An open weekend at Hornby in Margate on August 17-18 and will offer the first public viewing of the locomotives and rolling stock stored at the Ramsgate Road site by Locomotive Storage.
Visitors will be able to get up close to full size steam locos Bittern and a Black 5. Alongside the One:One Collection there will be a range of activities and stands spread across the site. The Hornby Visitor Centre has invited a range of traders and layouts to create a celebration of railway modelling alongside the impressive collection of full-size engines.
Currently over 20 traders have confirmed their attendance as well as a variety of layouts that will be on show. Finalists from the Great Model Railway Challenge will be on display alongside a selection of international layouts covering numerous gauges.
The Hornby Visitor Centre, which has recently been refurbished, will also have numerous exhibits charting the history of not only Hornby but many of the other brands that are included under the Hornby Hobbies’ umbrella.
Two of the locomotives in the One:One Collection will be reproduced in 00 gauge and are featured in the 2019 range. Both ‘Bittern’ (R3771) and ‘Black 5’ (R3805) are planned and modelled as they appear in the Margate Locomotive Storage facility. The limited edition models will be produced in bespoke packaging and restricted to just 1,000 pieces of each.
Hornby’s design team will be present along with a layout built by Hornby Magazine, entitled West Coast Cement and featuring full digital control ( DCC). The editorial team will there to answer any questions modellers may have.
Steam Punk, who featured in The great Railway Challenge TV series, will have their layout on display, along with many societies from the world of model railways, including The Bluebell Railway, The Midhants Railway, Spa Valley Railway, Folkestone Model Railway Society, Oxford Diecast, Willowbrook imaging and The Isle of Thanet Model Railway Society.
The event includes food stalls.
Some sessions are fully booked. To check availability and book your tickets go to the Hornby website.
Tickets are adults £10, concessions £6 and children under 5 free.
The centre is open 10am to 4pm both days.
Could i ask why these steam locomotives are sitting in storage and not being returned to traffic
thanks