This page lists forthcoming meetings, exhibitions and courses.
Keen House is the headquarters of The Model Railway Club. It is located just off Pentonville Road at 4, Calshot Street, Kings Cross, London N1, which is about 10 minutes walk from Kings Cross station or 15 minutes from the Angel. Details on other venues can be obtained by clicking the venue link.
MERG Meeting Programme
Prospective new members are welcome to attend any of the following meetings to discuss MERG and meet those involved.
| August 2020 | ||
| 4th Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group Ron Pluck will describe his own individual approach to programming Arduino modules. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 4th Time: 19:00 |
MERG Thames Valley Area Group (TVAG) meeting Howard will give a presentation on the CBUS Beginner's kits. This will explain the process Howard went through and the decisions made. Click for more details |
Venue: This will be a ZOOM meeting |
| 5th Time: 19:00 |
Warwickshire, North Oxfordshire VIRTUAL Area Group meeting Members Projects. David Thomas / Bill Fitch - JMRI Projects Clive Wilkins - A low tech solution. |
Venue: Zoom Virtual Meeting |
| 5th Time: 19:20 |
Cardiff Area Group Virtual Meeting - August 5th 7.20pm Following on from last months meeting, Phil will talk further about automatic breaking and DCC block stop. Gary will chat about 'My MERG Journey', hoping to shed some light on why he joined MERG. No doubt we will also chat about 3D printing MERG kits and Arduino. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Virtual Merting |
| 5th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Bi-Weekly Meeting Members discuss model rail issues, talk or show, electronic projects on their layout |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| 6th Time: 14:00 |
Wales North Area Group meeting First meeting of the new Wales North Area Group |
Venue: Zoom Virtual Meeting |
| 7th Time: 11:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Virtual Coffee Break This is an online coffee break where members can relax and chat among themselves about Project, Progress, Problems and successes. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 9th Time: 14:00 |
Scottish Borders Virtual Area Group Meeting Coffee and chat meeting |
Venue: Zoom Meeting |
| 10th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG meeting Regular Show and Tell meeting where a member will show the project that they are working on and discuss how they have tackled the programming. This session will feature Simon West talking about a program he has developed using a PIC16F628A chip to drive a double 7 segment display. The program uses a predefined library file to reduce the amount of coding needed. |
Venue: Zoom |
| 11th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Judi Rastall and Paul Tomkins will give an update on all things kit related in another episode of Tales from the Kitlocker. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 11th Time: 19:00 |
North East Area Group Zoom Meeting Showing presentation "FCU for beginners" |
Venue: MERG Zoom Server |
| 12th Time: 19:30 |
Three counties Virtual meeting Three Counties Monthly Meeting |
Venue: Online |
| 13th Time: 19:30 |
South Hants Area Group meeting This is our regular monthly meeting. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 15th Time: 10:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting M3032 Peter Watson will demonstrate resistance soldering for the group. Then something new for the group. A Wot & Y session on a module schematic. (What is this component and Why is it there?). Members are encouraged to bring their questions for circuits and several other members will attempt to explain just what it does and why. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 16th Time: 14:00 |
WoSAG Zoom meeting Join us from 1:55pm onwards,for a 2pm start. Circuit emulation software. |
Venue: Zoom meeting |
| 16th Time: 18:00 |
Irish Area Group virtual meeting The agenda will be Your Workbench and Question Time. Zoom details will be added later. |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 18th Time: 12:30 |
Virtual Area Group Martin Perry will explain how CANCAB works using the circuit diagram and the components on the printed circuit board. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 19th Time: 19:00 |
Warwickshire, North Oxfordshire VIRTUAL Area Group meeting Members Projects. Mick Bonwick - Modelling the railway Ian Kay - JMRI & CBUS Control for conventional DC. Jeremy Mole - A new micro layout. |
Venue: Zoom Virtual Meeting |
