Here you will find all the news from the Train Collectors Society
By the way we are always interested in featuring news from our members, so please let us know of anything interesting you have been up to and we will try and include it here.
Ideas might include new layouts you have created or designed, recent acquisitions of interest, or somewhere toy train related (however vaguely) you have visited recently.
Please fill in the contact form and cut and paste your information into the box. We will be in touch for more information and we will ask for any appropriate photographs you might have to add to the story. Or you can just e-mail rainer.haug@traincollectors.co.uk with your story and photos.
All Posts
Click on any post below to see the detail. Stored in date order - most recent first
Train Collector Issue 70 now available in the eLibrary
Just in time for the weekend the latest issue of the Train Collector has been uploaded to the members section of the eLibrary.
TCS 2024 Spring Show and AGM
Report and pictures by Bob Leggett As usual Bob shares with us his pictures and videos taken at the 2024 TCS Spring Show and AGM taking place on Sat March 16th 2024 at the Trinity Church Hall, Leicester. As usual Paul walks us from the entrance through the show...
Oscars video on the 2023 TCS autumn show
A visit to The Train Collectors Society Autumn Show at Trinity Methodist Church Hall Narborough Road Leicester LE3 2RD United Kingdom on the 4th November 2023 with a look at new items acquired. Plus playing with the railway. All date approximate...
Train Collector Issue 69 uploaded
The Train Collector Christmas Issue of 2023 has been uploaded to the members section. As cited on the cover "When Father Christmas goes away Little folks begin to play.."Wishing all a joyfull reading and a peacefull holiday season.
TCS 2023 Leicester Get together
Bob Leggett has prepared a wonderfull event review of the 2023 TCS Autumn Get together at Trinity Church in Leicester which took place on 4th of November 2023: Another excellent crowd enjoyed the annual Autumn Train show at Trinity Church Hall, many of whom stayed for...
Train Collector Issue 68
Issue 68 of the train collector has been added to the elibrary and now is available to members for online reading. In issue 68 our editor Nicholas Oddy put together a lot of topics focusing around the grouping. This is completed by a variety of further interesting...
TCS Summer Show report
The Train Collectors Society, Trix Twin Railway Collector's Association and The Bassett-Lowke Society inaugural Joint Toy Trains and Model Railway Exhibition at the The British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire. ... . Hopefully we can hold something similar next...
Summer Issue 67 of Train Collector now available in the Train Collector ELibrary
Issue 67 of the Train Collector has been added to the Train Collector ELibrary for TCS members. The full list of content can befound here: Current issue Content
March Issue of Train Collector added to the Train Collector ELibrary
Just right in time for the weekend the March 23 issue of the Train Collector has been added to the Train Collector ELibrary for TCS members. The full list of content can befound here: Current issue Content
AGM/TCS Spring Meeting event report from Bob is now available
As usual Bob Leggett describes the show with many pictures and walks us starting from the entrance through all the rooms of the show, stopping at layouts, rarities as well as trade tables. AGM Leicester 2023 Event Report Any picture can be enlarged to full size by...
Issue 65 available for online reading
Issue 65 of the Train collector has just been added to the Train Collector E-Library and is available to our members there. This issue covers again a variety of topics. David Busfield shares his experiences in casting tankers from an original pre war Dinky Factory...
Leicester Video by Xray World
A visitor to the TCS Autumn Show in Leicester on 5th of November enjoyed seeing it and shooted some video of various stands and layouts. He sent me an email with link to share so TCS members can also enjoy his video. You can see the finished video also on his Youtube...
TCS Leicester Get together 2022
A record attendance of over 200 converged on Leicester to enjoy the TCS Autumn event at Trinity Church Hall ... . Bob Leggetts report on the 2022 TCS November meeting at Leicester showing collectors highlights, layouts, and everything around, for all those who could...
