Ian_M

I'm looking forward to bringing the TrainTrax UK stand. This will be one of the biggest shows we've ever done - not sure how much stock to bring!

Prep underway for the TrainTrax stand. Let us know if there's anything Kato you want to see - we can't bring it all!

Can't help I'm afraid, but it's great to hear of a shop that's re-opened!

It looks like exactly one year ago that I advertised for some help with TrainTrax. Happily that resulted in @JSModels joining me for a couple of days each week which has worked really well. I'd now like to expand the work we're doing with our Model Railway Recycling programme, but have limited capacity to do so at the moment. So we're hunting for the right person to join our team and help us photograph, catalogue and pack second hand model railway items. It would be varied role as we'd like them to take a lead generally with our customer service (phone and email), and also assist with processing Train Trax UK orders. Training will be available but the right candidate is likely to have some existing interest and knowledge of model railways. Excellent IT skills and attention to detail are vital for this role. Other useful skills may include simple loco repairs and maintenance, and/or some digital marketing experience. All this happens at our York HQ, so the correct person would need to be within travelling distance or be willing to relocate. We could offer the job on a part-time or full-time basis to the right candidate. Salary dependent on experience but at least equivalent to the real living wage. Please share with anyone you know who might fit the bill.

There are/were some cracking products in Nick's range. I don't think I'm breaking a confidence to reveal that I was very interested in taking on his business and continuing it. Unfortunately the solicitors etc couldn't reach an agreement on the legal details. Although he never said as much, I think that he found it quite difficult to imagine passing on the reigns to someone relatively unknown and perhaps seeing things change. I would like to give him credit for advertising the business sale and looking for the possibility of continuation. I think it's really sad when folk just shut up shop without making an effort to pass things to the next generation. Having taken on TrainTrax in similar circumstances 2 years ago, I'm now looking for my next challenge. I

Not been officially announced yet, but GWR are coming later in the year, some time after the Paddington ones. I

UK pricing now available for the 9 Car LNER KATO Class 800 set as announced in Japan a week or so ago, but also the DCC and DCC Sound versions available here in the UK. DC RRP £399.95 DCC RRP £429.95 DCC-Sound RRP £499.95 To me these seem like great prices for a 9 car set, but they will be further discounted at Train Trax. Pre-orders are now open. Arrivals due in mid 2024. I

Some people take everything so literally 😁. I'm not leaving it behind - it took me a few hours to do:

We've begun preparing the TrainTrax stand. Mini candy canes will be involved, as well as the expected large range of Kato trains, unitrack accessories etc. We've also had some snow in York, so we might bring some of that along too. I

We're joining in the Black Friday fun: https://traintrax.co.uk/sale While our prices are competitive all year round, Black Friday/Cyber Monday allows us to offer special discounts on select models, particularly those that may not be in the spotlight as often. Only available until November 30th

I have it on good authority that the DCC will be the KATO EM13 chip as you might expect, and for Sound it will be a Zimo chip. I

A moan for the designers: I've noticed a gradual design change over the last few months to have more articles where the text goes all the way across the page, rather than use narrower columns. I don't like this and find it quite difficult to read. I'm sure someone somewhere told me that good, readable design should only have 7-9 words per line. I

I recently sent an enquiry to the email address listed on the contact page for the Exhibition Traders Manager. Do you know if this address is monitored? Thanks I

I'll be bringing along a full www.traintrax.co.uk stand packed with Kato goodies - first time this far south for the stand. I'm hoping not just to sell some trains but also meet folk around the model railway hobby/industry and expand my network a bit. Feel free to say come and say hello. Ian

Do they need to match or be new? I suspect you could get a load of older locos off eBay or the auction houses fairly easily. IM

Anyone got any further news on this? Looks like their website is broken, and it's no longer in the Gauge master archive. I

Yes - everything we sell that needs one would come with a UK plug.

