Gifts for model railway enthusiasts

The best gifts for model railway enthusiasts are usually the unglamorous ones. Modellers tend to be very particular about which locomotives join their fleet (right livery, right era), so picking one for them is risky. Tools, scenery, magazines, vouchers and exhibition tickets are always welcome, and if you want something nobody else will think of, a live departure board for the real station their layout is based on is a lovely touch.

First, which scale do they model in?

Before you buy anything that touches the layout, find out the scale. The two you'll meet most in Britain are:

There are others too, from big O gauge garden lines to tiny Z gauge, but OO and N cover most British home layouts. Models from one scale won't run on another, so a quick peek at the layout (or the boxes on the shelf) saves an awkward exchange.

Tools every modeller uses

You can't really have too many good tools, and they're easy to buy without knowing the finer details of someone's layout:

• Proper track cutters, which leave a clean end on rail where pliers squash it.
• A temperature-controlled soldering iron, for wiring and track joints.
• Fine tweezers and a set of small screwdrivers for fiddly couplings.
• A magnifying lamp or headband magnifier. Small parts don't get bigger as the years go by.
• A self-healing cutting mat and a sharp craft knife with spare blades.
• A track rubber, for keeping the rails clean so locomotives don't stutter.

Scenery and detailing

The scenery is where a layout comes alive, and it's quite forgiving to buy for. Static grass and an applicator, weathering powders, a set of good brushes, bags of ballast to match their track, trees, hedges and little figures for the platforms all make good presents. If they're building a particular station or town, a book of old photographs of the real place gives them plenty to copy.

Vouchers, magazines and DCC

If they're after a particular locomotive, let them choose it. A voucher for their favourite model shop or manufacturer takes the guesswork out, and modellers genuinely enjoy the hunt.

A magazine subscription lasts all year. Railway Modeller, Hornby Magazine, British Railway Modelling and Model Rail are all long-running British titles, so there's one to suit most tastes.

Digital Command Control (DCC) is a popular upgrade. It lets several locomotives run independently on the same track, and sound decoders add the noise of a real engine. Not every model is ready for a decoder though, so ask what they run or go for a voucher here too.

A real departure board in the railway room

Plenty of modellers build a layout based on a real place: their home station, a junction they remember, a branch line from childhood. TrainTicker Desktop puts the live departures from that real station on a small amber LED board, 320 x 80 mm, laid out like the one on the platform. It shows the next trains with time, destination, platform and status, plus the calling points scrolling underneath and a clock with seconds along the bottom.

It doesn't control the models. Think of it as a window onto the real railway, sitting on a shelf above the fiddle yard while the models run below. It works with any National Rail station in Great Britain, checks National Rail's live Darwin data every 10 seconds, and can show one train in full or the next three at a glance. It's £199.99 one-time, with no subscription. You can see what it would show for their station on the free live demo.

Shows, museums and days out

Model railway exhibitions are a big part of the hobby, from small local club shows to large national events such as the National Festival of Railway Modelling at the NEC in Birmingham and Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow. Tickets, plus a lift there and a cup of tea, make a good present. Check each show's own website for this year's dates.

Real railways give modellers ideas too. A day at the National Railway Museum in York, or a heritage line running the kind of trains they model, counts as research (that's what they'll tell you, anyway). Our railway museums guide has more places, and famous British locomotives is a good read if you want to know what they're talking about.

When to order

TrainTicker ships within 3 to 4 weeks, tracked, so order in November for Christmas. You can mark the order as a gift at checkout and add a note, which is printed on the packing slip with no prices. For ideas beyond the layout, see our list of gifts for the train lover who has everything. Every order includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.