diff --git a/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/InMemoryMessagingNetwork.kt b/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/InMemoryMessagingNetwork.kt
index 1d9974a241..2dcb728d48 100644
--- a/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/InMemoryMessagingNetwork.kt
+++ b/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/InMemoryMessagingNetwork.kt
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import core.ThreadBox
 import core.crypto.sha256
 import core.messaging.*
 import core.utilities.loggerFor
+import core.utilities.trace
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
 import rx.Observable
 import rx.subjects.PublishSubject
 import java.time.Duration
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ import kotlin.concurrent.thread
  */
 @ThreadSafe
 class InMemoryMessagingNetwork {
+    companion object {
+        val MESSAGES_LOG_NAME = "messages"
+        private val log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MESSAGES_LOG_NAME)
+    }
+
     private var counter = 0   // -1 means stopped.
     private val handleEndpointMap = HashMap<Handle, InMemoryMessaging>()
     // All messages are kept here until the messages are pumped off the queue by a caller to the node class.
@@ -55,9 +62,15 @@ class InMemoryMessagingNetwork {
         return Pair(id, builder)
     }
 
-    /** Creates a node at the given address: useful if you want to recreate a node to simulate a restart */
-    fun createNodeWithID(manuallyPumped: Boolean, id: Int): MessagingServiceBuilder<InMemoryMessaging> {
-        return Builder(manuallyPumped, Handle(id))
+    /**
+     * Creates a node at the given address: useful if you want to recreate a node to simulate a restart.
+     *
+     * @param manuallyPumped see [createNode]
+     * @param id the numeric ID to use, e.g. set to whatever ID the node used last time.
+     * @param description text string that identifies this node for message logging (if is enabled) or null to autogenerate
+     */
+    fun createNodeWithID(manuallyPumped: Boolean, id: Int, description: String? = null): MessagingServiceBuilder<InMemoryMessaging> {
+        return Builder(manuallyPumped, Handle(id, description ?: "In memory node $id"))
     }
 
     private val _allMessages = PublishSubject.create<Triple<SingleMessageRecipient, Message, MessageRecipients>>()
@@ -74,6 +87,7 @@ class InMemoryMessagingNetwork {
 
     @Synchronized
     private fun msgSend(from: InMemoryMessaging, message: Message, recipients: MessageRecipients) {
+        log.trace { "${message.topic} from '${from.myAddress}' to '$recipients'" }
         val calc = latencyCalculator
         if (calc != null && recipients is SingleMessageRecipient) {
             // Inject some artificial latency.
@@ -133,8 +147,8 @@ class InMemoryMessagingNetwork {
         }
     }
 
-    class Handle(val id: Int) : SingleMessageRecipient {
-        override fun toString() = "In memory node $id"
+    class Handle(val id: Int, val description: String) : SingleMessageRecipient {
+        override fun toString() = description
         override fun equals(other: Any?) = other is Handle && other.id == id
         override fun hashCode() = id.hashCode()
     }
diff --git a/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/MockNode.kt b/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/MockNode.kt
index 134b670162..121500107f 100644
--- a/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/MockNode.kt
+++ b/node/src/main/kotlin/core/testing/MockNode.kt
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class MockNetwork(private val threadPerNode: Boolean = false,
 
         override fun makeMessagingService(): MessagingService {
             require(id >= 0) { "Node ID must be zero or positive, was passed: " + id }
-            return mockNet.messagingNetwork.createNodeWithID(!mockNet.threadPerNode, id).start().get()
+            return mockNet.messagingNetwork.createNodeWithID(!mockNet.threadPerNode, id, configuration.myLegalName).start().get()
         }
 
         override fun makeIdentityService() = MockIdentityService(mockNet.identities)