Model Trains – Model Railway Store

We are proud to offer a great selection of Model Trains at our Online Model Railway Store. Additionally, we sell Cattle wagons, Mineral Wagons, Tank wagons, Coal Wagons, Carflats, and British Rail model vehicles. Enjoy browsing through our Model Trains today. 

Our varied model train collection

We hope you’ll love our collection of model trains, as we do too! Our collection is varied, with locomotives, passenger coaches, wagons and more. Some of our models have sound fitted too! Any seasoned collector will tell you, having variety is key when laying out your collection! For example, look at our Warwell with steam road engine! This type of transport was used in the early 1940’s for transporting Sherman tanks! In the image above, we show an early example of how useful this transport was – with a steam roller! As you can imagine, a steam roller would have been way too large for the loading gauge.

Model trains and wagons

The wagon example above is great and it shows you steam rollers needed to be transported somehow! But what else do we have on the subject of wagons? Well, we also have the Warwell No36 Sherman! When you purchase this product, you receive a wagon and tank. Again, this type of transport was used in the early 40s to move Sherman tanks. So, when you own these products you have a scaled 1:76 replica of a Sherman tank! This looks great in a military-themed setting as you can show the transportation which even shows a wooden carton on the rear. For more amazing diecast military products, click here to visit our military page.

Searching through our collections for model trains

Our selections of model trains are great as one-off purchases or for collectors. At Oxford Diecast we have a variety of types and models. So, it might be time to boost your collection and get your hands on some niche train models! Other reasons people buy these products might be to fit a military themed-collection. Other people might be model train enthusiasts, which can involve research into scales and/or particular model types (locomotives, land rovers, wagons). Either way, we have designed our website accordingly. Additionally, if you’re keen on models that are from a particular era you can search faster on the left-hand menu. And there are many different eras to choose from too!

A Brief History of Model Trains

 Model Trains have been around for a very long time. The first railway models were built in the 1850’s, known as ‘carpet railway’. Since then, people have been building them as toys, models, and even art pieces. Enthusiasts buy model trains in different sizes, such as OO scale, HO scale, N scale, and G scale. The most popular model trains are built for the HO scale and OO scale. They are small enough to fit on your desk or table and come in various colours and styles.

Scales Explained For Model Trains

If you are new to scales, let us explain the most popular scales to help you understand the difference. Our explanation will also help you understand how enthusiasts might view the scales themselves. Firstly, OO scale models are built to 1:76th scale, while the HO scale models are built to 1:87th scale. This scale refers to the model size only. The track gauge is actually 16.5mm for both the HO scale and the OO scale. As a result, you can use HO and OO scale model trains on the same track together. However, if you are a scale enthusiast you may prefer to keep the two scales separate. This is because the OO scale model train will be slightly larger.

Level Of Detail On Model Trains

In the early days of model railways, the OO scale model trains were actually better for being a bit larger. Since the trains were bigger, more intricate detail could be added to the trains. Therefore, to keep within the history of model railways, some people like to collect pieces for OO scale. However, the production methods of model trains have vastly improved in modern times. This means that detail can now be added on HO scale trains.

Building Your Own Model Railway Collection

There are different ways people might start their model railway collection. You can go down the route of a complete starter pack, which is the easiest way to get started. This can, however, take some of the fun out of the hobby though as the build-up is short. A lot of the interest, fun, and entertainment comes with building your own complete collection from scratch. Some people like to build model railways with stations around model towns, which can look incredible.

Building A Model Railway From Scratch

Building your own model train collection from scratch? Is the difference between HO and OO scales important to you? As we have explained previously HO and OO scales both operate on a track gauge of 16.5mm. The difference between the two model trains is the scale size (OO scale = 1:76 and HO scale = 1:87). With the size in mind, bear in mind OO scale is going to be larger and therefore a bit slower. If speed is important to you look at the HO scale. When building your model railway around a station/town, it might be nicer to have the OO scale model train. This is because the train will naturally run slower in the station/town and be more life-like.