History of MKR Model Railways

Our Electronic and Electrical Engineering business has employed locals and trained apprentices since 1985. We operated a Tandy Electronics business in Pialba for several years, then in 1988, 37 years ago, we started the railway tourist attraction. Mayor Fred Kleinschmidt officiated the opening of our business in 1997 that has brought visitors to the Bay from all over Australia and many parts of the world.

In addition, our electronic engineering business utilised other business providers in this region, building important infrastructure for the Hervey Bay City Council and Wide Bay Water, including water and sewerage water treatment plants and pump stations. To date, due to the declining number of technical people in our area, we are still very busy serving Hervey Bay with sales, service, and installations of two-way radios, heavy industrial motors, and telecommunications.

Now in 2025

For the hobbyist, we have a retail section that supplies scenery and rolling stock. There is a party room for children’s birthday parties and group bookings.

We are open for complimentary morning tea on Friday 9am to 12pm to customers who travel from surrounding districts such as Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast. This is a very popular morning, and we have met wonderful people with amazing backgrounds and skills. Bookings are essential for viewing the railway villages with complimentary refreshments.

At our indoor display, there is a fully working electrical model railway with a short movie and a search and find. The building is fully air-conditioned for those hot summer months.

It’s a pleasure to see second generations coming through to enjoy the European-themed layout, and we run the outdoor village during the year and at night during the summer school holidays (weather permitting).

We would like to thank all of our customers, past and present, to whom we are very appreciative.
To contact us, please phone 07 4124 1979 or email: mkrail@bigpond.net.au. Please also check out our website www.mkmodelrailways.com.au

Shop hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 9am to 4pm and Friday mornings from 9am to 12pm.