Terms of Use

Effective Date:
Website: www.modelraildatabase.com (“the Site”)

1. Purpose of the Site

Model Rail Database (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the Site as an informational reference resource for railway enthusiasts, historians, and hobbyists regarding model trains. The Site and its content are provided for personal, non-commercial use only.

2. Acceptance of These Terms

By accessing or using the Site, you agree to comply with these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Site.

3. Intellectual Property & Database Rights

All content on the Site—including without limitation data, text, images, page layouts, compilation and selection of content, and the database structure—is owned by or licensed to Model Rail Database and protected by copyright, trade mark, and database rights under UK and international law, including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (UK).

We grant you a limited, revocable licence to access and view the Site for personal reference only. Except where expressly permitted in writing, you must not reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, translate, publicly display, publish, or create derivative works from any part of the Site or its content.

4. Acceptable Use & Prohibited Activities

You must use the Site lawfully and fairly. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not:

  • Copy, download, screen scrape, crawl, mine, harvest, or otherwise extract data or content from the Site, whether by automated tools (including, without limitation, robots, spiders, scrapers, data-mining tools, or similar technologies) or by manual means.
  • Use the Site or its content for any commercial purpose, resale, redistribution, or to build, train, seed, or augment any database, dataset, directory, AI/ML model, or service.
  • Republish, mirror, frame, or display Site content on any other website, publication, or platform without our prior written permission.
  • Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security-related or access-control features of the Site, including rate limits and anti-scraping measures.
  • Introduce viruses, malware, or other harmful code, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, its servers, or related systems.

Any unauthorised extraction or reuse of a substantial part of the database (or repeated and systematic extraction of insubstantial parts) is prohibited and may be enforced under applicable UK law.

5. User Contributions

If the Site allows submissions (e.g., corrections or additions), you represent and warrant that you have the necessary rights to provide such material and grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, and display it on the Site. We may remove any submission at our discretion.

6. Links to Third-Party Sites

The Site may contain links to third-party websites. Such links are provided for convenience only; we do not endorse and are not responsible for third-party content or practices.

7. Disclaimers

The Site and all content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. While we endeavour to keep information accurate and up to date, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, regarding completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary losses or damages, nor for any loss of data, goodwill, or business opportunity, arising out of or in connection with your use of (or inability to use) the Site.

9. Suspension & Termination

We may suspend or terminate access to all or part of the Site at any time, including where we reasonably believe there has been a breach of these Terms.

10. Changes to the Site and These Terms

We may update the Site and these Terms from time to time. Changes take effect upon posting to this page (or as otherwise stated). Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

11. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. You agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Site.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Please contact us at webmaster@modelraildatabase.com.