Learn, Build, Relax: Trusted guides and hand-crafted premium model scenes to delight and entertain
Author: Andy Leaning
8 totally genius Instagram ideas for wooden railway sets
Keep your tiny engineers enthralled and entertained with these inspired ideas for Brio, Bigjigs, Ikea and Thomas wooden train sets. [...]
A day trip to Eastleigh
For my birthday my brother and his wife got me tickets for the miniature railway at Eastleigh. This weekend a Big Four show, with scaled down engines from the [...]
Upgrading an old model train
If, like me, you have old Hornby or Graham Farish locomotives on your railway you may notice they lack a bit of oomph. Here's how I give mine a power-up. [...]
Repairing and servicing an N gauge model train
N gauge locos are tiny. And when they break all those small parts can seem a nightmare. But it's really not that hard once you know how. Here's how I recently [...]
A cheap, space saving, table for wooden trains
Looking for a cheap, simple, fold-away table for your children's wooden train set? Here’s a quick and easy solution.
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How to model water on your railway
Rivers, streams, lakes and seas are something every model railway builder wants but notoriously difficult to get right. Until now. [...]
Where is Rails of Sheffield
Where is and how to get to Rails of Sheffield.
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Laying track across baseboard joints
If you're laying track across a baseboard join, you'll need to secure the track at the edges. The tried and tested technique for this is Copper clad sleepers. [...]
Dremel 3000 review: the best Dremel for model railways
I'm a long time fan of Dremel's versatile rotary tools and the Dremel 3000 is one of my favourite tools — no make that my number one most used model making [...]
How to descale a Mamod steam engine in seven steps
Over time scale and hard water deposits can build up in the boiler of a Mamod or Wilesco engine and cause problems. Follow this simple guide to get your steam [...]
Adding realism to your plastic buildings
Plastic kits make it easy to add buildings to your layout but they often lack the finishing touch and can look like fake. Here's an incredibly quick and easy [...]
I am the bringer of death
Here's a little secret. I'm terrible for starting new layouts before finishing the last one.
In fact, I've got several in various stages of "uncompletion" [...]
How to tip: cheap, authentic, point control
Using electric point motors for a model railway can get expensive. But if you just want to remotely control your points there's an alternative, cheaper, way. [...]
How to master perfect soldering for trouble-free track and wiring – the definitive guide
Want to improve your model railway track work, wiring, and electrics? Soldering is the only way. But what's the best solder to use? What's the best soldering [...]
Making Your Own Engine Shed Ash
Hot on the heals of the previous post on making your own model railway grass, comes another tip from Stephen Fay, this time a low cost technique to making [...]
The best price on Hornby trains – model railway money saving buying tips
Looking for the best price on a Hornby train set or trying to find the the biggest discount for that model train you’ve been saving for? These tricks will [...]
How to make your own grass
This is a short but great tip for making your own super-realistic grass by modeller Stephen Fay. [...]
Pictures to inspire, photos from Crawley Model Railway Society 9th / 10th April 2016
Looking for inspiration? Here's a few photos of the amazing layouts at Crawley Model Railway Society's 2016 exhibition held last [...]
The 5 Key Skills Every Model Railway Beginner Needs To Master
Want to upgrade your train set to a model railway that looks and works as well as the real thing? Here are the five most important techniques to learn.
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7 Books That Have Taught Me The Most
One of the reasons I enjoy building model railways is the variety of different skills that can be learned and mastered. To develop this knowledge, I read [...]