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New Model Shop in Chester

ChesterModelCentre

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ChesterModelCentre

ChesterModelCentre

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Good news for Chester, North Wales and the North West. Chester Model Centre has opened it's doors this weekend in the former Modelzone premises in Bridge Street, Chester, CH1 NW1. This new venture comes from the owner of long established Penketh Model Rail Centre and will give the opportunity to stock the larger gauges and expand their current range of OO and N Gauge which despite the extension that was added at Penketh several years ago, they have simply outgrown yet again. It will also allow their range of GC Weathering locomotives and rolling stock to be fully displayed. In addition to model railways new ranges of Die-Cast, Wm Britain's, Corgi, Scalextric, Tamiya, Revell, Airfix, Plastic Soldier, Napoleonic and War Hammer making it a complete one-stop traditional model shop. A full range of Railway, Bus, Transport and Military books will also be featured mainly from BOOK LAW.

Edited by Aquitania
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Stevelewis

Stevelewis

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Thanks  for  the  info   as  a  localish  resident  I suppose  it  may  come  in  handy  if  the  price  is  right,

 

These  days though   I find its  actually  cheaper  to  order  on line  which  I  do  quite  regularly. 

 

Snag  with  Chester is   the  parking  cost,  almost  equals a well known retailer's postage  cost,  and  thats  before  the  transport  cost!

 

I do work occasionally in some  of  the  nearby  retail  outlets  so  no doubt  will have  a look in  when  i  have  the  time.

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ELTEL

ELTEL

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Thanks  for  the  info   as  a  localish  resident  I suppose  it  may  come  in  handy  if  the  price  is  right,

 

These  days though   I find its  actually  cheaper  to  order  on line  which  I  do  quite  regularly. 

 

Snag  with  Chester is   the  parking  cost,  almost  equals a well known retailer's postage  cost,  and  thats  before  the  transport  cost!

 

I do work occasionally in some  of  the  nearby  retail  outlets  so  no doubt  will have  a look in  when  i  have  the  time.

Use it or lose it

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Tony Wright

Tony Wright

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I wish it well and next time I'm visiting my family back home I'll call in.

 

Just as an historical aside, as a Cestrian (a native of Chester), when I lived in the historic city (a long time ago) we had five establishments selling model railway equipment. These were The Model Shop (Tri-ang franchise), Barnby's (Hornby-Dublo franchise), both in Frodsham Street; The Arts and Crafts Studio (everything, including Trix) in the arcade off Bridge Street; the tucked-away establishment in White Friars (I think it was part of a dentist's practice but it was a genuine model shop where you could buy all the bits and pieces, and hand-built models), and the wonderful emporium of Mr Trickett in Garden Lane, where I bought my first kits -  Airfix/Kitmaster, then K's, Wills and so on plus motors, gears, wheels, etc. The great old guy also used to sell Graham Farish OO Gauge.

 

Were there any more?

 

How times change..................

Edited by Tony Wright
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Grafarman

Grafarman

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I wish it well and next time I'm visiting my family back home I'll call in.

 

Just as an historical aside, as a Cestrian (a native of Chester), when I lived in the historic city (a long time ago) we had five establishments selling model railway equipment. These were The Model Shop (Tri-ang franchise), Barnby's (Hornby-Dublo franchise), both in Frodsham Street; The Arts and Crafts Studio (everything, including Trix) in the arcade off Bridge Street; the tucked-away establishment in White Friars (I think it was part of a dentist's practice but it was a genuine model shop where you could buy all the bits and pieces, and hand-built models), and the wonderful emporium of Mr Trickett in Garden Lane, where I bought my first kits -  Airfix/Kitmaster, then K's, Wills and so on plus motors, gears, wheels, etc. The great old guy also used to sell Graham Farish OO Gauge.

 

Were there any more?

 

How times change..................