Issue 64 is now online available
Issue 64 of the Train Collector is now available for online reading for all members in the Train Collector Elibrary. To cite our editor "It’s an eclectic mix from the 1870s to near the present." Enjoy your reading.
TCS Summer Show 2022 Report
As usual Bob Leggett has prepared a wonderful report and pics as he walks us through the TCS Summer Show 2022 looking at displays and trade stands. Enjoy the report featuring a short video on the Hornby Life Steam A4s running at the show. Follow the link to the...
Issue 63 of Train Collector now online in the Train Collector ELibrary to members
Issue 63 offers again more than 50 pages of reading about various trains. Including commonly unknown manufacturers like the Spanish Manamo 0 Gauge trains but also an impressive article about Brian Wrights life in tinplate, and many other. It is now available to...
TCS Summer Show
23rd of July - Trinity Halls - Leicester To view all details please chck the events patge. TCS Summer Show
Issue 62 of Train Collector now available for online reading to members
March issue is a sign of normality coming back: Minutes of the AGM, spring show report as well as nicely selected bunch of articles about Atlantics, Dribblers, Forgotten companies, Snapshots of history,... 50 pages of reading joy.
TCS 2022 Spring Meeting Report
TCS 2022 Spring Meeting took place on 5th of March in Leicester. Walk with our author Bob Leggett through the event and enjoy the layouts and items on display or for sales. All pics in the report can be enlarged by a simle click on them TCS Spring Meeting
TCS Leicester Meeting Video Tour
Oscar Paisleys shared a video of our November TCS show. It has been added to the event report of Leicester show Thanks to Oscar for this nice video tour through the event
EBook “Elegance on Rails”
"Elegance on Rails" is a beautiful large coffee table book which inspired Fred to make his own EBook on Atlantics, Singles and Americans. Now als available in the online library of TCS EBooks
Issue 61, December 2021 of Train Collector now online
Just in time for your reading time during the Christmas season the December issue of Train Collector is now available in the Train Collector eLibrary of the members pages for your online access. As usual it is full of interesting articles for every train collector.
Leicester show 2021
It was good to see a kind of normality coming back and that the Leicester 2021 autumn show could take place in its usual way on 6th of November in Trinity Church Hall. Bob Leggett of course was also there and gives us a good impressive report with +50 pics. All...
EBook – “Toying reality”
Toying with reality" Vol. 1 Trains by Alex Procyk is the latest adition to the online TCS EBooks Library A must read full of information and pictures of old trains To read this and other interesting EBooks and Collectors Guides please visit TCS EBooks
TCS Late Summer Show Report – now online-
As always Bob Leggett wrote a fabulous report with lots of pictures about the TCS Late Summer Show which took place in Leicester, on September 11th. All pictures can be enlarged by simply clicking on them. To read the full report please follow the link: TCS Late...
Issue 60, September 2021 of Train Collector now online
The September issue of Train Collector is now available in the Train Collector eLibrary of the members pages for online reading. As usual it is full of interesting articles for every train collector
TCS Late summer Show
After a long time where we had waive our meetings. We are happy to inform you that a Late summer meeting in Leicester on 11th of September will take plavce as announced. There will be 8 displays mostly on 0 gauge and 00 gauge and 9 traders. The popular bring and buy...
June issue of Train Collector online
The June issue of Train Collector is now available in the Train Collector eLibrary of the members pages for online reading.
Train Collector March 2021 issue – online
The first issue for 2021 just in time for your weekend reading. As usual members can acces it online through the members area of the website. Printed copies also have been sent out to the members. This issue again covers the...
EBook – “The history of the Italian train maker Elettren”
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Elettren Fred van der Lubbe has put together an EBook on "The history of the Italian train maker Elettren" On more than 50 pages Fred guides us through the history, models and technical details of the brand. To read this and other...
Train Collector December issue – posted & online
Issue 57 is now available online. As usual members can acces it through the members area of the website. Printed copies have also been posted to the members but usually need some extra time to get through the Christmas post. Cover story is the 70's anniversary of the...
