The Leigh Festival of Model Railways & Transport Modelling 2026 takes place on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September 2026 at Leigh Sports Village Leisure Centre.
This year's exhibition is particularly special as Leigh Model Railway Society celebrates its 50th anniversary, with a packed weekend of layouts, traders, demonstrations and other forms of transport modelling planned to mark the occasion.
Event details
- Dates: Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th September 2026
- Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
- Sunday: 10:00am – 4:00pm
- Venue: Leigh Sports Village Leisure Centre, Sale Way, Leigh, WN7 4JY
- Admission: Adults £8.00
- Children: Ages 15 and under free
- Parking: Free parking around the venue
Cash and card payments will be accepted on the door.
Full details can be found on the Leigh Model Railway Society 50th Anniversary Exhibition page .
Celebrating 50 years of Leigh Model Railway Society
Leigh Model Railway Society was founded in 1976, making the 2026 festival a genuine milestone for the club. They've put together an ambitious anniversary exhibition covering an unusually broad range of scales and modelling styles.
Layouts will include examples of N, OO, HO, O, P4, EM and narrow gauge modelling, along with Hornby Dublo and G Scale. Visitors can also expect Scalextric, model boats, wargaming and demonstrations, giving the weekend a wider transport and modelling focus.
Layouts to look out for
Highlights include Mostyn, a substantial P4 layout depicting BR Blue-era Wales; Slattocks Junction, recreating the Manchester railway scene of the late 1950s; and SteelBank, a Peco Rail200 finalist appearing in its full exhibition form.
Leigh MRS will also unveil Jubileigh Junction, its brand-new 28ft OO gauge layout, at the exhibition for the very first time. Other layouts cover everything from modern West Coast Main Line operations and Irish railways to American freight, Austrian narrow gauge and classic British branch lines.
More than model railways
The anniversary festival also includes wagon-load building, weathering and 3D printing demonstrations, alongside model boats, RC trucks, Scalextric and wargaming.
A free vintage bus provided by the St Helens bus museum will operate between Leigh bus station and the exhibition on both days – and visitors are welcome to take a ride even if they've travelled to the show by car.
Trainsporters at the Leigh Festival
Trainsporters will be among the specialist traders attending the 2026 festival. Come and see us during the weekend to explore our model railway storage and transport boxes and find a practical way to protect your locomotives and rolling stock at home or on the way to exhibitions.