Team registration open for Railway Challenge 2025

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is delighted to invite teams of university students, apprentices and graduates working in industry to register for Railway Challenge 2025.

To register your team, simply complete the registration form on the Railway Challenge website, download the competition documents and gather your team to start designing your miniature railway locomotive!

Led by an enthusiastic organising committee of senior engineers working in the railway industry and supported by a dedicated team at the IMechE, this annual engineering competition tasks teams to design and manufacture a miniature (10¼” gauge) railway locomotive in accordance with a strict set of rules and a detailed technical specification.

Find out more about Railway Challenge 2025 and enter your team >

As well as the 'Standard Level' entry option which requires teams to design and manufacture a 10¼” gauge miniature locomotive to run at our track-based challenges in addition to the presentation-based challenges, the ‘Entry Level’ option returns for the 2025 competition. This is only open for teams from institutions which have not previously participated in the competition and the intention is that this provides teams with a stepping stone towards a full entry in a future year, where it may seem too daunting to both design and construct a locomotive within a single year.

Teams taking the Entry Level option are not required to manufacture a locomotive being only required to submit a design of their proposed loco. The design must follow all rules of the main competition, but Entry Level teams must also submit a CAD model to demonstrate the overall structure of their locomotive and a more detailed design of one chosen sub-system. Entry Level teams are still expected to compete in all the other presentation challenges just like their Standard Level counterparts.

The designs will be assessed by the judges and a trophy will be awarded to the best Entry Level challenge team at the final ceremony of the Railway Challenge weekend which is taking place on 26–29 June 2025 at Stapleford Miniature Railway (28-29 June open to spectators).

For any further details on the competition, please visit the Railway Challenge website or email the team directly with your questions and on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the organising committee, we look forward to welcoming all teams for the start of the 2025 Railway Challenge.