Wright writes.....

[MJI]

I used to have two great model shops 3 miles from home. And before that another good one about time mainline brought out the Mark 1s. That one shut and the main model staff went to Cheltenham

[Tony Wright]

I've been taking some measurements this morning regarding the new slotted axles from Markits. 

 

All the locos I've got fitted with Romford gears, DJH 'boxes, Comet 'boxes, Porter's Cap 'boxes, Portescap 'boxes, Markits 'boxes, Branchlines 'boxes, LRM gear mounts, SEF gear mounts and several others whose names I've forgotten have gear wheel bosses through which the grubscrew will engage in the slot; perfectly. And, some High Level ones as well. The HL ones I have which are too far off-centre are those with a nylon gear wheel. 

 

I hope this helps.

[Barry O]

If you can't file a "flat" on an axle how can you put the rest of a loco kit together??

Baz

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, micklner said:

The main problem is getting any , judging from the amount of complaints on the Markits thread.

 

The slot needs to be far more to one side , judging from the picture. It would be no good e.g  for HL Boxes.

'The main problem is getting any , judging from the amount of complaints on the Markits thread.'

 

I'm puzzled about this, because I can only speak as I find. 

 

The phone isn't always answered, but almost invariably Mark Arscott will phone me back. After a protracted conversation (always entertaining!), my order will be taken (I never say there's a rush for it), and within no more than two/three weeks, everything on the list arrives (my credit card being debited). 

 

I agree I'm in a slightly different position to many in that he'll send me new items for the model press (the slotted axles being one, along with a couple of superb machined-brass Westinghouse items), but I cannot complain about the general service at all. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Northmoor]

In case Tony doesn't want his own thread to turn into a reminisce-about-lost-model-shops thread, there is a thriving one already:

 

[Tony Wright]

6 minutes ago, Barry O said:

If you can't file a "flat" on an axle how can you put the rest of a loco kit together??

Baz

Quite,

 

But isn't a provided-slot quicker? There's no difference in price as far as I know. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[grahame]

There's a half page article in todays paper about the closure (31st Oct) of Ian Allen's book and model shop in Waterloo:

 

[stewartingram]

One thing to remember with the "old" model shop was how much stock they had to hold to satisfy us (ie money tied up). The modern day version, online, is frequently the manufacturer, so will have, or can replenish, stock when needed.

Take one example - Romford wheels. (Other makes would be similar).

Available in a number of sizes, and in those days, insulated or not.

Customer A wants to motorize his plastic kit of an 0-6-0, customer B wants to re-wheel his H/D 2-8-0.

A wants 3x 20mm insulated, and 3x non-insulated, but customer B (sticking with 3-rail) wants 8x 20mm.

(I haven't looked up real diameters, just sticking with 20mm).

So the poor shop has to stock how many to serve his customers?  Some of us do 0-4-0, or any combination up to 10 wheelers. And the ins/non-ins versions (largely surpassed nowadays), not forgetting of course the difference in diameters for different locos. And that is only driving wheels - what about all the other bits?

I think in that respect todays offering via the web is much better.

[Bucoops]

25 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

'The main problem is getting any , judging from the amount of complaints on the Markits thread.'

 

I'm puzzled about this, because I can only speak as I find. 

 

The phone isn't always answered, but almost invariably Mark Arscott will phone me back. After a protracted conversation (always entertaining!), my order will be taken (I never say there's a rush for it), and within no more than two/three weeks, everything on the list arrives (my credit card being debited). 

 

I agree I'm in a slightly different position to many in that he'll send me new items for the model press (the slotted axles being one, along with a couple of superb machined-brass Westinghouse items), but I cannot complain about the general service at all. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Sadly I'm with Mick on this - I've tried around 7 or 8 times in the last couple of years to order directly from Mark. Mostly sets of wheels. The one time I've actually received something it was incorrect (spoked tender wheels instead of disc) and I was charged significantly more than the price quoted. Every other time I have tried to order, including items in bulk such as T handles and roof ventilators I've not been successful. I know I'm only a small customer but the total value of what I've tried to order is probably over a thousand pounds all in. A lot I've managed to get from re-sellers but sets of insulated wheels have to be special ordered and and they are reluctant to do so as they have the same problems.

