modelrailway

York Model Railway Show 2025

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A photo of a model railway where an old fashioned British Rail diesel passenger train is travelling over a level crossing

This is the last of a series of blog posts about what we did over the Easter weekend, which included Knowsley Safari Park, the National Centre for Birds of Prey and Ampleforth Abbey. On Easter Monday, I went to the York Model Railway Show with my Dad and our nine-year-old.

The last time we went was, I believe, 2017, when our nine-year-old was only 2. I remember it not being a particularly enjoyable experience for them so we hadn’t been back since. But they seemed keen to go this year, and enjoyed it. The last time I blogged about it was in 2016, so maybe read that first.

Compared with previous years, I noted that most layouts now use Digital Command Control for operating the model trains. This allows modellers to control individual trains directly, rather than by selectively powering the tracks. It also allows the trains to have sound effects that react to their current operation (so sounds get faster as the train speeds up). Indeed, one layout seemed to be operated by tablet computers, rather than traditional handsets.

I also felt like there was more variety this year too. Certainly, there were more layouts set in modern times – it wasn’t steam engines all the way down. But it was also nice to see some non-British settings, including an interesting Chinese layout. China, apparently, was still using steam engines in revenue service as recently as the early 2000s, which seems hard to believe when you consider it’s now a world leader in high speed electric train services.

The other thing I noticed was the impact of 3D printing. Indeed, there was at least one 3D printing demonstration there. Being able to 3D print your own parts, model buildings and even model locomotives must be a big step forward.

The York Model Railway Show takes place every Easter at York Racecourse. Seeing as our nine-year-old enjoyed it this time, we may well be back next year.

Ravensprings Park Model Railway open day

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Ravensprings Park

On Sunday, the Brighouse and Halifax Model Engineers had one of their regular open days at Ravensprings Park in Brighouse. The park is home to two loops of track for model and miniature gauge railway locomotives, and both were in operation.

For a small fee payable at the gate, you get access to the whole of Ravensprings Park and unlimited rides on the trains. The locomotives are rotated during the day, and, thanks to a signalling system, multiple trains can run at the same time. So although we had to queue for each train, the queues moved quickly. Each ride includes two trips around the loops, and takes 2-3 minutes. The locomotives are a mixture of steam and diesel.

Ravensprings Park

The inner track is raised, and has three track gauges, so that different trains can run. The outer track is at ground level and a wider track gauge; it features a second smaller loop (forming a figure of eight shape) taking you to the far end of the park.

There’s a café and toilets on site. The day we visited was also a charity day, raising money for the Forget Me Not Childrens Hospice, so there was a tombola and a ‘frog in a bog’ – catapulting a toy frog through a toilet seat. Only in Yorkshire.

The open days are generally monthly on the second Sunday through spring and summer, with the next one on the 9th July. After that, the park is open again on the 13th August, 10th September and 8th October. Of course, you could join the Brighouse and Halifax Model Engineers if you fancy visiting at other times. The open days are a fun day out, especially if the weather is nice. Our one-year-old seemed to enjoy the train rides, and there were children there from all ages, so it’s a good family day out.

You can view the rest of my photos on Flickr.

York Model Railway Show

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Today, I accompanied my Dad to York’s annual model railway exhibition at York Racecourse.

It’s an event I’ve been going to from a very young age – both my Dad and I have an interest in railway modelling and there’s a large train set at my parents’ house in York. Although it’s gathering dust and hasn’t been used much over the last 10-15 years – I imagine that Dad planned to work on it in retirement but he’s been too busy doing other things.

So, the model railway show. It takes place over the Easter weekend and has run every year (I think) since the 1960s. Whilst I used to go every year, this was my first visit since 2013. There are a mixture of layouts, built by individuals and societies, as well as many trade stands.

The layouts vary greatly in size. Some are huge, requiring multiple people to operate, whereas others will easily fit in the back of someone’s car. The smallest was in a flight case, which used the diminutive ‘T gauge‘. Whilst many layouts used ‘OO’ gauge, which is the most widely available to those with trainsets at home, there were many others with bigger and smaller trains.

As you can imagine, model railways attract a predominantly older, male audience, but it’s popular with kids as well – footstools are available for hire for those otherwise unable to see the layouts. We didn’t take our baby this time as they’re a bit young, and it can be rather crowded – not ideal conditions for a pram. Maybe next year, when they can take an interest in what’s going on.

York is one of the larger exhibitions, both in terms of the number of layouts on show and also in length, as it runs over three days. Opening yesterday, it runs until tomorrow.