Terms

Who we are

The Railway Dispatch is run by Fathi Hassan and Ali Shami, 17 Central Avenue, Rowley Regis, B65 8BA. Email hello@therailwaydispatch.com.

What the membership is

A monthly delivery of printed materials to a UK address. The stories are fiction built around real events. The printed items are our own designs, every one is marked as a replica, and none is valid for travel or any other use. Historical details are given in good faith with sources, and corrections are printed in the next parcel.

Prices and payment

Paid by card in pounds sterling, in advance, until you cancel. The payment taken when you join pays for your first parcel, and checkout shows the month it is posted. After that, payment is taken on the 23rd of each month for the parcel posted in the first days of the next month. Prices include VAT where applicable and UK postage. Outside the UK, we post to Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: the postage for each parcel, shown before you join, is charged as its own line with each payment, and the parcels go by Royal Mail International Standard, which is untracked. Any import charge in your country is yours to pay; printed paper normally carries none.

Prepaid memberships

Three and twelve month memberships are paid for once, cover that number of monthly parcels, and end on their own. They do not renew, so there is nothing to cancel and no further payment is taken. We email once near the end. Your 14-day right after the first parcel arrives applies as below, and after that we will refund any parcels not yet posted if you ask us.

Posting and delivery

We close the list on the 25th of each month and post in the first days of the next by second class post. Parcels are not tracked. If one does not arrive within the month, tell us and we will send another.

Pausing, cancelling and your rights

You can pause for up to three months in any twelve, and cancel at any time, from your account. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid month. Your 14-day cancellation right is set out on the Cancellation page, including the requirement to return the parcel and its contents, at your own cost, if you want that month refunded.

Launch offer

10% off the first payment of any membership: the first month of a monthly membership, or the single payment for three or twelve months. Also 10% off framed route maps once they can be ordered. The code is sent to anyone who signs up for our news while the offer runs, and is entered on (or applied to) the payment page. It is for memberships started and frames ordered by 23:59 on 25 October 2026 (UK time), for new customers, once each. The number of uses is limited and shared between memberships and frames; how many are left is shown on the site, and the offer ends early when they have gone. It cannot be exchanged for cash, and a monthly membership is £14.99 from the second payment on.

The shop

Things bought from the shop are separate from the membership and paid for once. Each framed map is made after it is ordered. We aim to post it within 5 working days, by Royal Mail Tracked 48 to a UK address or by Royal Mail International Tracked to Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for the delivery charge shown when you choose the country. The total, with delivery, is shown before you pay. Outside the UK, any import duty, tax or handling charge in the country it goes to is not included in the price and is paid by you on delivery. A frame of your own route is paid for when ordered and made only after you have approved pictures of the model; two rounds of changes are included, a full refund is yours at any time before you approve it, and if we cannot source reliable data for the route we tell you and refund you in full. Once approved it is made to your specification and cannot be returned for a change of mind. Pictures marked as drawings show the design, not the finished frame. Your right to cancel, and how returns work, are on the Cancellation page. If an order arrives damaged, tell us within 14 days and we replace it or refund it, postage included.

Addresses

You are responsible for keeping your delivery address up to date in your account. Post returned to us as undeliverable will be held until you update it.

Our content

All stories, prints, artwork and replica items are our copyright or used under licence. They are for personal enjoyment and may not be reproduced or resold.

Listings

Steam this week and the events calendar are provided as free information, may be wrong or out of date, and carry no liability. Always check with the operator. View safely from public places only. Never go on or near the track.

No member content

We do not accept or publish letters, photographs or other content from members.

Law and complaints

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Complaints to hello@therailwaydispatch.com.