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We're lining up some special guests on the MRC stand (number 4, between Bachmann and Hornby) over both days for some short interviews - the schedule will be confirmed nearer the time but already includes Tim Watson, Simon Kohler, some of the participants in the "Biggest Little Railway in the World", Dapol & Bachmann. Over the last few days we've been previewing the layouts on Twitter and Instagram, follow us here to see more: Twitter - @modelrailclub Instagram - themodelrailwayclub And if you are sharing on social media, please use the hashtag #LFORM

I've used a number of the London branches to get things in a hurry, and found quite a variance between knowledge and helpfulness of staff in different stores over the last few years. Most have been very good, but not all. I think a big issue has been stock control over the last 2-3 years - a number of items I've wanted have been ordered on click and collect, only to get to the store and find they can't find the item in the stock room. In one case I was shown the crates full of unsorted stock they had to go through to try and find the item; in other cases I've had items that have clearly been sat around for years, with old style labels. When I ordered a special order of something from the warehouse, the warehouse got the pick list wrong. I hope something can be rescued, both for the staff and consumers.

You beat me to it - not sure how it happened but the guide is incorrect. I asked our MRC stewards who are there today to take some Tippex and a pen to correct the programmes for today, but got some rather rude responses. Tom

We've confirmed our lecture programme for the first quarter of 2018 - details here Kicking off with an explanation of Scale 7 modelling in January, followed by an appreciation of the Edward Thompson CME of the LNER in February, and wrapped up with 'spring shorts' in March - a series of short talks and demonstrations by members on some of their latest achievements. Non-members are welcome at lectures, although we ask for a donation (suggested at £3).

If you want to see some of Copenhagen Fields' fiddle yards, you can at the MRC's Mini Exhibition today at Keen House from 11-4. Because we haven't got the backscene on.... Details here

The Model Railway Club is having a mini-exhibition on Sunday 10th December at its club rooms - Keen House, 4 Calshot Street, London N1 9DA Seven working layouts on display: Copenhagen Fields (2mm FS), Empire Mills (EM), Lacey Dale (N) Putnam Yard (HO) Visiting Layouts: Canute Road Quay (OO) - set in the Southampton docks; Rixworth Green (P4) - 1920s Southern Elkington-on-Sea Tramways - inpsired by the 1950s British seaside resorts Other Displays: our OO and 7mm teams will be showing progress on their projects, and Eric Sainte will be showing progress on his buildings. Plus we will have a good selection of pre-owned models available from our shop, and of course refreshments (including a selection of freshly made rolls and Greene King beers) will be available. Open from 11am to 4pm. Admission: Adults £3, accompanied children: Free Please note there are stairs to all rooms.

For anyone within reach of London, two of the participants will be telling us about it at The Model Railway Club on 9th November: http://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/events Tom

Er, no it doesn't. The P4 Moor Street at DEMU back in 2007 (which was part of the Minories inspired competition) did have the traverser at the end of the platforms as the original did. Minories GN extends under the station building as if the line had a link through to the Southend line, which had been truncated. But at the moment it's simply two bits of track and a piece of MDF which occasionally destroys couplings. So upon arrival the train engine uncouples and waits, whilst a turnaround loco drops onto its tail. When the train has departed, the loco is released and either drops onto the back of the following loco hauled set, or goes to the loco spur at the end of platform 1. There should only be one turnaround loco at a time; Moorgate has its loco spurs in a slightly different but more efficient arrangement avoiding a further reversing of the loco. When operated correctly the 'departure' loco does pause an inch or so away from the stock and then slowly buffer up to the coaches to avoid jolting. There should then always be another move before the train departs, to replicate the time for the brake test to be completed. As we operate Minories now, the rush hour never finishes so there is always a turnaround loco in the station, but at Moorgate it would run light at the ends of the peaks from and to Finsbury Park. The traverser on Minories is the fiddle yard - a 6 road 5' long unit that is very space efficient, but does restrict operation and of course inevitably stock now exceeds the number of roads. The reason for the line extending under the station building and the concept of an north - east through line linking the GN to the LTS is cock up rather than design. The curve of the tracks at the country end of platforms 1 and 2 meant that the Kadees wouldn't couple up, so I simply extended the line by 8 inches to create an almost straight section of track to couple up on, and on which the station building sits. However if all goes well over the next few weeks, we'll have non-passenger trains running through the station in the off peaks in time for Tolworth Showtrain and Wakefield in November. I'm currently knitting together a new control panel for the new 10 road fiddle yard.... Tom

Indeed I did, I think A5.5 points which was as tight as I dared, but built originally in a single block to ensure the curves flowed. Apologies if this has been covered somewhere previously in the thread, but to quote Cyril himself: Fifty years ago I set out to design a layout based on the plan, after a lot of doodling I decided a three-track terminus was the answer. A little more doodling produced the neat arrangement of crossovers which, quite adventitiously, ensured that any movement only involved one reverse curve. The original scheme was for TT gauge, but most copies have been in 4mm or 7mm scale. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have come up to me at shows and thanked me for the design. I believe therefore to be strictly accurate one should use set track points to get it into the length, as the TT points were the same geometry as the OO ones, but I am very ready to be corrected. Tom.

