Jump to content
 

Recommended Posts

You’ve still got a well-above-average model shop in Northampton though.

 

Apart from being neat, tidy, clean, brightly-lit, full of fresh air, and with a friendly staff, it’s almost like a proper model shop from way back.

 

David C - I too remember Alex Bowie and his shop. I didn’t go there until at least 1976, when I started working nearby, and  only went a few times because he never had any 009/H0e, which was what I was into at the time, whereas Platform 5 at Wimbledon often had secondhand bits. I may be doing him an injustice, but I seem to remember Mr B continually filling a large ash-tray.He used to sit behind a low counter (in an armchair possibly?) sort of holding court.

 

That area was spoiled with model shops, because as well as those two there were Beatties at Croydon, and a good small shop at West Croydon bus terminal, and a sort train ride would get you to Masters at Epsom, or ABC at London Bridge. Norwood Junction models too, although I don’t remember going there.

 

 

Edited by Nearholmer
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

My earliest model shop memories are of The Model Shop in Exeter, when it was in the old City Arcade (just recently demolished for student flats!) and run by Pete Lindsay.

 

There was always boxes of stuff to rummage through - and I got lots of old copies of Railway Modeller for pennies (which is all I could afford at the time). And despite having the demeanour of a grumpy old git, he was often really helpful too. He would also be able to give suggestions to this young enthusiast when I was building my first layout out of my train set. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, sagaguy said:

Another shop in N.London was Howell Dimmock in Lordship Lane,Tottenham. It was a partnership between Dudley Dimmock of Graham Farish  & Chris Crawley. I don't think it lasted for too Long. Chris then opened a small shop on the corner of Lordship Lane & Bruce Grove, about 200 yards from the original shop. 

 

          Ray. 

 

 

The latter shop rings a bell - wasn't it called the Gas Cupboard or similar??

Link to post
Share on other sites

No,I believe that was a model shop in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.The Tottenham shop was Chris Crawley models, Chris eventually sold the business to a lady who dealt in collectibles,I used to buy items from the shop & Toyfairs around Northampton after I moved.Last I heard about Chris,he was trading from a heritage railway in E.Anglia but that was a lot of years ago.

 

      Ray. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 17/03/2019 at 12:54, caradoc said:

Growing up in Oxford in the 1970s we had, as well as the 'proper' model shops, Howes in Broad St and the Railway Book Shop at the Green Road roundabout, other retailers who sold Hornby, such as Boswells in the city centre (still there although sadly no longer stocking model railways) and Risings in Summertown.  One Xmas I asked, as part of my presents, for a Hornby isolating track, and was given a whole box of them which Risings had sold us for the price of one ! My Mum made me take it back.........

There was also another small model shop opened at 94 St.Clements around 1967 by Derek Vaughan and his father. It stocked a small amount of Hornby and Peco RTR stock as well as S/H and craft materials. It later went on to sell model aircraft and kits which it still did right up until 2017 when the then proprietor from 1976 retired.

 

A.S.Rising & Sons had another shop in Bicester Road, Kidlington when I moved there with my parents in 1955. I think it lasted until about 1967 and is now an undertaker. There was also Wards department store in Park End Street which sold Triang and Hornby-Dublo besides prams, cycles and dolls. I think it closed down in the early 1970's. Wyeths in Iffley Road was a pram and cycle shop near Donnington Bridge which I bought a few Triang wagons from in the late sixties.  Another small model railway outlet was A.E.Webley in Woodstock which sold a small amount of Triang, Spot-on, Corgi and Dinky Toy products. It was there in the early 1960's closing  down by 1970.

Howes Cycles in Broad Street was my favourite though and my father would often call in there as he worked nearby in Blackwells bookshop. I actually worked part-time in Howes on occasional Saturdays in the 1980/90's and also in both their later premises in Kidlington. I also spent twenty years assisting the proprietor, who was a personal friend, at the many exhibitions that Howes attended with their modern image parts and detailing kits, (A1} around the southern part of the country.

Alas the newer models required less detailing so Howes were invited by Heljan to become their UK agent, and this has just been relinquished after some twenty or so years. Howes still exists but sadly not a big stockist concentrating mainly on Railmatch Paints, Howes Sound, Peco and secondhand, as well as RC.

Let's hope it can continue but the interest and location of the shop sadly reflects the way the model railway hobby has changed over the last decade. Oxford virtually has nothing for the railway modeller any more!   I purchase most of my requirements at shows now but still assist with a few Heljan projects when time permits between restoring full size buses.

 

Bob Chalmers, formerly of Howes, also opened a shop in Abingdon for a few years in the mid 1990's but this ceased to exist very quickly.

