Diesel cars that meet the standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after September 2015

 

ChrisH

 

My car is ULEZ compliant but I usually go by train - one show that's particularly easy to get to.

I think I had to drive last time I was there because of weekend engineering works

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9 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

My car is ULEZ compliant but I usually go by train - one show that's particularly easy to get to.

I think I had to drive last time I was there because of weekend engineering works

I will train and sadly may not get there if there is a strike.

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There won't be a strike on the Sunday, Union's are not daft, they don't call their members out on a day that is paid as overtime, also why you never see a strike on a Bank Holiday either.

 

The only issue would be the late start up on the Sunday morning if Saturday was a strike day (it had better ruddy not be!!!)

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Whenever I see mention of getting to Ally Pally by train it always reminds me that it did once have a rail service right to the door which almost became part of the Underground. A wonderful opportunity was missed when the uncompleted sections of the "Northern Heights" part of London Transport's 1930s New Works plans was abandoned after WW2. 

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16 minutes ago, GoingUnderground said:

Whenever I see mention of getting to Ally Pally by train it always reminds me that it did once have a rail service right to the door which almost became part of the Underground. A wonderful opportunity was missed when the uncompleted sections of the "Northern Heights" part of London Transport's 1930s New Works plans was abandoned after WW2. 

Understandable that it didn't have priority at the time, but a shame they didn't just defer it until the post war economy got going and "you never had it so good".  The assumption by then seems to have been that everybody (even in greater London) would be travelling by car.

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10 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Understandable that it didn't have priority at the time, but a shame they didn't just defer it until the post war economy got going and "you never had it so good".  The assumption by then seems to have been that everybody (even in greater London) would be travelling by car.

Cars were the up and coming thing. Look back at photos of the early 1950s and the most noticeable thing compared to today is how few cars and lorries there were even in the London suburbs. No thought was given to what would happen as car ownership rose. 

 

Much of the route of the Northern Heights remained intact until the late 1960s, or possibly even the 1970s and it could still have been completed in its entirety. 

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A modern interpretation of Alexandra Palace Northern Line station with the back of Ally Pally itself as the backdrop is on my sometime in the next twenty years to do list.  The RevolutioN 1938 stock forthcoming may have bumped it up the queue a bit...

Edited by John M Upton
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7 hours ago, John M Upton said:

A modern interpretation of Alexandra Palace Northern Line station with the back of Ally Pally itself as the backdrop is on my sometime in the next twenty years to do list.  The RevolutioN 1938 stock forthcoming may have bumped it up the queue a bit...

I think I would prefer the 1935 "streamline" stock would have been preferable.  If it had been built after the war it would have been a suitable place to use these distinctive if non-standard sets and not see them forgotten too.

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1 minute ago, Darius43 said:

Rail strike just called for Saturday 18th March.  Looking at ways I can get there on the Sunday…

 

Darius

Bear in mind it will be a catch up day from the strike i.e. trains in wrong places and may also be a track possession day disrupting trains further.

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