Perhaps they will - or already have. But I understand that for fairly obvious reasons those involved have signed NDAs.

For anyone who can't wait, there are a few on the society's new twitter account - @EMGauge

It is, but the title of the show is the London Festival of Railway Modelling, so the brief is wider. There is a different flavour to all of the BRM shows, and the London show has always had a strong non-UK influence. The space also allows us to try some different things rather than following a formula, and does mean some years there are fewer of some scales / periods / types than 'average'. Clearly not everything is going to be to everyone's taste but across the two halls I hope more than enough to provide sufficient entertainment and most importantly for me inspiration. Tom (MRC Exhibition Manager)

Roxey normally have a good range - well enough to meet my needs.

Yes - there is a tea room and urn for layouts and demonstrators. Cups would be very helpful...and trays...

We've posted pictures of a number of layouts on the MRC's Twitter (@modelrailclub), Facebook and Instagram (both The Model Railway Club) accounts, and will do more over the weekend. Will happily retweet, like etc.

We do get copies, and they are put out in our main meeting room when they arrive for members and those attending other meetings to take. Perhaps they hadn't arrived or had all gone - they do tend to go quite fast.

We (The MRC) have a supply of hi viz for any of the layouts and demos who haven't or forget theirs. However it would be very helpful if those who have got them to bring them please as we won't have enough for everyone. As usual we are happy to deal with an questions or concerns directly. We introduced risk assessments etc for several of our own activities a while ago - and like the idea or not it certainly got our members to think a bit more about themselves and others. Almost all of it is "common sense" but the act of seeing it printed out in black and white seems to be helpful for some. Tom

Looking forward to the update on the Porthole.....

So less than two months since the original blog, Wheels of Steel has closed, and WH Smith has closed the Modelzone concessions. Six shops left in London. Let's hope it doesn't drop further. http://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/blog/entry/where-to-buy-model-railways-in-London

No - the shop closed and according to their website they are still looking for new premises. We think only Hornby, which using the arbitrary definition above wouldn't count - but happy to be corrected if anyone has visited recently and the range is wider... As for Engine n Tender, a new one to me but its web references are pretty out of date so it doesn't look optimistic.

We've compiled a list of model railway shops we know of in Greater London here: http://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/blog/entry/where-to-buy-model-railways-in-London The definition we've used being some sort of depth to the range rather than a single manufacturer or token effort, along with knowledgeable staff. Let us know if we've missed any. Tom The MRC

Accommodation for exhibitors is never easy, we want to put people up in a clean comfortable and relatively quiet location. Most 'budget' chains don't like taking block bookings of the size we need and some hotels simply won't. And unlike most other things the price goes up rather rather than down the more rooms you book. Splitting exhibitors across multiple sites is also a challenge. I'm amazed given the number of new hotels that have been built throughout London in the last 5-6 years how tight availability is, but it is. The other complication for many hotels now is lack of (free) parking, and exhibitors (and I understand it's a generalisation) normally like to take their van/car to the hotel. That knocks out another tranche of possibles. Getting to any hotel by road from Alexandra Palace is a bit of a lottery on a Friday evening, but the upside of the various hotels we've used over the years is that they have a fairly quick trip back to the venue in the morning. It would be great if there was a good hotel on the doorstep, but I've not been to many shows recently where that has been the case and I have driven some considerable distance in a couple of cases. Tom

Managed to pick mine up from the museum today (I had to ask nicely - it's officially a web-only offer and suspect there were very few physically in the shop) along with a 25% off EFE Northern Line 59 stock set (which was available in the museum shop in quantity). I normally renumber combined with the comments above it's a bonus that the numbers aren't fitted. It was a bit of an impulse, as it has little to do with the Eastern region but might be OK on the Club's "Empire Mills" - next step to research which is the best number to go for. And order the Ultrascale EM wheels which are almost as much as the loco! Oh and the boys had a great time in the museum itself, good Sunday afternoon entertainment. [edited when I found the name plate etchings hidden deeper in the foam].

I wouldn't say a Falcon Brass kit was 'easier' - I attempted one as my first brass kit many years ago (ie prior to current ownership) and it was a total disaster, and was left buried at the bottom of a box of "stuff". For some time I put it down to my ineptitude, but having been enlightened by other club members, tried a couple of other etched wagon kits, and found that they weren't that difficult. I recently found the original kit, and realised that it was predominantly the kit that was poor - being asked to fold up the sides and ends from the floor with no etch lines and with no chance of two of the corners actually ever meeting. I found that the 5522 model beginners wagon fret (now sold by Lochgorm kits) were a pretty good "lesson" - cheap enough to not worry about too much. Comet are a good starting point for coaching stock, as the sides come pre-rolled and I've found the parts just fit together. I haven't tried London Road rolling stock kits to be able to compare.