| 19th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting Members discuss model rail issues, talk or show, electronic projects on their layout |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| 21st Time: 11:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Virtual Coffee Break This is an online coffee break where members can relax and chat among themselves about Project, Progress, Problems and successes. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 24th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG beginners meeting Beginners Classes in using JAL. First program - Blink a LED (or two) with the chip of your choice. How many ways can we do it? Ideally have your prototyping board set up with a couple of LEDs. Anodes (long legs) into the 5V terminal and the two cathodes into the two top right outputs (slip a bit of heat shrink tubing over one of the cathodes to prevent shorting). |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 25th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Fraser Smith will be describing how Just Another Language (JAL) is used to program the microprocessors in a number of the pocket money kits. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 28th Time: 11:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Virtual Coffee Break This is an online coffee break where members can relax and chat among themselves about Project, Progress, Problems and successes. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 29th Time: 10:00 |
MERG East Midlands Area group ONLINE meeting This area group meeting will be held online using the Zoom teleconferencing system. Agenda to follow. |
Venue: ZOOM ONLINE |
| 29th Time: 14:00 |
MERG East of Scotland TBC |
Venue: Zoom meeting |
| September 2020 | ||
| 1st Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group Paul Townsend will look at how best to deploy CBUS on an N Gauge layout. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 1st Time: 19:00 |
MERG Thames Valley Area Group (TVAG) meeting Andy Brown will give an update on his script for our Demo layout. Ian Morgan will do a "show and tell" on his build of Pete Brownlow's CANINP & CANOUT 12V modules (available from his Shopify Business). Click for more details |
Venue: This will be a ZOOM meeting |
| 2nd Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| 5th Time: 10:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting M505 Adrian Henshaw will give a presentation on sound effects. M4848 Alan Wright will give a presentation on sound chips. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 8th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Dave McCabe will take his life into his own hands and attempt to keep order while presenting on the topic of Signalling. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 9th Time: 19:30 |
Three counties Virtual meeting Three Counties Monthly Meeting |
Venue: Online |
| 10th Time: 19:30 |
South Hants Area Group meeting This is our regular monthly meeting. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 12 to 14th Time: 09:00 |
JMRI Part 2 weekend course Follow on to JMRI Panel Pro intro course. Scroll to the bottom of the diary page to see details of all courses. Click for more details |
Venue: |
| 12th Time: 10:30 |
London Area Group |
Venue: Keen House,Kings Cross |
| 12th Time: 13:30 |
Members Meeting in London Dave McCabe will give a talk on signaling |
Venue: keen House, Kings Cross |
| 14th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG meeting Regular Show and Tell meeting where a member will show the project that they are working on and discuss how they have tackled the programming. |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 15th Time: 12:30 |
Virtual Area Group Martin Perry will select a current MERG kit and explain how it works using the circuit diagram and the components on the printed circuit board. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 16th Time: 19:30 |
Cardiff Area Group Meeting Details To Follow |
Venue: Synod Office of the United Reform Church, Minster Road, Cardiff CF23 5AS. |
| 16th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| 19th Time: 10:00 |
South Hants Area Group all day Saturday worksho This is our monthly all day Saturday workshop, open to any Merg members. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 22nd Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Davy Dick will talk through the popular, simple to use layout control system - EzyBus. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 28th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG beginners Classes Get help when starting to use JAL |
Venue: Zoom |
| 29th Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group A show and tell session where members show work-in-progress materials from their workbenches and describe their successes ... and failures. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 30th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| October 2020 | ||
| 3rd Time: 10:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting M1925 Paul Howes will give a presentation on "Your Ladder to Logical Success" a study in using ladder logic and PLCs on a model railway. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). |
Venue: Zoom video conference call |
| 6th Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group Tears and Mimic Panels - John Gowers Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 6th Time: 19:00 |
MERG Thames Valley Area Group (TVAG) meeting Laurence Stant will give a presentation "Pushing JMRI to the limits: Swindon Panel at Didcot Railway Centre". For details on the Swndon panel see https://www.swindonpanel.org.uk/ Click for more details |
Venue: This will be a ZOOM meeting |
