Model shop Memories

[polybear]

Red Baron Models at Enfield Highway.  Not a model railway shop, but more devoted to R/C models etc.  Spent every penny I had in that place in the 70's.  Sadly long gone

[number6]

20 hours ago, Dave47549 said:

You needed a Beatties Clubcard*, Cardholders could quote any advertised price in the RM/MRC etc & they would price match it there & then!

 

Once I get my DeLoren going again I’ll go back and get one! 

 

I did get 4 Airfix ‘Dr X’ Lowmacs with NCL trailers which could eject a missile for £2 from Beatties once. So not all bad in there.

[4630]

On 07/02/2020 at 12:20, 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. 

 

 

if I recall correctly Dudley Dimmock then went into partnership with Geoff Barlow and opened a shop in Poole.   Not sure how long they lasted together as their premises, which was around Towngate, disappeared under the development of the Arndale Centre there and surrounding area in the late 1960s/early1970s.

 

Geoff Barlow relocated to the other end of Poole in premises along High Street and Dudley Dimmock opened a very small shop along Charminster Road in Bournemouth.  

[Nearholmer]

Tonbridge Model Shop anyone?

 

Run by Eric Killick, who was the name behind the initials ELK, under which he made and sold track and a wide range of scenic material. He had been a Spitfire pilot of the steely and tough sort during WW2, and looked and behaved as you might imagine. He lived in Crowborough, where the ELK scenic "factory" was in a small shop next to his very ancient cottage. He was a big man in the ATC latterly and ran 1414 Air Training Corps, which was known locally as Killick's Army, and I think the only time he cooperated with the Scouts was to organise an annual MR exhibition (whether it is true or not, he was rumoured to have regarded the Scouts as insufficiently military in their conduct).

Edited February 10, 2020 by Nearholmer

[pippindoo]

Here's a blast from the 'long ago' past, anyone remember Ben Cavill's shop in Armley, Leeds? Next door to the old Sammy Ledgard's bus place. Downstairs was mostly bikes, but up the steep dimly lit wooden staircase was an emporium of Hornby Dublo, Triang, Trix, etc, a gem of a place and the man himself always wore a brown warehouse coat, the original Arkwright. Or how about The Train Shop Supermarket in Lumb Lane Bradford? It always looked as if any deliveries had just been opened and tipped out in piles but it was great to rummage around there. Happy Days!

[sagaguy]

Dudley certainly got around, last time I saw him was in the early 80s  in the Bassett Lowke  shop in High Holborn  London where I believe he was the manager. 

 

         Ray. 

[David C]

Joseph Pestell and Nearholmer: glad Alex Bowie and Modelmania are still remembered by some.! I think that the baby boomers amongst us are right in that there was a golden age of model shops in the 60s and 70s. I also remember Norwood Junction Models which is only ceased trading about 5 or 6 years ago. It was my nearest model shop when I lived in Penge (well someone had to!) and later Sydenham. How it survived for so long, I have no idea - there was hardly anyone ever in there in its later years and it had hardly changed since we moved to the Croydon area in 1961. There was a very small layout in a glass case at one end of the centre isle with a crag in the middle of it with an Indian head carved into it. It was there in 1961 and was still there when it closed. I also remember Hobbytime of West Wickham, but the Croydon area had a plethora of model railway emporia! I can just about recall the one at West Croydon, but I only think I went in there once when very young. There were two very close to my secondary school at Scarbrook Road, the nearest of which used to sell Welkut track. The other was about half a mile further away along the Brighton Road  Another opened at some time at South Croydon (Passmore Models?) whilst there were two more in Crystal Palace, one of which bought all my old Hornby Dublo 3 rail stuff when I decided to go 2 rail. Further afield, when I used to work in the City* during the summer holidays, I bought my first 2 rail track (Peco!) from ABC models under the arches of London Bridge station with all the Charing Cross traffic rumbling directly overhead.

 

All gone now, of course: unaffordable and extortionate rents and declining numbers interested in model railways are the probable causes, but there are some shops which seem to be hanging on enough for some people to earn a living. When I lived in Bromley, Kent Garden Railways was my nearest and had a good selection of odds and sods. Now I've moved to Suffolk, the Ipswich Model Railway Centre is within walking distance (just!) and is excellent, along with DCC coastal and Scograil (for European models). 

