Thank you to everyone who came to see us at the York show. Most of the time, Train Trax and The Model Tree Shop exist for most people as a parcel arriving at the door, an email update like this, or just occasionally a stand at a show. On the Early May Bank Holiday, Monday […]

Kieren adds a 20-860 V1 Mainline Passing Siding Set to his M1 oval. The Kato UNITRACK Master (M) and Variation (V) sets are the ultimate expansion track sets, perfect for beginners who are looking to get started in the hobby, while also providing complex structures for those seeking to create more complex and advanced layouts! […]

Last weekend at Ally Pally was a good one. Thank you to everyone who came to see us, bought from us, had a chat, asked questions, or just reminded us that model railways are best when shared with other people. Shows are hard work, but the good customers make them worth it. Now we turn […]

All being well, this weekend we’re off to Alexandra Palace for the London Festival of Railway Modelling, which means the usual mix of planning, packing, second-guessing what to take, and trying not to forget anything important. TrainTrax and The Model Tree Shop will both be there, and we’re looking forward to seeing plenty of familiar […]

Hello, If you only read one bit of this email, read this bit: the new OO9 points are finally on the pre-order list, we’ve had a big restock week (including older favourites), and there’s a fresh wave of new arrivals alongside the latest pre-orders. If any of that is on your “waiting for…” list, this […]

A lot of online advice is well-meant. Some of it is also repeated so often it becomes “truth”, even when it doesn’t match what we see day-to-day. Myth 1: “Kato #4 points always derail, so you have to tweak them” Apparently some people online do have derailments on #4 turnouts, particularly in the past. In […]

We help with the practical stuff that keeps layouts running well: planning, parts choices, troubleshooting, and (where suitable) repairs and DCC fitting. Included support (free for customers) Paid services (£50 inc VAT each) £50 covers up to around an hour of hands-on work. If it’s bigger than that, we’ll tell you before we start. Parts […]

Kato Unitrack availability can look random from the outside. Some items genuinely disappear. Many more just go quiet for a year or two, then come back.Sometimes these have new numbers and sometime not! Here are the real problem children: If you’ve got a plan that specifies an awkward part, we can usually get you to […]

Last updated: 13th Feb 2026 I didn’t want to have to write this, but we need to share a serious security update. Summary We identified and removed malicious code on our website. Out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying customers that details entered on our website may have been compromised. What happened Since […]

Hello, We read every review we receive and we take them seriously — it’s one of the simplest ways for us to keep improving. A few weeks ago a customer mentioned that our shipping felt expensive, so I sat down and properly ran the numbers. The headline is simple: with current Royal Mail prices, packaging […]