Hands-on Courses for Railway Modellers

Railway modellers have been honing their skills at Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers’ unique Weekends for more than 50 years. We offer hands-on, practical courses with some of the best known tutors in the hobby, covering the many and varied skills you need to build the model railway of your dreams.  Our weekends and the week long Summer Retreat give you the opportunity of uninterrupted time indulging yourself in your hobby. In the company of like minded individuals with a wealth of knowledge to call upon if needed.

The courses

Our courses are constantly evolving , here are a few of the things we offer

If don’t see what you are looking for, Contact Us to discuss your needs.

Course Format

Weekend Courses

  • We run weekend courses twice a year, in Spring and Autumn.
  • The courses start on Friday before dinner and run until mid afternoon on the Sunday. With modelling sessions on the Friday evening, all day and evening on Saturday and morning and afternoon sessions on the Sunday.
  • A range of topics are available to choose from, you choose one subject for the entire weekend. You are encouraged to wonder around the other courses to see what else is being done.
  • Most courses are practical, you bring along a project to work on with tutor assistance, others are more classically taught
  • A number of short demo sessions are run during a weekend to gives you some different topics.

A typical weekend timetable can be seen here

Summer Retreat

The week long Summer Retreat is slightly different in format and is aimed at modellers who have projects that wish to pursue. The week is not run as a tutored course, however we have a few of our tutors on hand to offer advice and assistance with your project. As always there are other modellers working alongside you to offer help and share in the social side of the hobby. 

Attendance Options

Both the weekend courses and the Summer Retreat can be attended either on a residential, full board basis, or you may choose to attend without staying at Missenden Abbey. Non-residential attendance includes  lunches, evening meals and tea and coffee throughout the day.

Aims

We aim to help you build a working model or develop a project that’s well on its way to completion by the time you go home on the Sunday afternoon. Above all, we want you to enjoy yourself pursuing your hobby in the company of some highly skilled tutors and fellow modellers. Our courses are not generally suitable for the outright beginner, although the level of experience required various between subjects. The courses are ideal for the modeller with basic skills or knowledge wanting to make further progress or who feel their working methods need refreshment. This is an ideal opportunity for existing modellers to enhance  their skills etc. If you want to ask about the suitability of any course please do use the contact page. We particularly welcome modellers returning to the hobby, keen to make up lost ground after years devoted to family and career.

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Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers to advance railway modelling skills.