Picture of the month November 2020
Any Make, any age any gauge, leads us this month to a country where few is know about its Model Train Industry. "Roglin Express" by Rainer Haug shows a rather rare 00 gauge tinplate railcar from a Hungarian Manufacturer made end 1940 beginning 1950. To view all...
Picture of the month October 2020
Uwe Groll has been able to add a real Bing gem to the collection of the Bing Museum, Freinsheim, Germany. To share this we show "Bing's Paris Elevated and Underground Railway" as picture of the month October 2020 "The Paris Elevated and Underground Railway made...
Train Collector Issue 56 posted & online
Issue 56 has been posted to the members and is also available online through the webpage. More than 50 pages with fascinating articles about collecting trains all around the world. Unfortunately in the message from the chairman on page 3 there is an error in saying...
Picture of the month September
Picture of the month September is by James Day who has recently become interested in "US Style billboards". "This all began with my searching for an orangey red one that Tyco sold with the Tyco Us-1 Trucking Wrecker set. On the way I have found and acquired models by...
Picture of the month August 2020
“Mail for you” is the picture of the month August 2020 by Dieter Käßer remembering the time when Mail was the standard way communication, at the same time it is also the logo of the HTS Forum taking place in 10/11 April 2021 in Göppingen (see upcoming...
Picture of the month July 2020
Picture of the month by Rainer Haug shows little "Emma" from Märklin sitting in front of the smoke box door of a "real" movie star "Emma". Emma is the loco of "Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer" a famous german childs book written 60 years ago by Michael Ende....
Train Collector Issue 55 posted
Issue 55 is out to the members. Again 50 pages with fascinating articles about collecting trains all around the world. "Time stood still" giving an insight in why and how some of the clocks on lithographed tin toys are set.... Please remember to renew your annual...
Picture of the month June 2020
The picture of the month June 2020 is by Bob Doorewaard Boekhout: The picture is showing a beautifull "get together" on Bob's present 1960s Tri-ang 00 gauge layout. " Tri-ang/Hornby 'Princess' Class locomotives come together in all their liveries." To view...
Message & Picture of the month May 2020
Message and picture of the month from Bryan Pentland: In these difficult times when we all miss the varies toy train related events and even big train events many of us in the TCS turn to our hobby and the projects pile however seeing old friends and shooting the...
Picture of the month April 2020
This past month and most probably also the coming months have and will fundamentally change our way of life. Lucky us we have a hobby to turn to and were we always find something to do on our layouts or on projects which have been waiting to be realzied. The picture...
New Book on Issmayer and Bub Trains by TCS Member Michael Bowes
A pocket size reference book of 188 pages with over 450 illustrations. In Issmayer Trains – The Missing Catalogue I traced the history of trains produced by Johann Andreas Issmayer through other manufacturers’ and wholesalers’ catalogues. Issmayer made toys for Karl...
TCS 2020 AGM Report
Train Collectors Society AGM, took place on Sat March 7th 2020 as usual in Trinity Church Hall in Leicester. Bob Leggett wrote a phantastic report with lots of pictures. Enjoy reading and thanks to Bob for this great report. Please follow this link to the report >...
Train Collector Issue 54 posted
Issue 54 is the first Train Collector of 2020. 50 pages about collecting trains all around the world. As usual TCS Members can access the online version in the members section, It is available in Train Collector Back Numbers section The table of content of the current...
Picture of the month March 2020
The Picture of the month March 2020 is by Rainer Haug directly from the annual Table Railways Meeting which took place at the Unimog Museum in Gaggenau 29th Feb/1st March in Germany and is titled "Circus comes to town". To view all pictures of the month please...
STEAMPUNK and The first 100 Years
While visiting 2020 Nuremberg Toy Fair a must see was the booth of Hornby Hobbies, a joined booth for Scalextric, Airfix, Corgi, Hornby, Arnold, Rivarossi, Electrotren and other companies under the Hornby roof. For this short picture report I selected pictures of just...
