Christmas Opening 2016

Now that the holidays have moved along the week, Keen House will be open for our regular weekly Thursday Club meetings through December –  the test tracks will be available to run trains on, and refreshments will be available from 7-9pm.

2017 Committee

At our 75th AGM on 1st December 2016, Leslie Bevis-Smith stood down as Chairman after six years in the role. Over that time the Club has continued to move forward at the start of our second centenary, with growth in membership, work starting on several new layouts and improvements to Keen House. Tony Cox has been elected …read more.

Competition Winner

Congratulations to John, who was drawn at random to win a copy of Simon Bradley’s highly praised book “The Railway” in paperback. He signed up at our recent open day, having travelled down from Cheshire to see our layout Copengahen Fields in the flesh.   

AGM 2016 – 1st December

It’s our Annual General Meeting on Thursday 1st December, which is the only Thursday meeting of the year where it is ‘members only’. Frankly it wouldn’t be the best night to see us, as it’s mainly talk, no library and very few models.  However if you would like to visit us, you would be welcome …read more.

Prize Draw

We’ve got a copy of Simon Bradley’s highly praised book “The Railway” to give away. Originally launched in hardback at Keen House, it’s out now in paperback. An extraordinary social history of Britain’s rail networks and its people, that will appeal to railway enthusiasts, commuters and everyone else who travels by train. It even mentions …read more.

Stair Lift Appeal

Disabled members and visitors are restricted from fully enjoying the facilities and activities at Keen House, with stairs leading to most rooms. To rectify the situation we are planning to install a stair lift from the foyer up to the John Anning Hall, then a second one from there up to the Library and Toilets. …read more.

Library Additions – November 2016

Our library has one of the widest and largest ranges of books for railway modellers – covering prototype railways and modelling. The following books have recently been added.

The library is open for browsing on Thursday evenings from 7-9pm (unless there is a lecture), and on our monthly open afternoons. Check out the calendar for details. Members can borrow most books to read and work from at home.

Bulletin 492

The September/October 2016 edition of The Bulletin is on its way to members, featuring a range of interesting articles all written by members, including: Andrew David previews his November lecture at Keen House, exploring the connection between the Great Central Railway and Quintinshill Ian Lamb writes about the Borders Railway Three book reviews Reminiscences of the prototype …read more.

Bulletin 493

The November / December 2016 edition of The Bulletin is on its way to members, featuring a range of interesting articles all written by members, including: A preview of our forthcoming special event on 20th November, with articles on “Koindu and Moa Crossing” and “Trowland” – both S-scale There’s a look back at early S-Scale modelling A …read more.

Skills Transfer Days 2016/7

One of The MRC’s aims is to ensure that modelling skills are passed on to the next generation. It’s perhaps easy for experienced modellers to forget how daunting it was to take some of those key steps in developing techniques, and all too easy for the less experienced to put something in the ‘too difficult’ category.

So we’re continuing our series of ‘skills transfer’ days, to allow a small group of people to try out something they may not have tried before with more experienced modellers on hand to help them. During the day each attendee will work on the kit/parts supplied to learn the techniques and hopefully take home a working model. These courses have been running successfully since 2009, and have been popular with positive feedback. Space is limited on each course, so please book early.

The courses take place at Keen House, 4 Calshot Street, London N1 9DA, and generally start at 10am and run until 4pm with a lunch break.

We’re pleased to confirm the following dates:

Open Day – Sunday 20th November 2016

Our next open Sunday is on 20th November 2016, a joint special event with the S Scale Model Railway Society to celebrate its 70th anniversary – with six working layouts on display:

MRC Layouts: Copenhagen Fields (2mm FS), Empire Mills (EM),

MRC Members’ layouts: Koindu and Moa Crossing (S), Blacklade (OO) and Grape Steet Bridge (S)

Visiting Layout: Trevor Nunn’s Trowland (S) 

Full details of the S scale layouts are below, information on the others through the links – Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates – and check back for more details.

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

Autumn 2017 Lecture Programme

Our Autumn 2017 lecture programme covers a diverse range of subjects. Visitors are welcome. Thursday 12th October 2017 at 7.30pm “Electric Trains” – by David Brown Alone amongst the ‘big four’ railway companies, the Southern Railway embarked on a comprehensive electrification programme under its dynamic General Manager, Sir Herbert Walker. Between 1925 and 1939 virtually …read more.