 

I hope that they survive and thrive long enough for the next generation of old codgers like me and the other contributors to this thread to reminisce about!

 

David C

 

* This implies I was "something important in the City" - I was merely a temporary office boy earning something like 4 quid a week! Riches, which I spent on model railways! I would have spent some of wine, women and song, but my parents were teatotal, I was too shy to talk to the women and couldn't sing!

[Ben B]

22 hours ago, Dave47549 said:

Footplate Models, relocated to their 2nd shop near Kidderminster Station a good few years ago now.

 

There's a general 2nd hand toy shop that's open further down in Brierley Hill by the High St (having relocated from the Market) which usually has a few Model Railway items in.

 

Zodiac toys in Stourbridge was a much-missed outlet from back then. Plenty of obscenely cheap Airfix (31's for £8, Mk2 air-con coaches for £1.50, wagons for 80p) that regularly soaked up my paper-round money!

 

Thanks for the information there; I don't get home to the West Midlands that much these days but it's good to know the shop from Brierly Hill has managed to keep going in some form; Kiddy is probably a better spot anyway with the SVR there.  I ended up in the second-hand shop in Bridgenorth over Christmas (the one by the arch at the end of the high street), full of second-hand old Hornby.  I could have spent a fortune in there!  Limited myself to a Railfreight-liveried 08 I'd coveted since seeing it in the catalogue as a four year old...

 

I'm lucky these days having Frizinghall Model Railways in the area where I live now; I worried they might disappear when the old owners retired a couple of years back and they moved out of Frizinghall itself, and whilst they're in a slightly soul-less tin shed on a retail park now, their proximity to Baildon Station makes it wallet-scaringly easy for me to drop in whislt out running errands...

 

Quote

There was a very small layout in a glass case at one end of the centre isle with a crag in the middle of it with an Indian head carved into it. It was there in 1961 and was still there when it closed.

 

I think I've seen pictures of that layout in a book on railway modelling from the 70's, whilst in a second-hand book shop in Settle.  Can't remember the title of the book, but it was a general introduction to modelling in the smaller scales.  Was the layout N gauge?

[Mike Storey]

6 minutes ago, Ben B said:

 

I'm lucky these days having Frizinghall Model Railways in the area where I live now; I worried they might disappear when the old owners retired a couple of years back and they moved out of Frizinghall itself, and whilst they're in a slightly soul-less tin shed on a retail park now, their proximity to Baildon Station makes it wallet-scaringly easy for me to drop in whislt out running errands...

 

 

Agreed - Frizinghall was a very good shop in its old location, which I used a few times, but is now absolutely outstanding in its new-ish, very large if lacklustre, location. The breadth of stock and suppliers is amazing. Few can compare outside of Hattons and maybe Kernow. I did not know you could walk to it from Baildon Station. I will try that next time!

[Andrew P]

On 08/03/2019 at 23:36, Bert Cheese said:

I posted in the original thread but it wouldn't hurt to contribute afresh here I suppose as the old one has gone adrift somewhat in recent times...

 

Being Eastleigh based I started out with Dave Cleal of Mainly Trains firstly on Hursley Road and later in the Central Precinct until he upped sticks and disappeared to Watchet.

This would have been in the mid/late 80's and coincided with a tempory loss of interest in the hobby as I was around school leaving age with its myriad distractions that we all later come to regret indulging in to some degree...

My layout was dismantled and the mostly Hornby/Lima stock was stored in the loft, pending eventual disposal on eBay years later aside from a Mainline 66xx tank engine that I still have for sentimental reasons.

 

Come 2003 or so I was freshly returned from travelling around Australia and quite by chance saw an advert for the new Hornby Class 50's which served to reignite my interest...after a while I stumbled across Trevor Salt of The Old Toy Shop in Portswood (Southampton) who had moved up from his original Northam shop, Initially I found him slightly arkward to deal with sometimes but the shop was just how I liked so I persevered and ended up becoming a regular visitor which seemed to bring out a bit of chat & banter...sadly the shop overheads apparently became too much and I turned up one day to find it devoid of trains and being converted into a Polish deli/shop!

