Buckfastleigh / South Devon Railway

[sharris]

I'm planning a visit to the railway soon.

 

How is the shop there? Should I plan on taking wads of cash and a large suitcase for my purchases?

Mostly interested in what they have in the way of 4mm kits.

[Andrew P]

I'm planning a visit to the railway soon.

 

How is the shop there? Should I plan on taking wads of cash and a large suitcase for my purchases?

Mostly interested in what they have in the way of 4mm kits.

Depending on the day you go, Ratio are in the Town, and have a shop attached it's in Mardle Way, opposite my old Video Shop / Sight and Sound, that's now Buckfastleigh Kebab House.. Full Retail Price I expect though, same as at the very small Shop in the Railway.

 

All the best,

Andy.

[DCB]

We were down there earlier in the year

 

The Buckfastleigh shop attached to the cafe has  a great automated 2 level layout running round a couple of sides of the showroom.  A good selection of RTR stock and scenic kits, but pretty much full retail , didn't see any loco kits, good selection of new books but  probably best to  do some window shopping and flash the cash at Paignton Model Centre or online.

 

There is a great bookshop with second hand books in a bit of a sort of shipping container between the cafe and the station and second hand magazines in the museum the Ashburton end of the platform..

Edited August 24, 2017 by DavidCBroad

[sharris]

 flash the cash at Paignton Model Centre

 

Although closed for bank holiday Monday.

[loickebros]

Full retail there as well anyway.

[brianusa]

Sadly if you want a shop that sells model trains, books or souvenirs when visiting preserved lines, then this is the price you have to pay to make it viable for them to be there.  For those of us who come home on holiday, sometimes these are the only opportunities to acquire anything train related.

 

Brian.

[Gilbert]

I was there on Friday during the Rails and Ales gala. Came away with some paint and Bachmann wagon I was after - and very pleased to find.

It has a reasonable selection of modelling supplies as well as RTR. I normally find something to tempt me......

Chris

[ullypug]

There'll be a handful of Parkside and Dapol wagon kits and that's your lot, unless there's something of interest in the second hand cabinet. I popped in about 3 weeks ago.

[Captain Kernow]

The Paignton shop is worth a visit, as is The Model Shop, Exeter (just up the hill from St Davids station).

 

Bekra Models in Newton Abbot is a general model shop, but a superb range of glues, paints, materials etc., together with some RTR and railway kits.

[Andrew P]

The Paignton shop is worth a visit, as is The Model Shop, Exeter (just up the hill from St Davids station).

 

Bekra Models in Newton Abbot is a general model shop, but a superb range of glues, paints, materials etc., together with some RTR and railway kits.

When I lived down there, there was a Second Hand Model Railway stall in NA Market as well. We sold Railway Books from Ian Allen when we had our Shop as Ratio didn't have a Shop then and the one at the Station was minimal. 

 

Back then there was a big Layout being built at the Station but had gone last time I was there.

 

Also the Trago Mills Layout was nearing completion.

[brianusa]

Trago Mills still going strong? Perhaps we missed something but our only visit was a muddy disaster!

 

Brian

[David41283]

As a regular customer I have found the "Expressway Models" shop at Buckfastleigh station a strange case in the last couple of years.

 

It always used to be my first stop for any purchases, as they had a huge range and their prices were more-or-less the same as the box shifters i.e. the maximum 15% discount permitted. (except Peco/Ratio as they seem to have a gentleman's agreement due to Ratio HQ being in the same town.) I would make a trip to the shop to buy new releases when they came out in preference to ordering online.

 

A couple of years ago, they suddenly switched to full RRP across the board. I have heard "unofficially" that the SDR as a whole had employed the services of business consultants to review the operation across the board, and this was one change made. The shop floor is now proportionately more tourist tat and less model railways than it used to be, however they remain very well stocked.

 

However - and this is worth noting, this seems to have affected their sales as out of the blue there will suddenly be a flash 30% off everything sale, including latest releases. I have picked up a few unexpected bargains this way in the last 2 years.

 

I now visit less frequently on the off-chance I stumble across a huge sale, rather than making a trip to get something I am looking for. I did explain to a member of staff that I would much rather give them my business, rather than ordering online, but couldn't justify their pricing anymore. His reply seemed to imply "tell me about it". I suspect I wasn't the first to mention it.

 

Cheers

 

David

[Clive Mark]

Its always a pleasure for me to buy at South Devon Railway. There are usually good prices and the staff both in the model shop and canteen are very pleasant. I used to live in Devon and I shopped there together with Small World in Barnstaple. Even though I am back in Oxfordshire I always drop in for a nosey around and often feel pleased when I leave the model shop with a purchase.

[DIW]

Expressway Models at the South Devon Railway used to offer a 10% discount to members on presentation of a membership card. A couple of years ago (probably coincides with the changes described by David41283 in post #12 above) this feature was discontinued for ordinary members, and was continued for a while for regular active volunteer members only. Given the Londonisation of the South Devon Railway at the time (even the membership card for the year had a London Transport liveried locomotive on it) I gave up my membership. If I want to see London-themed railways, I simply need to look around when on site visits for work. When away from work I want to see western themed liveries on a Devon branch line (GWR, SR, BR(W), LSWR as appropriate) not London themes!

 

Earlier this year, I heard that the 10% reduction for all members has been reintroduced. So, if you find a lot in Expressway that you want on the day (and sometimes that does happen) it is worth asking if joining membership there and then would give you the reduction. Perhaps someone on here already knows the answer to that one?

 

The cabin of second-hand books seems in recent times to have reduced the amount of railway themed literature in favour of books which may be of interest to others in the family who are not so keen on railways.

Edited August 31, 2017 by DIW

[wellseasoned]

I was at Buckfastleigh two days back. Every item I looked at appeared to be the full rrp. I didn't buy anything from their model shop, just a few 2nd magazines of interest at 50p each

 

Some are in a position to not be concerned about price, and don't bother to shop around. I'm not one of them anymore, not that I ever liked paying top whack for things. The internet will have wised a lot of people up to shopping around.

 

The so called business consultants can, IMO, sometimes be detrimental to the businesses they claim to "improve"  Have they actually helped the SDR, and I imagine they had a sizeable fee...unless it was a freebie? They appear to have infultrated many High St charities given how much some of them are charging for their donated stock, but I'll not digress too much.

 

As mentioned in an earlier post Bekkra models of Newton Abbot do not carry much in the way of locos or rolling stock, but hey, what a selection of modellers sundries and at a fair price... many a tad under rrp.

[alexross42]

Called in earlier as was passing and wanted to have a browse as they've currently got 20% off everything except items already discounted and items labelled 'New' (such as the Bachmann mk2f coaches), until 31st Dec.

For some items this doesn't make an awful lot of difference as their pricing strategy is quite a bit higher than most other outlets but I did have to resist a Bachmann 47 that was <£100....picked up some useful accessories such as figures, cars, scenics though...oh and an SDR cuddly teddy for Junior to keep him happy!

Edited December 9, 2018 by alexross42