Picture of the month February 2020
The Picture of the month February 2020 is from Bryan Pentland, showing one of his fascinating layouts you can see during the different meetings. Theme of the layout shown was "How many bridges on an 0 gauge layout?" Happy counting. To view all pictures of the month...
Picture of the month January
Happy new year to all from the TCS. As there was no photo competition this year selected pics which have been sent to us will be used instead for the picture of the month. January 2020 pic shows an 0 gauge scene arranged by Fred van der Lubbe where "The sleeping car...
Train Collector Issue 53 posted
The December issue of Train Collector has been posted. It seems we face some seasonal delays especially in continental Europe. TCS Members can access the online version in the members section It is available in Train Collector Back Numbers section The full table of...
Picture of the month December
Christmas is coming. Traditionally this is also the time of the year where toys and trains are coming back into the focus of many people. The pic of the month December 2019 by Dirk Hertel shows traditional Erzgebirge (in Saxonia) wooden trains with Phoenix Class steam...
TCS Autum Meeting Leicester Report and Videos
TCS autum meeting in Leicester took place on 9th of November. Read the full report and let Bob walk you through the show. Including additional pics by Bryan and videos of Malcolm read the full report here
Picture of the month November
November 2019 is the month of TCS Autumn - GTG in Leicester. Therefore as picture of the month a show layout has been chosen. The picture shows a fabulous layout by Bryan Pentland called "American Flyer cardboard diorama backing 0 gauge AF trains" To view all pictures...
EBook – Pacifics from Continental Europe
This new EBook from Fred van der Lubbe covers Pacifics from Continental Europe showing lots of pics of Models of Pacifics from Belgium, France, Germany and Italy (September 2019) . You can find it in the TCS EBook Library
Picture of the month October
The picture choosen for Oktober 2019 is by Roma Hertel. It is a beautifully arranged scene called "Marklin GNR passenger train in the North of England somehwere" The pub for sure would have been the prefferd place for any train spotter. To view all pictures of the...
New: EBooks & New Collectors Guide
TCS is happy to offer a new category in form of EBooks. While some of them had been available already in the past in some places it is now time to collect them and offer them as seperate easy to access category It is an on-line collection pdf - files by TCS members...
Train Collector Issue 52 posted
Autum edition of Train Collector has been posted. Covering as usual the wide range of aspects of collecting trains true to the club moto ANY MAKE - ANY GAUGE - ANY AGE....
Picture of the month September
September 2019 brings us back to the very early days of trains. The picture "Germania 1845 Trix Adler and Bachmann Prussia HO Gauge " from Paul Williams shows two of the first German trains meeting at a train station. To view all...
Picture of the month August
The picture of the month AUGUST 2019 is from Rainer Haug. As August is summer holidays times it shows two Distler railcars on their way to bring people into their vacations passing by the scenery background of the Jouef layout Ile the France . To view all pictures of...
TCS 2019 Summer Show Report
This is the second time the Society has used this venue which is on the indoor bowling green of the Stoke Mandeville Stadium complex providing a good level surface and with the air-con working well was much cooler than last year. Organised by Chairman Bryan Pentland...
New collectors guide by John Entwistle
John Entwistle, made a marvelous job on collection all information on Triang and Hornby Steam Locomotives. He put together all available data of Triang and Hornby Steam locomotives in his collectors guide. His listing starts as...
Picture of the month July
The picture of the month JULY 2019 is from Bryan Pentland. It is called "0 gauge toy trains for men of all ages TCS Summer show". So remember the date 6th of July and enjoy the fascinating old toy trains in action at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium. July 2019
Train Collector Issue 51 posted
Summer Issue of Train Collector has been posted. Cover story this time are Historical Model Trains like Rocket, Adler and the like..... The full table of content is available here TC Issue 51
List of layouts to be shown at the TCS Summer Show on 6th July 2019
This year the following layouts will be on display: Hornby 0 gauge included three layouts Hornby Dublo two railHornby Dublo three railHornby 00 live steam 0 gauge live steam 1930'sAmerican Flyer S gauge Standard gauge LionelGauge 1 and 2...