Edited by BrushVeteran
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Great memories, BrushVeteran, thanks for posting. I do remember the shop in Iffley Road, it was near my Grandma's retirement flat and I recall going there once looking for Triang OLE; None in stock unfortunately ! Sadly, Boswells is now closing down too. 

 

Howes was the best shop of course (at least until it moved progressively further away from the city centre) and I remember going there one day after primary school with a friend (so around 1970/71). I bought a few things and then realised I had no money left for the bus fare home, so had to ask them to take something back.........

 

I also bought a few things from the St Clements shop, many many years ago, handily it was on the way between home and secondary school. As you say it is now closed and passing on the bus today, the shop is still empty.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 07/02/2020 at 14:53, wasabi said:

I moved to Leytonstone in East London in 1987 and used to regularly go into The Engine Shed.  Initially I was using 009 but since moved to N but neither were well supported by the shop.  I think it was run by a couple when I first visited but latterly by a chap called Dave (Howells?) who was very much into P4 and was building a layout in the backroom, assisted by the Roding Valley MRG.  I seem to remember that they met on a Tuesday at 1800 but that was when I finished work in Central London and I usually had other commitments on Tuesday, so I never went.  There is a dearth of model shops in London now, but high rents and rates must be factors as well as travel time.  We have an Art Shop near which I buy most paints from, but otherwise it usually has to be mail order.

 

(IPW)

 

 

Unless something has changed the only model shop left in the entire of London is the Ian Allan shop in Waterloo. There are a few bits at the London transport museum shop but I think that’s it. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Anyone remember a shop that was first in redcar and then Middlesbrough it was essentially a sunbed shop but the owner Alan a top bloke was a railway enthusiast he was cheaper than the cheapest price you could find in railway modeller but unfortunately I think had a burglary and never recovered from it and closed 

Would have been about 85 to 90

Link to post
Share on other sites

As a boy I remember a few long gone shops in the stoke area.

 

Pleasure Treasures in burslem. Only recall going there a few times with my dad but I think they had huge glass display cases

Brookfields in longton. They had trains and all sorts

A shop on Uttoxeter road / high street that I cant remember the name of. Went in there with dad a few times

City Centre models in hanley had a couple of shops. First one in lewis arcade then they moved onto the main street. Spent a fortune in there. The first shop I really spent my own earned cash in. Still remember some of my best purchases - Hornby 2-6-4 tank in lms red, Bachmann ivatt 2-6-2T and the pride of my collection was the premier boxed set with a merchant navy, light up Pullmans and loads of track. I thought I read somewhere the chap who owned this shop is the same chap who owned pleasure treasures in burslem.

Then there was collectors corner under the railway bridge in longton. Remember paying £100+ for a Silver Link and a coronation with matching coaches. They were hard to find then and had been out of production for some time

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The day of the small model shop has come to the end, if you can afford the massive initial outlay, the only way to succeed is the 'internet-superstore'. RIP the friendly little shop where you could go for a chat, and if lucky - get a cup of coffee.:sungum:

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Evenin' all

 

I remember Alex Bowie's Modelmaina well. I used to catch a stopping train home on friday, so I could visit the shop. Alex could chat for England, but he was an interesting guy.

Hobbytime in West Wickham was another interesting shop. The owner smoked a pipe, but was full of free advice. It wasn't an easy journey from where I lived, so I didn't visit very often.

Alton Models is a shop in the old school. It is a train and a bus from where I live, but there are a couple of  good pubs in Alton, so I enjoy making a day of it.

 

Thane of Fife

Link to post
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, meatloaf said:

As a boy I remember a few long gone shops in the stoke area.

 

Pleasure Treasures in burslem. Only recall going there a few times with my dad but I think they had huge glass display cases

Brookfields in longton. They had trains and all sorts

A shop on Uttoxeter road / high street that I cant remember the name of. Went in there with dad a few times

City Centre models in hanley had a couple of shops. First one in lewis arcade then they moved onto the main street. Spent a fortune in there. The first shop I really spent my own earned cash in. Still remember some of my best purchases - Hornby 2-6-4 tank in lms red, Bachmann ivatt 2-6-2T and the pride of my collection was the premier boxed set with a merchant navy, light up Pullmans and loads of track. I thought I read somewhere the chap who owned this shop is the same chap who owned pleasure treasures in burslem.