[bbishop]

I popped into Ian Allen yesterday.  Very little left.  Bill

[Northmoor]

39 minutes ago, bbishop said:

I popped into Ian Allen yesterday.  Very little left.  Bill

Sad but a sign of the times.  I work less than 10 minutes walk away (well, I did until March 17th....) and have had a couple of bargain books from there over the years, but new RTR/RTP model railways are things I rarely buy anyway and certainly not at RRP.  We have to accept that model railways, in fact railways in general, are a niche interest no longer large enough to support high street traders.  We are now in the same realm as the people whose hobbies are supported by craft fairs, where the traders are small or micro-businesses and often home-based.  They trade by mail order/internet and meet their customers at the fairs where they know that perhaps 50% of the (exhibition table) passing trade is interested in what they have to sell, as opposed to a high street shop where that figure is well under 1%.

[Roger Sunderland]

The Markits issue is a strange one. I have heard that people have issues but I’m with Tony on this. Just last week I rang Mark, he didn’t answer but rang me back an hour or so later - an entertaining conversation followed and I ordered a full set of wheels for a PDK B16. I received them 2 days later, half and half drivers and a beautiful etch for the correct pattern balance weights included.

[thegreenhowards]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Of course, Andy,

 

Yes, in a way, we've 'never had it so good'. However, there was just something about going into an 'old-fashioned' model shop, where the proprietor was much, much more than a salesman but could advise on how to build models (having built them himself - it was invariably 'him'). 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I do recognise that speaking to someone who knows the products is really valuable. In fact that’s what I miss most about the lack of exhibitions. Layout can be done virtually but discussions with traders are more difficult. I did manage a good chat with Andy Edgson of Isinglass at Virtual Scaleforum but you can’t just browse in the same way.

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

19 minutes ago, Roger Sunderland said:

The Markits issue is a strange one. I have heard that people have issues but I’m with Tony on this. Just last week I rang Mark, he didn’t answer but rang me back an hour or so later - an entertaining conversation followed and I ordered a full set of wheels for a PDK B16. I received them 2 days later, half and half drivers and a beautiful etch for the correct pattern balance weights included.

I agree. I’m always put off ordering from companies which don’t deal online. And I was doubly put off Markits by some of the stories. But I finally decided I had to order some wheels during lockdown and it was a very pleasant and easy transaction. Mark was good to chat to and didn’t bite my head off as I had been led to believe he would and the goods arrived within a few days.

[grob1234]

I just posted the following in the Markits thread (well one of them anyway)

 

"My experience with Mark has always been positive.

 

When I lived abroad, I used to call him (he'd be difficult to get hold of because he's working usually).

 

Whenever I did chat to him, I found he had an exceptionally dry sense of humour which can come across as abrasive. That said I've often enjoyed some very cynical banter with him, and he's always posted what I wanted to the other side of the world.

 

My most recent order (in the last couple of months) was simply a completed PDF order form he has on his website. 

 

I filled it out, printed it off with all the prices (no need for a quote therefore), figuring he could easily pick the items and check them off as he went.

 

3 or so weeks later everything arrived, all present and correct."

 

I found it difficult when I started out in the hobby, because some of the characters (like Mark), are just that, characters. But I have come to understand them, and realise that as a cottage industry type of business (I’m not being demeaning to any of the smaller suppliers here) they’re often run just as much as a hobby as oppose to an all-out business concern as we might associate with today.

 

We are spoilt with next day delivery and instant gratification. Many of the small businesses in our hobby are a throw back in many senses – I’ve learned to accept this and in fact enjoy it.

 

That said I’m in no way an apologist for poor service. I had some very poor service from another wheel supplier and I haven’t ordered from them since. That’s my personal choice. I have also written on this subject before, and I have in some respects changed my mind and softened some of my opinions. I do feel (and again this is a personal opinion) that good websites where you could simply add items into a basket (like the Wizard models one) really help the cause. And I am convinced they increase trade and make life easier for the proprietor. The caveat of course is that not all business owners in our hobby have the time or desire to be fully online.

 

It’s always going to be a tricky one, but I would hate to see good businesses go under due to a poor reputation when in many cases, there is no alternative. 

 

However in the case of odering direct from Markits, I have yet to have any issue, just fantastic products, and good service.

 

[MJI]

I have done something embarrasing.

 

I have lost one rod of a Poppy woodtech jig before first use.

 

I wanted to check if the chassis for my Airfix kit Mogul was OK. 2 rods found.