Picture of the Month June
June 2019 The picture of the month June is by Paul Williams titled "Marx 0 gauge layout on a square metre" and shows how much of train fun can be placed on a square meter even in gauge 0. To see all pictures of the month please click on this link: Pictures of the...
Picture of the Month May
May 2019 The picture of the month May is by Bryan Pentland titled "Fleischmann 0 gauge Trieb Wagon pulls into the largest Kibri station" showing a red Fleischmann 0 gauge ET 25 approching the platform full of people coming out of the iluminated large Kibri station.
AGM Meeting Report
Now the full report by Bob Leggett is available on the event reports pages
Picture of the month April
April 2019 Picture of the month April is from Michael Bowes and shows an Issmayer Scenery with Issmayer station , hut and signal cabin with a Bub train set probably made by Issmayer. Thanks to Michael for this beautifully arranged scene.
Playcraft’ s 2019 double anniversary
A display done by James Day in operation during the Train Collectors Society Spring Show at Leicester 23rd of March 2019 Plus additional background story and videos Playcraft's 2019 Double Anniversary
New eBook “Gauge and Scale”
A new eBook from Fred van der Lubbe is available in the TCS Document Folder
Train Collector March issue posted
The 50th issue of train Collector has been posted and is available online to members. It covers the whole variety of collecting toy & model trains from wooden trains to live steam and from 4 mm to 5 inch. The full table of...
Picture of the month March
End of February, beginning of March is the time when one of the largest tabletrain meetings in Gaggenau in Germany is taking place. The picture of the month March from Rainer Haug shows part of his H0 gauge show layout with H0...
Picture of the month February
Following the example of last year and maybe starting a tradition, February is the month where we present the winning photo of our photo competition. The Winner this year is Paul Williams with his picture Bing Table Railway...
January Photo of the month
January 2019 Picture of the month January is from Dirk Hertel and shows the clockwork driven ,0 gauge, light shunting diesel class ‘Kö’ made by Metallwaren Galvanik Weimar, GDR in a winter scenery.
TCS Spring Show: Change of Date
Short News, Short News, Short News We have discovered that Barry Potter has had to set the date for the Rugby Vintage show to the 16th of March 2019 the same date that that the TCS show had been set. As this show along with ours are two of the most popular shows...
December Issue out now
December issue has been posted to members. Special feature is the end of the Great War and special trains related to this (and other) wars. As usual a lot of other topics as well as the 2019 TCS Calender. The full content of the issue can be seen here Train Collector...
December Photo of the Month
December Photo of the Month – Waiting on Christmas Eve – from Fred van der Lubbe.
Photo Competition for TCS members – TCS Calender 2019 –
Please submit your photo untill 19th of December. We are launching our photo competition again, the winning 12 entries chosen by the committee will become the “Photo of the month” on this TCS website for the world to see and the overall winner will receive a free one...
Report and more than 70 pics of the TCS get together at Leicester
A wonderful Autumn day for yet another excellent show organised by Paul Draycott for the TCS and public with another superb Christmas lunch cooked and served by the ladies from the Methodist Church. As usual we were greeted by members ... To read the full report and...
November Photo of the Month
November Photo of the Month – Haloween – from Dirk Hertel.
Train Collector Issue 48 posted
Train Collector Issue 48 is posted Cover story being the history of wooden trains in honour of the diamond jubilee of BRIO track running trains.
October Photo of the Month
October Photo of the Month – Five of the nine tracks – from Bryan Pentland.
Report and 80 pics of the TCS summer show
25 exhibitors and the same amount of trades made this years TCS summershow a real highlight of the season. Layouts were ranging from lifesteam to rare continental TT railways of the 40s and 50s. From cheap and cheerfull 0-gauge to the first working overhead system in...