I believe Trevor is still trading at shows etc but have not seen him for some years...

 

Recently I haven't been buying as much as my loco collecting habit has slowed up due to running out of cabinet space and thoughts turn to building a small layout of sorts to run the things on...seems sensible?

To this end I have started visiting AC Models just down the road in central Eastleigh...early days yet but initial impressions are very good with an excellent selection of stock and the staff seem to know their products very well.

Just seen this post and the bit regarding Trevor Salt in Portswood. I knew Trevor and dealt with him from his Fratton Bargain Shop days, I even used to go to his house, and take him and his wife a Bottle at Christmas. I went to his Portswood Shop one day, did a deal trading in my collection of Hornby Bulleids against some pre orders. I rang him the next day and the line was dead, so I rang his home and spoke to his wife who informed me he had shut the shop. Despite many attempts I never did get my Locos or money back.

I'm moving back to Waterlooville soon, so will now use AC Models as they have done me some good deals over the last couple of years.

[sagaguy]

Frizinghall models were & still are suppliers of new Meccano parts,mainly online these days.I must have spent hundreds of pounds on parts especially when I built the giant dragline excavator that was on the covers of the later manuals.That really was a parts hungry model!.

 

          Ray 

 

 

[Andrew P]

On 05/02/2020 at 20:31, Din said:

Oh the model shop, and oh how I am down to two, lonely outposts....

 

When I were a lad living as I always have here in Swadlincote we boasted two model shops. KMB Models and M&P Models. KMB is when you wanted your new stuff and was run by a very kindly gent. M&P was run by Morris and Paul, father and son who, when the latter semi-retired (and the former retired from near by John Knowles after being security guard there for many years) set up a nice model shop.

 

This place was frequently packed with all the cast offs and second hands. My dad and I would often go there, mostly for "bits and bobs" along with buying little items now and then. He'd go for a long chat with old acquaintances and I'd go to gawp at all the models he had in every nook and cranny.

 

Both are gone now. The old gent passed away, as did Morris. Both sons marching on for a while but I've just learned Paul's Model Shop, as it became known, is now gone too after a friend of his took over.

 

Across in Burton you had Les' models. A good shop, that moved a couple of times, but as online shopping rose, so it fell. Too large a shop, and an owner ready to call it a day for perfectly fine reasons.

 

Out in Tutbury you had the Tutbury Jinny. Expensive back in the day, but would always order what you needed and get it to you within the week. Tutbury Models as it's now known is still there and I frequent it to pick up bits and bobs as I need, and sometimes a bit of rolling stock. Easiest place to get Bass and Worthington's Vans y'see, and I'm an absolute sucker for local wagons.

 

There used to be a couple of shops in Derby. One near the main Mosque who's name now escapes me that abandoned model railways altogether in favour of RC Cars and that side of the hobby. There was even a Model Works for a while.

 

Now instead, the Loughborogh Model Centre decamped itself to a nice premises in Derby and is a place I sorely need to frequent more often!

Hi Din, I hadn't realised Pauls had shut, I was up there a couple of weeks ago, and Steve who was with Paul seemed happy with things.

 

I worked one day a week at Tutbury Models / formally Tutbury Jinny from Easter 2011 until my Heart Attack in Jan 2018, and still go in to see Barry, the sole owner since the other Barry went to Jail in about 2013. It is a mega for all sorts of hard to find items that are still new.

 

Andy.

[Philou]

Bud Morgan's in the Castle Arcade, Cardiff. It was a real hobby shop in the 50s, 60s and 70s as he sold not only H/D, Trix and Triang, Scalextric and Minic Motorways, Airfix and Revell kits and R/C boats and 'planes but all the paints, motors and balsa wood that you could throw a stick at. I starting working there the week after my fifteenth birthday in 1965 on a Saturday earning the princely sum of 10/- for the day and only left in 1981 despite working full-time elsewhere and being married and having two children (really loved the place).

 

Bud was a great guy (always 'Mr' Morgan) and despite losing an arm after falling under a tram as a child - he could build and fly a mean R/C plane. Excellent amateur photographer having won several competitions with his Hasselblad. He passed away in the late 80s. The shop was taken over by Antics but I believe they've gone too.

