Test Valley Models

[Graham Walters]

Aggressive is a strong word, but it is one that defines how we have to approach things.

We were in the early part of the year given the impression that Hornby would be closing all of it's concessions, which for 99.999% of the country seemed true. we even took in some stock returned from concessions that had closed.

For reasons unknown to us, and to Hornby it would seem; the concession in Andover was not closed, and does not appear to be on any list for closure, so now we have to research ways of telling the people of Andover that there is another (cheaper) supplier of model railways and associated stock in the area.

 

As part of this advertising we have been asked by Howard Smith of BRM Magazine for a sample of EZ Line, as one of the few suppliers of EZ Line in the country we are to be mentioned (featured?) in the July edition of the magazine.

 

We have tried the Facebook advert route, with a scheduled spend of £200 for one month, the advert actually cost us £3.65 in clicks. reach was poor, we can only put this down to the probability that the majority of our "age demographic" do not use Facebook !

[Marcoblanco]

any opening hours on the website??

[nickwood]

I don't think Graham uses RMweb these days but TVM have their opening times on the website homepage, copied below.

 

Test Valley Models is based at Units 404 - 406 The Commercial Centre Picket Piece Andover SP11 6RU

Open 6 days a week, Tues - Fri 11am - 5pm  Sat 9am - 5pm  Closed Sunday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day.

Tel: 01264 354885

[Graham Walters]

A few months ago a customer asked us to build him a version of Inglenook Sidings on a  4' x 2' board, some thing we were a little nervous about as we had never build baseboards for any one before, we took it headlong invested some time and built the layout with a panel mounted controller and some scenics, to our delight the customer was delighted with our efforts.

 

Whilst building that layout we were asked to build more, we have just finished the largest we have taken on at 17' x 6', after a few teething problems, we have again delivered it and the customer is delighted. We now have three more in the pipeline, all N Scale, and all the track layout has been designed in house.

 

Our baseboards are built to a high standard, we use 9mm ply for the tops, and 90 x 20mm timber for the framing, our starting price is £250 for a 4 x 2 board, this includes,Layout Design, all  track, (inc points) underlay,(WS Foam) and wiring.(droppers every 1mtr)

The framework is constructed using the Kregg Screw system,https://www.kregtool.com/get-inspired/videos/product/kreg-jig-r3.aspx with braces a maximum 600mm apart. We use the Kregg system for strength, there is no screwing into the end grain, which gives a stronger and more square joint.

 

 

 

[Graham Walters]

I don't think Graham uses RMweb these days but TVM have their opening times on the website homepage, copied below.

 

Test Valley Models is based at Units 404 - 406 The Commercial Centre Picket Piece Andover SP11 6RU

Open 6 days a week, Tues - Fri 11am - 5pm  Sat 9am - 5pm  Closed Sunday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day.

Tel: 01264 354885

 

We are open until 10pm on Thursdays

[Graham Walters]

Sorry to report that our website with Prestashop has been hacked once again, not really a malicious hacking, they just saw fit to delete all the product pages, so everything is now returning a 404 error.

 

Because this is the second time in six months and the protection we installed failed once again, we have now decided to go with a hosted platform, as such we are rebuilding the website, and adding the stock once again.

 

 

The new website address in http://testvalleymodels.co.uk. The checkout page is of course SSL secured

[Graham Walters]

!!!WE ARE MOVING !!!

Our growth continues, after two years at our present site on the outskirts of Andover, we have taken the plunge to move into the town centre !

The new shop is a lot easier to find being in the main shopping centre in Andover, we have even more floor and wall space for stock.

Add to that I have at last found a new investor in the business who has peldged at least £25k to buy railway stock !

!!!EVEN MORE !!!
We have Brian, a qualified carpenter who is now building our baseboards, ( we have two types available)

Kevin a fully experienced repairs person who can fit chips to almost any loco regardless of age, and will also undertake servicing and repairs.

And not forgetting Sue who is a dab hand with an airbrush, not only does she do weathering, she can also re-livery engines & coaches

Plus a new website, testvalleymodels.co.uk which is fullly compliant with GDPR and payment gateways

[cromptonnut]

Very​ much looking forward to coming and seeing the new shop in the town centre, only a 15 minute walk from the station too it seems although being local I'd probably drive.

 

​Good luck with the expanded venture.  Always good to read of shops growing rather than shrinking and disappearing.

[Graham Walters]

To say the move didn't go without a hitch would be a lie.

 

We are now settled in the Chantry Centre in the heart of Andover.

 

The carpet tiles turned up a week late, which meant that we were unable to install any shelving on the floor, half of the lights in the unit had failed, and as the ceiling is quite high we needed to get an electrician in to sort things out for us.

 

We missed our planned re-opening on the May Bank holiday weekend, but we were just ready to open the following Friday, 1st June, after a lot of help from friends and customers doing everything from putting stock on shelves to making the tea, and dusting down shelves, thanks to all of them for that.

 

Our first three weeks have been a bit hectic, Andover definitely needed a dedicated model shop, the response has been great, although I have to report that sadly the model railway side is slow, even down to accessories and track, maybe the warm weather isn't helping, but it feels more like a real downturn in the hobby, not helped by the delays in supply by some of the major manufacturers.

 

Heres hoping we see more railway modellers in the coming weeks and months.

[cromptonnut]

I think it's just the weather, I've heard the same from several stores.  It's far too hot in the shed or loft for any real time unless you have aircon, and the demands of us on the garden to cut grass, water things, trim bushes, weed beds etc do tend to get 'nag factor priority'.

 

I'm concentrating on building my shed at present, once that's done and I know what I need, I'll be in for some bits.

[Graham Walters]

It would appear that people were right, opening a model shop selling model railway products was a bad move.

As of 3pm today [21/11/2019] Test Valley Models has stopped selling dedicated model railway products, instead we will be concentrating on the less demanding markets in out business, namely plastic kits and wargaming.

 I would through this coloum like to thank anyone who has patronised the shop over the past 3.5 years, sadly it wasn't enough to warrant us continuing to stock loco's, rolling stock, or in fact anything to do solely with model railways.