Get the app
Install The Model Railway and it gets its own icon, opens in its own window without a browser bar, and keeps every page, diagram and table on the device — so it works in a loft, a garage, a club hall or a train, whether or not there is any internet.
Plain honesty, because the word “app” is used loosely: this is the site itself, installed. There is no separate program, no app store, no account and no server behind it — the browser saves a complete copy on your device and runs it like any other app.
Every page, every diagram, the glossary, the fault finder and the tables are stored locally the first time you visit. After that the internet is optional.
Launches from the home screen or the applications folder, without tabs or an address bar. On Android and desktop it also gets shortcuts straight to the Repair Bay and the design bench.
The tick-list on Start Here and the drawing on the design bench live in the app's own storage on your device. Nothing is uploaded, because there is nowhere to upload it to.
No sign-in, no analytics, no adverts and no third-party anything. The app never talks to a server except to check for a newer version of itself.
All 11 pages and 35 diagrams come to 417 kB — smaller than a single photograph, because every diagram is drawn as vector artwork rather than stored as a picture.
Remove it like any other app and everything goes with it. There is no residue on a server somewhere, because there is no server.
Checking what is stored on this device…
If the button above is greyed out, your browser has not offered installation yet — it often waits until you have visited once or twice. These steps always work.
Safari on macOS: File → Add to Dock. Firefox does not install web apps on the desktop — the site still works normally in it.
The app checks for a newer version each time it starts, and quietly replaces itself in the background. Check for updates at the top of this page forces it.
To remove it: uninstall from the home screen or applications list, exactly as you would any other app.
The whole handbook is a folder of ordinary files — ten pages, one stylesheet, three scripts and three icons. You can keep it, copy it, and serve it yourself.
Browsers only allow offline storage over https:// or from
localhost. Double-clicking index.html opens the site perfectly well,
but the install button will stay greyed out. Serve the folder instead — from the folder,
python3 -m http.server 8000 — and then visit
http://localhost:8000.
No build step, no dependencies, no framework. Every diagram is hand-written SVG inside the page, which is why the whole thing fits in about a megabyte and prints properly.