Magazine Subscription Policy

Last updated 26 August 2026

This policy sets out the terms on which PECO Publications supplies magazine subscriptions to Railway Modeller and Continental Modeller. Please read it before you subscribe.

1. About this policy

This policy applies to subscriptions bought directly from PECO, including subscriptions bought as a gift. By placing a subscription order you accept these terms.

Digital-only subscriptions are sold by our digital partner Pocketmags and are governed by their terms, not by this policy. Subscriptions bought through any other third party, including newsagents and subscription agents, are governed by that seller's own terms.

2. Our publications

Railway Modeller has been published monthly since 1949 and covers British model railways across all scales and gauges.

Continental Modeller has been published monthly since 1983 and covers railway modelling from around the world, including European, American, Australian, Asian and African prototypes.

Both titles are published monthly, giving 12 issues per subscription year.

3. Subscription terms

Subscriptions to Railway Modeller and Continental Modeller are sold on one basis only.

• Term: 12 months, covering 12 consecutive monthly issues.
• Payment: a single payment made in full at the time of order. There are no instalments and no recurring payments.
• Renewal: subscriptions do not renew automatically. Nothing is taken from your card or account after your initial payment.
• Delivery: the price includes delivery, both within the United Kingdom and overseas. There are no additional postage or handling charges.

4. What a subscription includes

Every subscription includes the following.

• Twelve monthly issues, delivered to your address.
• Delivery included in the price, worldwide.
• A saving against the cost of buying 12 issues individually.
• Free access to the digital edition through Pocketmags for the duration of your subscription.
• Free access to the searchable digital archive, with new issues available on your device from the day of publication.

5. Prices

Pricing is two-tier, UK and Overseas. There is no separate Europe rate. If your delivery address is outside the United Kingdom, please choose Overseas.

All prices are shown in pounds sterling and include delivery. Printed magazines are zero rated for VAT in the United Kingdom.

The price you pay is fixed for the full 12 months of your subscription. Price changes do not affect a subscription already in progress.

6. How to subscribe

You can subscribe:

• online at the PECO Publications page at harburnhobbies.co.uk
• by telephone on 01297 62 62 03
• by email to subscriptions@peco.co
• by post to PECO Publications, Underleys, Beer, Seaton, Devon, EX12 3NA

Harburn Hobbies is the retail arm of PECO and the name of our model shops in Beer and Edinburgh. Orders are placed there because it is the part of the business best set up to manage customer details and payments. Your subscription is still handled by the PECO Publications team in Beer.

7. Starting, renewing and ending your subscription

Your first issue

Your subscription starts with the first issue published after your order has been processed. Because magazines are printed and mailed to a fixed schedule, please allow up to six weeks for your first issue to arrive. If nothing has arrived after six weeks, contact subscriptions@peco.co.

If you would like your subscription to start with a specific issue, tell us at the time of ordering and we will do so where that issue is still available.

Renewing

We will remind you when your subscription is coming to an end, both by email and in your delivered magazine. Renewing is not automatic and no payment is taken unless you place a new order.

The quickest way to renew is through your account, where you can view your active and lapsed subscriptions, renew, and edit your delivery address. Log in with the email address you originally registered with us.

Manage my subscription →

You may renew before your current term ends. Your new subscription is created straight away and shows as Pending until your current term finishes, so you do not lose any issues you have already paid for.

Ending

Your subscription ends automatically once the twelfth issue has been supplied.

8. Payment

We accept credit and debit cards, and cheques made payable to PECO Publications. Any other method available will be shown at the point of order. Payment is taken in full at the point of order. We do not store your card details for future payments and we will not take any further payment without a new order from you.

Direct Debit has been withdrawn

We are no longer able to take Direct Debit payments. The final Direct Debit payments were processed on 19 August 2026 and no further payments will be taken. We recommend that you cancel the Direct Debit instruction with your bank for completeness.

Your existing subscription is unaffected and you will receive the issues you have paid for. When that term ends, you renew by placing a new order rather than by continuing a standing payment.

9. Digital access

Digital editions of Railway Modeller and Continental Modeller are supplied by our digital partner Pocketmags. Your access is free for as long as your subscription is active, and it ends when your subscription ends.

Activating your access

You need to activate once. After that, your subscription stays linked to your Pocketmags account.