We've been working towards this for a while, but finally I'm able to make our BIG announcement. Train Trax UK is now stocking the full range of HO gauge Kato Unitrack. https://traintrax.co.uk/unitrack-ho-gauge We're expecting N gauge to remain the most popular for us, but we kept getting asked for HO gauge track so we've decided to give it a go. I'm sure you don't need to be told, but the benefits of N gauge Unitrack (Simplicity, Robustness, Reliability) all apply just as well to the HO version. I'm referring to it as HO here, but this track works just fine with OO gauge trains. If you're frustrated with other brands of track, why not give it a go?

It's been a while since making an update here, mainly as things have been busy! I announced a sale firstly to face book followers, and then my general email mailing list so it's certainly been a hectic few days getting a huge lot of orders packed and despatched! However the sale continues until 12noon on Monday, so I expect we'll be keeping the postie busy for a few more days. You'll find some massive savings (more than 30% in some cases) on Japanese, North American and European trains. Browse to https://traintrax.co.uk/sale or go to each category page and look for the items marked 'Sale'. In most cases these items will not be restocked (generally the distributers we use are now out of stock). In case you're wondering, the company end-of-year stock taking is coming up, so we need to reduce stock to make everything a bit more manageable and make room for new items!

Quick reminder that you're all very welcome to come and visit Train Trax HQ on Friday afternoon or Monday morning for trains and cake. Details here: https://traintrax.co.uk/2023/04/19/invitation-to-train-trax-hq All being well, Mr Hiroshi Kato [President of Kato] will be dropping in on sometime first thing Monday morning, so that's an ideal time to come along if you're still in York.

As far as I can see, for some reason there isn't yet a thread for this, but it looks like it will be good one: 'A Celebration of N Gauge Modelling' The Layouts James Street – South Essex Area Group Holgate – Bridlington Model Railway Club Bregenbach Im Schwarzwald – WorldWide Group Irgendwohn Strassenbahn – WorldWide Group Milfied Yard – Yorkshire Area Group Kensington Olympia – Yorkshire Area Group Long Hirston – Northumberland Area Group Small N Workings – West Sussex Area Group Ishinaka – WorldWide Area Group Grangeover Sands – North West of England Area Group Plus traders/manufacturers, plus an excuse to visit the NRM. More Details here: https://www.ngaugesociety.org/sandpit/n-gauge-york-three/ I'll be there as a volunteer steward on Sunday, and welcome visitors staying for a long weekend to come and drop into Train Trax HQ in York on Friday or Monday: https://traintrax.co.uk/2023/04/19/invitation-to-train-trax-hq

I'm looking forward to bringing the Train Trax stand, as York is my home town. Train Trax exclusively sells KATO N gauge (plus some oo9!) I

I've started preparing for the York Model Railway Show, which is happening in just over a week over Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Easter weekend. The Train Trax stand will be a bit bigger than I did at Leeds or Doncaster, so what would you like me to bring? If you've already started writing a shopping list then do let me know and I'll try and bring everything you want. If there's something that you'd just like to have a look at 'in the flesh' without any obligation to buy it, then again just drop me a note here or email to sales@traintrax.co.uk York is a great show to visit - always a good variety of subjects modelled and always to an inspiring standard. In total circa 120 stands expected at the show. Catering isn't bad either once you've found it somewhere upstairs!

Good show but absolutely awful for access by public transport. Buses from the station only once an hour or so, and they dump you over a mile away with no pavements and little signage to where you need to go. I'll be avoiding anything at this venue in the future.

In the next few months I'd really like to recruit someone else to assist with the next stages of the business's growth. This could be an opportunity for the right person to help drive Model Railway Magic and Train Trax into new areas. MRM is a small, but ambitious company that sells model railway items online. Our success so far has been driven by our passion for delivering good value and excellent service. Do you have a strong interest in Railways and/or Modelling? Are you looking for a fulfilling career with a company that aims to have some fun? Do you want to work for an organization that is committed to making a positive impact in our community? If you'd like to know more and feel you have some useful skills, then please do get in touch. I'm very open to different ideas on how this could work, but the role would need to include hands-on tasks at the York HQ.