Then there was collectors corner under the railway bridge in longton. Remember paying £100+ for a Silver Link and a coronation with matching coaches. They were hard to find then and had been out of production for some time

 

 

City Centre Models in the indoor shopping mall near the potteries shopping centre. Sounds like a shared memory of happy days spending our money in there. Remember a grey haired guy with glasses and a smock was behind the counter. I can still visualise it like it was yesterday. Big front window then a display case within the entrance vestibule selling HO cars and other detailing stuff. It was a walk around in a circuit affair with a main display case in the centre and glass cases all round the side. The counter was to the middle of the far part of the shop. Pleasure Treasures was indeed the same owners and it was City Centre who directed me there one time. Much more old fashioned inside and closed sooner than CCM by a good few years.

A45EF3A9-61D2-4DB0-A92E-8A2520FDE5FA.jpeg

Edited by ianmacc
Found a picture just after it closed!
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I remember the Beatties at the Merry Hell shopping centre in Brierly Hill, West Midlands... I don't think I ever bought anything from there, but I used to go in on a matter of principal after being dragged all round clothes shops by my younger sister.  There was another model shop in Brierly Hill itself which I'd occasionally call into for bits and pieces when I was at college in the early 2000's, my favourite being a blood n' custard Minitrix Mk.1 for a tenner from the seconds cabinet.  No idea if the shop is still there, but the town looked a bit dead last time I went through so I can't imagine it's still going.

 

My favourite shop growing up in the West Midlands though was Ace Models of the Fountain Arcade, Dudley.  A big display window downstairs (which in hindsight must have been either another part of the same shop once, or a whole separate premise they'd bought later), and climbing the stairs up to what seemed to be a massive room.  There was a (seemingly never working) big 00 layout behind glass in one corner, two sides of the space given over to model kits, and the counter in the centre of the shop had more exotic things like N gauge.  Over the years I spent a fortune in pocket money and birthday money in there, everything from Hornby 00 gauge and Bachmann H0, to my first foray into N.  I remember the excitement of looking down into the glass-topped cabinet in the counter, trying to work out what loco to buy!  Grafar 94XX, three wagons and a brake van.  Still got them too :)

 

I was quite sad when the shop closed (like seemingly everything else in Dudley); its last couple of years it seemed to be struggling along, one of the regular staff (the owner I think) had retired.  Hard to believe now that not only did Ace Models have a second outlet in Wolverhampton, but the town supported a smaller, second model shop in the 90's about two streets over, and the same arcade as Ace Models had a toy shop which also stocked trains and Scalextric.  Last time I was home in the town the toy shop was just about still going, having closed and reopened, and they had a couple of bits of Hornby.

 

I still slightly regret never buying the model kit of a Dalek which sat on a top shelf in the back corner at Ace Models... there were always more tempting trains to buy, and the kits go for a fortune now on eBay.

 

At least A Oakes is still going, over in nearby Langley Green; a mad mish-mash of model trains and school uniforms!  We went in to get some uniform bits for our kids last year, it was great to see that the shop hadn't changed since I used to go in there aged three!  A proper old-fashioned shop.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Not a shop I visited but one I bought a number of things from was Muirhead Models(?) in Scotland. They seemed incredibly cheap when searching the RM. I got my Mum to write a cheque, in exchange for a pile of coins, which would be posted off and many weeks later something like an Airfix 4F would arrive in the post - was it £7.99?

 

Searching the adverts for bargains when I only had 50p pocket money a week meant buying the same item from the local Beatties was out of the question. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

At my age I can remember early on toy shops,  one in particular, F.T.B Lawson in Plymouth where most of my toys came from, who had shelves of red Hornby train boxes behind the counter.  The same shop naturally sold Meccano and indeed I did have a No. 4 to celebrate my fourth birthday.  It all started at a very young age as my parents considered that anything Hornby made was good for growing boys and eventually I ended up with a Dublo train set.  All this, mind you was before all the toys disappeared for good so I consider myself lucky to have had enough to sustain me during the war.  The Dublo layout was on top if our Morrison shelter and like us, survived unscathed.  The early  post war years saw the trains sold for a Hercules bike which enabled all sorts of outside activities from train spotting to eventually girls and all that entailed!

Kept the Meccano which got up to a No.8 until I came here and sold it for 3 Pounds!

    Brian.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Gas Cupboard Models was a model shop in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. I'm not sure if they are still trading. The model shop I remember is H.A. Blunt & Son in Fretherne Road, Welwyn Garden City. As for Alex Bowie, I remember he did a series of articles called "The Pictorial Layout", in Model Railway Constructor (I think). The abiding memory I have of those articles is the sketches of the scenery and buildings, in particular a sketch of a row of three shops that included Earoff the barber and Bunce & Burner Hardware. He also did a sketch for branch terminus for the Great North of Cheam Railway, motto "Trust in us, you have no choice."

  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...