Learn, Build, Relax: Trusted guides and hand-crafted premium model scenes to delight and entertain
Author: Andy Leaning
An effective but surprisingly simple to making points look better: Sunday Scribbles
This is an effective but surprisingly simple tip to give your points a little bit of extra realism.
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Mixing Hobbies: Trains, Lego & Gardens
I challenge you to watch this and not want a Lego steam train in your garden!
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Track Planning Software
I recently wanted to flesh out the track plan for the latest incarnation of my Cornish-themed layout, here's how I got on with various track planning [...]
How to clean model train wheels, fixing a train that stops and starts. UPDATED for 2026
You've found it. Abandoned in your childhood, a long-forgotten Hornby loco has been rediscovered. A childhood memory is reborn. You dust it off and plant it on [...]
Baseboard construction – an alternative technique
Most modellers make their layout baseboards from wood. But there’s an alternative, easier, more flexible and arguably cheaper material. [...]
Share Your Tips & Progress – a new forum for Model Railway Builders
You can now share your trials and tribulations, layout progress, photos/videos and tips and ideas and chat with friends and thousands of other model railway [...]
Revitalising static grass
Bring your static grass bake to life with this cool little tool. [...]
The Best of ModelRailwayEngineer Winter 17/18
Another season has come and gone and it was a record season for my ModelRailwayEngineer with record numbers of model railway enthusiasts visiting the site, [...]
7 signs that reveal your other half is a secret railway modeller
Have you got a secret model railway enthusiast in your midst?
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A layout construction question and suggestion
Toby J. recently reached out to me to discuss a baseboard he was making. He'd seen a friend's railway and set out to build his own OO gauge layout. Having [...]
How to fit platform lights
No model railway station is complete without platform lighting. Here's how to do it in five simple steps and a video walkthrough. [...]
What are miniatures made from
What are wargaming miniatures made from? [...]
Upgrading an old Hornby Pannier
GWR Pannier engines are the best. They're my favourite locos and I have quite a few, in both OO and N gauge. The Hornby versions are great little [...]
What is the best oil to lubricate your model train + what NOT to use
From time to time every model locomotive needs oiling to keep it running smoothly. But what's the best fluid to use?
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Mini-Me, printed in 3D
Do you have a mini-you on the layout? [...]
What will happen… The great railway in the sky
What will happen to your rolling stock when...
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DC or DCC? What do you prefer and why
This is one of those topics that everyone has a view on. But what do real-world modellers prefer? [...]
What scale is OO gauge
If you have an OO gauge railway you'll want to get suitably sized models and rolling stock so what scale models are appropriate for OO gauge? [...]
Camouflaging Curves – how to obscure artifical looking curves
Curves and bends make model railways more fun and allow continuous running but they come with a problem. [...]
The ABCs of Fiddle Yards
Fiddle yards are the changing room of a Parisian fashion show catwalk for model railways.
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