 

My brother worked there too and he's taken the mantel of continuing what a good railway model shop ought to be (if I'm permitted to say it) in the Cardiff area, trading as Lord and Butler.

 

The other model shop in Cardiff that was in business when I was a child that is still trading is Lendon's. James Lendon and Bud knew each other quite well and quite often stock and customers would be passed to each other in times of need. I got my first 'real' engine from Lendon's for my tenth birthday - the 2-rail H/D West Country 'Barnstable' (that was before I worked in Bud's) and it was that loco that set me off on railway modelling.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Din]

8 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Hi Din, I hadn't realised Pauls had shut, I was up there a couple of weeks ago, and Steve who was with Paul seemed happy with things.

 

I worked one day a week at Tutbury Models / formally Tutbury Jinny from Easter 2011 until my Heart Attack in Jan 2018, and still go in to see Barry, the sole owner since the other Barry went to Jail in about 2013. It is a mega for all sorts of hard to find items that are still new.

 

Andy.

 

It was marked as "permanently closed" just the other week on google after displaying the opening times just the day before as I'd planned to go drop in. Nothing's been updated elsewhere and looked rather shut when I did pass by the other day.

 

Didn't realise that's where the other Barry vanished to! Yikes.

[sagaguy]

On 10/02/2020 at 06:23, polybear said:

Red Baron Models at Enfield Highway.  Not a model railway shop, but more devoted to R/C models etc.  Spent every penny I had in that place in the 70's.  Sadly long gone

Don`t forget Jennings on Enfield highway opposite the now Black horse pub which i believe used to be called the Carterhatch or The Cart Overthrown.

 

                             Ray,

[David C]

I think I've seen pictures of that layout in a book on railway modelling from the 70's, whilst in a second-hand book shop in Settle.  Can't remember the title of the book, but it was a general introduction to modelling in the smaller scales.  Was the layout N gauge?

 

Ben B: Yes. It was mainly yellow in colour representing desert country in the USA. For many years, there was an American 0-6-0 switcher sitting on the track. It never moved, at least when I was there and being in a glass case, never got dusty either! Must have finally gone to landfill by now. RIP Norwood Junction Models!

 

David C

 

 

[Allegheny1600]

Interesting reminiscences!

Hailing originally from Derby, I spent a lot of time in C&B Models on Normanton Road and later on, in Trainlines(?) firstly on Ashbourne Road (where he moved after Chester Green) then back in the Chester Green area when he moved back there. This was also dangerously near my place of employment so the temptations were many.

Sandra of C&B and later, Kevin helped me spend far too much money though but at least she was quite generous with her trade-in allowances. I really liked that they stocked American and European outline H0, not so many shops seemed to do that. Even less so today?

Further back in time, there was also a model shop that was part of a hardware store - Nightingale Road? I bought my first ever new loco in there, a Hornby class 52 Western Courier, I seem to recall it was £14.40 or so but I didn't quite have enough so mum helped me out with a couple of quid.

Before even that, there was a model shop on Abbey Street quite near my school, I don't know if it did model railways, all I remember was a large scale "Saturn" rocket in the window!

I also recall there was a shopping centre near Allestree called "Park Farms", the post office there sold model railways too but I think I only bought Dinky toys and Dinosaurs! That is probably around fifty years ago now.

[bike2steam]

23 hours ago, 4630 said:

 

if I recall correctly Dudley Dimmock then went into partnership with Geoff Barlow and opened a shop in Poole.   Not sure how long they lasted together as their premises, which was around Towngate, disappeared under the development of the Arndale Centre there and surrounding area in the late 1960s/early1970s.

 

Geoff Barlow relocated to the other end of Poole in premises along High Street and Dudley Dimmock opened a very small shop along Charminster Road in Bournemouth.  

 

Indeed, Geoff sold up in the late 80's, or early 90's, and retired to Swanage, the shop was sold on to a bloke called Phil ( can't remember the surname?), who was, in his own words, put out of business by a toy shop called Setchfields that was located across the road. I saw Geoff a few times in Swanage ( I was a volunteer on the Swanage Railway) not long after he retired, but haven't seen him since. I don't think Dudley Dimmock lasted long in Charminster Road - there one day, gone the next. 

