As well as marking 200 years of railways, 2025 also marks the 100th anniversary of the Manchester Model Railway Society. In addition to a stunning selection of 26 top quality layouts, our annual exhibition this year includes a large “Timeline Display” charting the evolution of both railways and railway modelling in this country, but “this is Manchester – we do things differently here!”
Our timeline start in 1804 with Trevithick’s Pen-y-Darren Locomotive, using a film made by a former MMRS member. It goes on to record important events such as the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway, the end of the broad gauge, railways in both world wars, the grouping, nationalisation, the Beeching plan ,the change from steam to diesel & electric traction, privatisation and the present resurgence. It will also contain cameo displays about some of the heroes and villains of the story, eg the Stephensons, Joseph Lock, Brunel, Dionysius Lardner, George Hudson, Dr Beeching, and some of the great locomotive designers – Churchward, Gresley, Stanier and Bulleid.
However our timeline also includes the development of model railways, in which the MMRS took a leading role, especially in the 25 years following WW2. On display will be iconic layouts and models from the mid 20th century, with information about some of the highly skilled modellers who shaped the hobby, eg P D Hancock, Peter Denny and Iain Rice, and MMRS members John Langan, Norman Whitnall and Sid Stubbs.
As well as the historic models, the other layouts appearing showcase the very best of the present model railway world. Amongst the modellers exhibiting their work are nine winners of the prestigious Railway Modeller Challenge Cup.
Pre-booked adult tickets are £11 or £14, with a special offer price of a limited number of special £10 tickets to people on our mailing list. As always, supervised children are FREE.
The venue has excellent public transport links and is step free throughout.