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

Tenuous link time!....One of the reasons I finally picked up the phone to Markits was to order some bogie wheels for my Klondike as demanded by ‘Sir’ last time I posted progress on here. Today I finally finished her complete with new bogie wheels. The GNR lining took an eternity but I think has come out well in the end. It was my first attempt at trying anything so complicated on the lining front and I tried a bow pen but couldn’t get on with it, so I went back to my tried and tested Fox and Modelmaster transfers.
 

[grob1234]

44 minutes ago, MJI said:

I have done something embarrasing.

 

I have lost one rod of a Poppy woodtech jig before first use.

 

I wanted to check if the chassis for my Airfix kit Mogul was OK. 2 rods found.

 

 

 

I've lost an entire jig when I moved house... 

[MJI]

OK questions about solders.

 

Which ones should I use?

 

I built my 119 and my PWM650 using tin lead electrical solder as I had it handy.

 

Got a few chassis to build and a couple of crosskit coaches.

 

Mainly brass, but also some white metal.

 

I do have a few fluxes, plumbers, phosphoric acid and rosin

[MJI]

55 minutes ago, MJI said:

I have done something embarrasing.

 

I have lost one rod of a Poppy woodtech jig before first use.

 

I wanted to check if the chassis for my Airfix kit Mogul was OK. 2 rods found.

 

 

 

completely cleared out the area it was stored in, was on top of a pile of R.U.B.s probably lost it before I placed it there.

 

The 4MT 2-6-0 is a preserved one on a railway I used to visit a lot. Next chassis will be to replace an early Bachmann 75069.

[MJI]

8 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

completely cleared out the area it was stored in, was on top of a pile of R.U.B.s probably lost it before I placed it there.

 

The 4MT 2-6-0 is a preserved one on a railway I used to visit a lot. Next chassis will be to replace an early Bachmann 75069.

 

Sorry the jig was there not the rod, I have emailed Poppy for a price

[Tony Wright]

It's strange, isn't it how there are so many different experiences with regard to 'service' from manufacturers? 

 

Going back to Markits, Mark always moans at me because I've recommended someone or other order, say, a chimney or other details. It's always a light-hearted bit of banter, but it must be difficult to be a manufacturer (of a large range) and a salesman at the time; to the extent that it's not worth processing orders under a tenner on a credit card. 

 

All I can say that during (and after) lockdown (and before) I've ordered goods from SE Finecast (brilliant service), Wizard/Comet/MSE (brilliant service), DJH (brilliant service), Markits (brilliant service), a model shop in Cardiff (brilliant service, providing me with nothing more than Romford small, fibre washers), Hobby Holidays (brilliant service by courier because I ordered flux among other things), Locomotion (brilliant response to my request for a prototype DELTIC), LMS (brilliant service) and Hornby (brilliant response to a request). 

 

I might add that all these brilliant services were in response to phone calls (I exist in the past, and haven't a clue how to order anything on line, though I did email Locomotion). 

 

Just my most-recent experiences.................

[Tony Wright]

13 minutes ago, MJI said:

OK questions about solders.

 

Which ones should I use?

 

I built my 119 and my PWM650 using tin lead electrical solder as I had it handy.

 

Got a few chassis to build and a couple of crosskit coaches.

 

Mainly brass, but also some white metal.

 

I do have a few fluxes, plumbers, phosphoric acid and rosin

Simple (or at least to me)..........

 

145 degree solder (for etched brass/nickel silver) and 70 degree solder for white metal.

 

12% phosphoric acid flux and a temperature-controlled iron (at least 50Watt)

 

I only use electrical solder for pick-ups. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Steamport Southport]

18 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

My memory is of the proprietor having a foreign accent, but that was over 20 years before your recollections.

 

He seemed to know what he was talking about, and I even bought EAMES' kits from him! And wheels, and motors and.......................... Imagine such a shop today. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

He was Dutch. Gerry Van "something", possibly starting with an R.

 

I'm afraid trade dropped off when it moved to Stanley Street which is more a business area than retail. Then the other man took over, it started selling more mainstream items such as Airfix kits but at high prices, stopped selling all the essential model railway bits and soon closed.

 

I think it then became a restaurant.

 

 

Jason

[MJI]

Found it!

 

Tangled up with my video camera and my Vita chargers