[Ben B]

 

Quote

Agreed - Frizinghall was a very good shop in its old location, which I used a few times, but is now absolutely outstanding in its new-ish, very large if lacklustre, location. The breadth of stock and suppliers is amazing. Few can compare outside of Hattons and maybe Kernow. I did not know you could walk to it from Baildon Station. I will try that next time!

 

Agree totally about the variety- there cannot be many places you can get Z, G, American H0 and Scalextric in the same shop, and a good selection of second-hand too.

 

You can follow the road from Baildon Station down to the main drag to get to the shop, but if you want a shortcut cross over the stone overbridge at the end of the platform, turn right at the bottom of the steps and work your way downhill on the footpaths past the council flats (down onto the approach road to the stately home that's used for weddings now) you can drop down to the main road almost opposite the turn onto the industrial estate where they're located.  Though personally I like to get some exercise in, walk down the canal from Shipley Station after dropping the kids at school, you get to cross that lovely iron footbridge over the Aire near the portals of Thackley Tunnel. 

[4630]

41 minutes ago, bike2steam said:

 

I don't think Dudley Dimmock lasted long in Charminster Road - there one day, gone the next. 

 

Yes that was my recollection too that he was only there a very short period of time and there wasn't a great deal of stock on display either.  I probably only went in a couple of times before he was gone.  I recall it was around the time that Airfix had entered the market as he showed me product details for their GWR 14xx and auto coach.

 

As I remember, a short time later you had the best shop in Bournemouth and the surrounding area.  I do recall spending time and money with you.

[Chris116]

On 07/02/2020 at 18:06, Nearholmer said:

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.

 

 

The shop in Wimbledon Broadway was called Platform Two and had equally large new and secondhand sides to the shop with a big model railway under the counter down the middle of the shop. I worked there on a Saturday from when it opened after visiting John Shimwell, the owner, many times over the previous 18 months when he traded from home. John had an upstairs flat and one room was full of the models he was selling and another had the biggest and best Hornby Dublo Three rail layout I have ever seen. I spent many a long hour operating the layout with John and a few other friends of his. Working at the shop got me into OO9 and quadrupled my stock of TT which sadly I got rid of when I got married in 1980.

[Chris116]

On 08/02/2020 at 20:55, ianmacc said:

 

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. 

Janes Trains which is a two minute walk from Tooting station has lots of new and secondhand items. Open Tuesday to Saturday it is well worth a visit.

[burgundy]

10 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

The shop in Wimbledon Broadway was called Platform Two and had equally large new and secondhand sides to the shop with a big model railway under the counter down the middle of the shop. I worked there on a Saturday from when it opened after visiting John Shimwell, the owner, many times over the previous 18 months when he traded from home. John had an upstairs flat and one room was full of the models he was selling and another had the biggest and best Hornby Dublo Three rail layout I have ever seen. I spent many a long hour operating the layout with John and a few other friends of his. Working at the shop got me into OO9 and quadrupled my stock of TT which sadly I got rid of when I got married in 1980.

I first bumped into Dave Hammersley in there. He was just launching out with his vacuum formed LSWR carriage sides. The paneling was embossed on the plastic and you then had the fun of cutting out all the windows. I  probably still have one, with half of the windows still needing to be cut out. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

[Nearholmer]

25 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

The shop in Wimbledon Broadway was called Platform Two

 

Thanks for that correction.

 

Out of interest when did it open and close? Years, not 0900-1700 ;-)

[burgundy]

On 06/02/2020 at 21:01, Pinehill said:

Going back many years I used to visit my grandparents in St Leonards-on-sea. As well as train spotting nearby I used to visit a great model/toy shop in London Road that was full of wonderful railway items & Dinky Toys etc. Bliss! In later years much time was spent in Cramers model shop in Watford High Street, almost next door to the High Street station. 

 

St Leonards on Sea meant Hammonds on the seafront in Marine Court. They had a penny in the slot double track model railway in the front window and a penny slot for each track. Almost all of my blue boxed Hornby Dublo came from there. 

Best wishes 

Eric