Privacy Policy

Last updated: 28 April 2026

This page explains what information The Rail Lab collects when you visit theraillab.com, how that information is used, and the choices you have. We've kept it as plain as we can.

Who we are

The Rail Lab (theraillab.com) is an independent model railway publication based in Australia. The site is published under the editorial name Keith Grant and covers DCC, layouts, wiring, scenery, and tools for hobbyists in the UK, US, and Australia.

For the purposes of UK and EU data protection law, The Rail Lab is the data controller for this site. If you have any questions about this policy or how your information is handled, you can reach us at theraillab.editor@gmail.com.

What we collect

We try to collect as little personal information as we reasonably can. The categories below are the only ones we knowingly collect.

If you sign up for The Rail Lab newsletter, we collect your email address and the date you signed up. That's it. We don't ask for your name, location, or anything else. Your email is stored in our website platform (Ghost) and used only to send you the newsletter and occasional related updates. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email — once you do, your address is removed from our active list.

Comments (where enabled)

If you leave a comment on an article, we store the name and email address you provide along with the comment text. Email addresses left on comments are not used for marketing and are not displayed publicly.

Analytics and server logs

Like most websites, we collect basic technical information about how the site is used: pages visited, approximate location (country/region only), browser type, device type, referring site, and time of visit. This information is aggregated — we use it to understand which articles are useful and to fix problems, not to track individual readers. We do not attempt to identify individual visitors from this data.

Cookies

We use a small number of cookies, all of them either essential to the site working or used for anonymous analytics. The site does not use third-party advertising or retargeting cookies. Most browsers let you reject cookies if you prefer; the site will still work normally if you do.

How we use the information

We use the information described above to:

Send the newsletter to subscribers who have asked for it
Display and moderate comments (where enabled)
Understand which articles and topics are useful, so we can publish more of what helps and less of what doesn't
Diagnose technical problems and improve site performance
Comply with legal obligations where they apply

We do not sell, rent, or trade your information to anyone. We do not use your information to build advertising profiles.

The site is hosted and the newsletter is delivered through Ghost (ghost.org), our publishing platform. Ghost stores subscriber email addresses and basic site analytics on our behalf. Their privacy policy is available at ghost.org/privacy.

We may use standard web analytics services (such as Google Analytics or a privacy-focused alternative like Plausible or Fathom) to understand site usage in aggregate. These services may set anonymous cookies. Where we have a choice, we prefer providers who do not track individuals or sell data.

We do not share newsletter subscriber lists with anyone outside of the platforms necessary to deliver the newsletter itself.

Affiliate links

Many articles on The Rail Lab include affiliate links — most often to Amazon UK, Amazon US, and Amazon Australia. If you click one of these links and buy something, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The affiliate program (Amazon Associates) uses cookies to track referrals back to The Rail Lab; this is how the program knows the click came from our site.

We only recommend products we believe are genuinely useful to model railway builders, and the editorial decision about what to recommend is made independently of whether a product is available through an affiliate program. The presence of an affiliate link does not change our opinion of a product.

The Rail Lab is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon EU Associates Programme, and the Amazon Australia Associates Programme — affiliate advertising programmes designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.

Your rights

If you're in the UK, EU, or any region with similar data protection law, you have the right to:

Access — ask us what information we hold about you
Correction — ask us to correct anything that's wrong
Deletion — ask us to delete information we hold about you
Withdraw consent — for example, by unsubscribing from the newsletter

To exercise any of these rights, email theraillab.editor@gmail.com and we'll respond within 30 days. There's no charge for any of this, and we don't require you to explain why.

If you live in California, Australia, or another region with specific privacy legislation, you have similar rights under those laws.

Children

The Rail Lab is a hobby publication aimed at adults and older teenagers. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has subscribed to our newsletter or otherwise provided personal information, please email us and we'll delete it promptly.

International readers

The Rail Lab is operated from Australia and published primarily for readers in the UK, US, and Australia. If you read the site from another country, your information may be transferred to and stored in countries with different data protection rules. Where we transfer information to a third party (such as a hosting platform), we choose providers with reasonable safeguards in place.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example, if we add a new third-party service or if the law changes. When we update it, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be flagged in the newsletter so subscribers know what's different.

Contact

For any questions about this privacy policy, or to exercise any of the rights described above, email theraillab.editor@gmail.com.