1. Go to the activation page for your title: Railway Modeller or Continental Modeller.
2. Enter your email address. If you already have a Pocketmags account, log in. If not, you will be asked to choose a password.
3. Enter your Account Number and surname. Your Account Number is printed on the front of the address sheet supplied with your magazine, and is the part before the forward slash.

Reading your magazine

On the web, read at My Library at Pocketmags. On iPhone, iPad and Android, download the Railway Modeller or Continental Modeller app and log in with the same Pocketmags email and password.

If you subscribe to both titles, activate each one separately using its own activation link. Use the same Pocketmags account for both and each library will appear in it.

Terms of use

Digital editions are licensed for your personal use. You may not copy, redistribute, resell or publish the content, in whole or in part, without written permission from PECO Publications.

Access depends on the Pocketmags platform and on your own device and internet connection. We are not responsible for interruptions caused by that platform, but we will help you resolve access problems where we can. For digital access problems, contact Pocketmags directly at help@pocketmags.com.

10. Delivery, missing and damaged issues

Magazines are dispatched by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom and by the equivalent postal service overseas.

If an issue does not arrive, please tell us within the following periods of the on-sale date:

• United Kingdom: 14 days
• Overseas: 42 days

We will send a replacement copy free of charge where an issue is lost in the post or arrives damaged. Where a replacement copy is not available, we will extend your subscription by the equivalent number of issues.

Please report a damaged issue within 14 days of receipt and keep the damaged copy until we confirm what we need.

11. Change of address

You can edit your subscription delivery address yourself in your account. Please do this at least 21 days before you move, so the change reaches our mailing file before the next issue is processed. Address changes made after the mailing file has closed take effect from the following issue.

We cannot replace issues sent to an old address where we were not notified in time.

12. Cancellation and refunds

12.1 Subscriptions are non-refundable

Subscriptions are sold as a complete 12 month term and are non-refundable. Once your subscription has started, we do not refund the value of issues remaining in the term if you decide you no longer want it.

We may make an exception at our discretion, for example on compassionate grounds or where circumstances clearly warrant it. If you would like us to consider your case, contact subscriptions@peco.co and explain the situation. A decision in one case does not create an entitlement in any other.

This does not affect your statutory rights, including those set out below.

12.2 Your 14 day cancellation right

If you are a consumer in the United Kingdom and you bought your subscription online, by telephone or by post, you have the right to cancel within 14 days without giving a reason. This right applies to magazine subscription contracts under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The 14 day period runs from the day you receive your first issue.

To cancel within this period, contact subscriptions@peco.co or write to us at the address below. You may use the model cancellation form, but you do not have to.

We will refund the amount you paid within 14 days of receiving your cancellation. Where you have already received issues, we may deduct the cover price of those issues from your refund.

Where you have received digital access and you asked for it to begin immediately, we may deduct a proportionate amount for the access supplied before you cancelled.

12.3 Faulty or undelivered issues

Section 10 sets out what we do if an issue is lost or damaged. Nothing in section 12.1 removes your right to receive the issues you have paid for.

12.4 Gift subscriptions

Where a subscription is bought as a gift, the person who paid holds the cancellation right. Any refund is made to the payer, not the recipient.

13. Back issues

Back issues are available subject to stock through Harburn Hobbies. Availability is not guaranteed. Where a printed back issue is out of print, the issue remains available through the digital archive to active subscribers.

14. Changes to the magazine

We may change the format, size, design, editorial content, publication schedule or cover price of a magazine during your subscription term.

If publication of a title is suspended or ceases before your 12 issues have been supplied, we will refund the value of the issues not supplied, or supply an equivalent subscription to the other title where you prefer. The non-refundable terms in section 12.1 do not apply where we are unable to supply the magazine.

15. Your data

We use your personal data to process your order, fulfil your subscription and provide customer support. We handle it in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We share the minimum necessary data with our mailing house, payment providers and digital edition platform so they can carry out those functions on our behalf.

We do not sell your personal data. Full detail is set out in our privacy policy.

16. Complaints

If something has gone wrong, contact subscriptions@peco.co or telephone 01297 62 62 03. We aim to acknowledge subscription complaints within five working days and to resolve them within 20 working days.

Editorial matters should be directed to editorial@railwaymodeller.co.uk for Railway Modeller and to info@peco.co for Continental Modeller.

Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The version that applies to your subscription is the version published on the date you subscribed. We will tell you about material changes.

Contact PECO Publications

When you write or email about a subscription, please include your name, your postal address and your Account Number from the address sheet supplied with your magazine. It helps us find your record straight away.