TCS Digital Archive
First photos from the TCS Digital Archive are now available to members
September Photo of the Month
September Photo of the Month – Old North London – from Nicholas Oddy.
August Photo of the Month
Our Photo of the Month for August is Japanese Street Railway from Paul Williams.
Don’t miss the TCS Summer Show
Saturday 4th of Augsut the 20th TCS Summer show The Train Collector Society will be running are largest exhibition of model railways and toy trains on Saturday the 4th Aug just outside Aylesbury Bucks. There will be over 25 exhibits and over 25 specialist toy train...
July Photo of the Month
July Photo of the Month – Kindling enthusiasm – from Allen Levy
Train Collector Issue 47 posted / online
The June Issue of the train collector has been sent out to the subscribers. Of course all subscribers can read it also online in the member area As usual it contains a most interesting mix. Now we added a page to the website where you can always look up the the...
June Photo of the Month
June Photo of the Month – AS cannot fail to impress – from Bryan Pentland
Our Members’ Area
The members’ area of this website is now open – to members! What is there? At the moment you can view or download every copy of our Train Collector magazine, plus every copy of its predecessor, the TCS News. There will be more content to follow. How do I get there? To...
New in the TCS archive May 2018
Southwark Model and Engineering
New TCS Webmanager
Another new face on the TCS webpage. German train collector Rainer Haug will take care for TCS webpage as off 1st of May.
May Photo of the Month
May Photo of the Month – GNR scale and model locomotives at the NRM – from Dirk Hertel
Report on BECKENHAM VINTAGE SHOW 2018 now online
13 fantastic train layouts, together with the ten traders, different club stands and the much-praised café ....
New Membership Secretary
A new Membership Secretary and a new postal address The TCS are pleased to announce that Paul Chapman is now our Membership Secretary. Paul may be well known to you as a helper and exhibitor at many recent TCS shows, Lima O gauge springing to mind as one example. With...
2018 Leicester Spring Show and AGM Report
2018 Spring Show and AGM report available now Bob Leggett's report on the TCS Spring Show and AGM held in Leicester on March 17th - is now available here and from the Event Reports page. And thanks to Malcolm Pugh there are some great videos there as well.
April Photo of the Month
Our Photo of the Month for April is Rossignol display from Paul Williams. Paul explains that this photo "Is all composed from French O gauge from the 1950's. The train is clockwork, the centre station is JEP and all the rest is 'CR'....Charles Rossignol. The...
The End of the Train
Or rather - the finishing touch? Traditionally freight trains have needed something at the end, for the guard or conductor, or whoever was in charge of the train. In N American parlance the Caboose, in the UK the Brake Van. Given the prevalence of goods rolling stock...
March 2018 TRAIN COLLECTOR
The March 2018 issue of the Train Collector is winging its way to members (if it has not already arrived). Another great issue, with plenty to interest all. In-depth articles on the origin of our gauges and scales, and the scale of signals are of particular note, but...
March Photo of the Month
Our Photo of the Month for March is Wagon-Lits train at the station from Fred van der Lubbe. Fred writes about this photo "At the French CR (Rossignol) station a train of the Compagnie Internationale Des Grands Express Europeens with CR dining and sleeping car is...
Recent Posts
Train Collector Issue 70 now available in the eLibrary
Just in time for the weekend the latest issue of the Train Collector has been uploaded to the members section... Read more →
TCS 2024 Spring Show and AGM
Report and pictures by Bob Leggett As usual Bob shares with us his pictures and videos taken at the 2024... Read more →
Oscars video on the 2023 TCS autumn show
A visit to The Train Collectors Society Autumn Show at Trinity Methodist Church Hall Narborough Road Leicester LE3 2RD United... Read more →
Train Collector Issue 69 uploaded
The Train Collector Christmas Issue of 2023 has been uploaded to the members section. As cited on the cover "When... Read more →