| 8th Time: 19:30 |
South Hants Area Group meeting This is our regular monthly meeting. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 10th Time: 10:00 |
West Midlands Area Group Meeting 10th October2020 More details to follow Click for more details |
Venue: Titford Pump House, Engine Street, OLDBURY, West Midlands B69 4NL. |
| 12th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG meeting Regular Show and Tell meeting where a member will show the project that they are working on and discuss how they have tackled the programming. |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 13th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Oscilloscopes - Paul Townsend Basic ‘scope, minimum specification for MR use Bandwidth considerations Digital Storage scope USB ‘scopes e.g. PicoScope Time Bases Calibration Probes Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 14th Time: 19:30 |
Three counties Virtual meeting Three counties Zoom meeting |
Venue: Online |
| 14th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| 17th Time: 10:00 |
South Hants Area Group all day Saturday worksho This is our monthly all day workshop, open to any Merg members. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 20th Time: 12:30 |
Virtual Area Group Martin Perry will select a current MERG kit and explain how it works using the circuit diagram and the components on the printed circuit board. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 26th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG beginners Classes Get help when starting to use JAL |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 27th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group CBUS and DC Control - Robert Thomas. Rob will talk about the circuits he has investigated to design a CBUS event driven DC locomotive controller. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 28th Time: 20:00 |
Tayside Area Group Meeting |
Venue: Zoom Online Meeting |
| November 2020 | ||
| 3rd Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group Logic Analysers - Dave McCabe Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 7th Time: 10:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting Work will continue on the group projects plus other topics will be covered at some meetings throughout 2020. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting can get directions from the group via the contact form. |
Venue: St James Church Hall, Preston Road, Yeovil |
| 7th Time: 10:30 |
London Area Group |
Venue: Keen House, Kings Cross |
| 7th Time: 13:30 |
Annual General Meeting The Kings Cross MRC have agreed to open Keen House to everyone after the AGM. They will be on-site, operating their layouts, answervingall questions put to them. Those attending will also be able to bring their own locos or trains, DC or DCC, any gauge and run them on the Kings Cross circular track |
Venue: Keen House |
| 7th Time: 14:30 |
members Meeting in London As per the description on the AGM. There will be no speakers at this event |
Venue: Keen House, Kings Cross |
| 9th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG meeting Regular Show and Tell meeting where a member will show the project that they are working on and discuss how they have tackled the programming. |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 10th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Paul Townsend will describe how he has planned the deployment of CBUS on a large P4 layout. Having used my designs of CMOS hard wired logic for decades on my old layout, I wanted to use Merg designs for my new layout to gain sophistication and flexibility for partial automation at reasonable cost. Of the available buses, I will explain why I chose CBus and how I have evolved my implementation both for P4 Broad Gauge Dartmouth and its baby brother, Pseudo-Dartmouth in N Gauge. The presentation will include videos of the installations and operations. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 11th Time: 19:30 |
Three counties Virtual meeting Three Counties Monthly Meeting |
Venue: Online |
| 12th Time: 19:30 |
South Hants Area Group meeting This is our regular monthly meeting. |
Venue: Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom |
| 17th Time: 12:30 |
Virtual Area Group Martin Perry will select a current MERG kit and explain how it works using the circuit diagram and the components on the printed circuit board. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 23rd Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG beginners Classes Get help when starting to use JAL |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 24th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Mike Bolton will be describing the work he has been undertakiing with Nick Murphy on Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) using 13.56 MHz. This is used to both detect and identify locos and rolling stock. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| December 2020 | ||
| 1st Time: 18:30 |
Virtual Area Group TBA Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 5th Time: 10:00 |
MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting Work will continue on the group projects plus other topics will be covered at some meetings throughout 2020. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting can get directions from the group via the contact form. |
Venue: St James Church Hall, Preston Road, Yeovil |
| 8th Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group Dave McCabe will present a CBUS wiring strategy for a large club O gauge layout. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 9th Time: 19:30 |
Three counties Virtual meeting Three Counties Monthly Meeting |
Venue: Online |
| 14th Time: 19:30 |
JALSIG meeting Regular Show and Tell meeting where a member will show the project that they are working on and discuss how they have tackled the programming. |
Venue: Zoom session |
| 15th Time: 12:30 |
Virtual Area Group Martin Perry will select a current MERG kit and explain how it works using the circuit diagram and the components on the printed circuit board. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom conference call |
| 22nd Time: 10:00 |
Virtual Area Group show and tell session where members show work-in-progress materials from their workbenches and describe their successes ... and failures. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
MERG Attended Shows
| October 2020 | ||
| 3rd |
Fareham Model Railway club Exhibition Cancelled This is the Fareham Model Railway Club's annual exhibition. |
Venue: Fareham Leisure Center. Fareham, Hampshire. |
| 10th |
Farnham and District MRC Annual Exhibition CANCELLED The MERG South Hants Area Group will be in attendance. Click for more details |
Venue: Alderwood Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, Aldershot, GU12 4AS |
| November 2020 | ||
| 7th |
Cultra Model Railway Exhibition This show provides a mix of layouts in and around the 12" to ft displays of the museum. |
Venue: Folk &Transport Museum, Cultra, North Down |
Training courses
| August 2020 | ||
| 5th |
MERG Grand Tour - August An introduction to MERG for new members. Welcome and Introduction What is MERG? The Community - Local Area Groups - The Forum Publications - Journal including repository - Newsletter Kits for Sale My Kit Won’t Work On-Line Resources - Web pages - Technical Bulletins - Forum - MERG TV Search Any Questions? A reminder with joining instructions will be sent before the call. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 17th |
Demystifying Components - Power Supply Units (PSUs) Paul will discuss the ins and outs of providing power to the various types of usit to be found on a modern model railway. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| September 2020 | ||
| 2nd |
MERG Grand Tour - September An introduction to MERG for new members. Welcome and Introduction What is MERG? The Community - Local Area Groups - The Forum Publications - Journal including repository - Newsletter Kits for Sale My Kit Won’t Work On-Line Resources - Web pages - Technical Bulletins - Forum - MERG TV Search Any Questions? A reminder with joining instructions will be sent before the call. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| 12th |
JMRI Part 2 weekend course JMRI Panel Pro Part 2 – Blocks, Routing, Logic and Signalling. A follow on from the intro course to tackle more topics. This course will take place now in 2021, in the meantime there will be Zoom sessions on the originally scheduled date for those who have booked a place on the physical course. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Online |
| 14th |
Demystifying Components - 555 Timer Chip How one of the world's most successful integrated circuits can be used in model railways. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom video call |
| 21st |
Demystifying Components - Printed Circuit Boards Fraser will describe the process for producing printed circuit boards and show how easy it is to take boards from the Printed Circuit Board library and get them manufactured. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| 28th |
Demystifying Components - Power Switching with MOSFETs Paul will describe how to use MOSFETs to switch larger amounts of current. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| October 2020 | ||
| 7th |
MERG Grand Tour - October An introduction to MERG for new members. Welcome and Introduction What is MERG? The Community - Local Area Groups - The Forum Publications - Journal including repository - Newsletter Kits for Sale My Kit Won’t Work On-Line Resources - Web pages - Technical Bulletins - Forum - MERG TV Search Any Questions? A reminder with joining instructions will be sent before the call. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| 12th |
Demystifying Components - Questions and Answers After all those calls, did you suddenly think of a question that you wish that you had asked at the time. Perhaps you tried do do something at home at were mystified by the blue smoke. Here is your chance to get answers to all those questions. Click for more details |
Venue: Zoom Video Call |
| March 2021 | ||
| 27 to 29th |
Introduction to CBUS weekend course Introduction to CBUS weekend course - assumes no prior knowledge of CBUS Click for more details |
Venue: Rushden Transport Museum |