 

The (original) Arts & Crafts Studio was a goldmine to my Father and I and we made the journey from Prestatyn at least once a month buying OO and eventually N gauge items - we rarely came away without at least a kit or piece of rolling stock; of course it's location in the precinct and the proximity to Browns with associated clothing shops and cafes to cater for my Mother and Sister's interests made the trips allowable!!

 

I'll be up in the area during the Christmas/New Year holiday so I'll be sure to wander in for a perusal; however I'll also be visiting Rhuddlan Models (tiny but wonderfully well stocked with new and secondhand items) so the budget will have to be split accordingly...!!

 

David

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gismorail

gismorail

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Life is so strange at times, I have been following your interesting railway hobby threads for ages Tony as well being an admirer of your excellent east coast layout. Last week I purchased December's British Railways Illustrated and was amazed from reading your excellent ' A Cestrian's Urchin Tales 1 that your a native of my home town Chester. Like you my spotting days started with the ex Cheshire Lines railway running out of Chester Northgate but from the other side of the triangle heading towards Dee Marsh.  My parents house was in Abbot's Park and the end of the garden was opposite the signal box at Chester West Jnc  and I could watch the coming and goings through the old Liverpool Rd station which closed in 1952 four years before I was born but I can remember steam working the line and seeing coal being delivered to Allan Morris's yard then being stock piled down a lane that ran alongside the embankment towards Parkgate Road.

I was also a regular visitor to the wonderful Mr Trickett in Garden Lane where my first trains where purchased for birthdays and Christmas etc. The Model Shop in Frodsham St was owned by a lady called Miss Neadom if I remember correctly and was at one time located next to Siddals Options on the Cross for a while. The shop in White Friars was an interesting little shop assess to which was along a long narrow corridor  and I can remember purchasing a green Traing DMU . The Arts and Crafts Studio was owned by the Hutchinson family and the youngest son Nick is an old friend of mine and am still in contact with to this day. It has be a difficult time for him as he stayed on as manger of the shop after selling the family business to the Model-zone group.

To keep my personal link to my old friends shop is also a strange twist as Penketh Paul is also a good friend and I wish him all the best in his new venture and hope that the local modellers will support this most welcome addition to the Chester shopping experience.

I look forward to part 2 of your article 'A Cestrain's Urchin Tales ' Tony

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ChesterModelCentre

ChesterModelCentre

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nice to see a new model shop in the city. Look forward to a visit hope it isn't model zone under a new name. Always thought they where a bit steep price wise.

 

 

Alex

Hi Alex, you will be pleased to know we have no connection whatsover with Modelzone. Currently we have Penketh Model Rail Centre in Warrington (which will remain open)  ut Chester wil give the opportunity to extend our range of products in much larger premises.

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jivebunny

jivebunny

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Hi All,

 

Haven't posted on RMWeb in years, but I'm planning on getting back into modelling once I get over the minor hurdle of buying a house which just happens to feature a large redundant space :secret: :D I was in Chester today and couldn't resist popping in to have an innocent look around... which ended with my wallet becoming £150 lighter (whoops).

 

Still lots of stock in boxes and crates, as is normal for a brand new specialist outlet, but the chap there was very helpful and was more than happy for me to have a rummage around, which allowed me to spot a couple of interesting items. Bagged myself a pair of second-hand weathered 37s, a motorless 156, a pair of boxless Mk1 BSKs, and a pack of Kato Unitrack straights for good measure.

 

If you have a dig through there are - presumably for a limited time - some interesting new and second-hand items to be had, in addition to what's already on the shelves (in fact I'm regretting not buying the Regional Railways 153 I spotted on said shelf). GNER 91+DVT packs, Network Rail 86 twin packs, a couple of DMU and HST packs, a bunch of 1950s Mk1s and some obscenely large american steam engines, as well as some German bits and bobs; in other words plenty to please the eye, if not the wallet (although it has to be said, prices are very reasonable). OO gauge seems well-stocked too, although I didn't take a particularly good look. It was pleasant to see a good handful of customers in there as well, looking at all sorts of things. I'm not sure if the Modelzone staff are still there, I only got a chance to go in once in the whole time it was open (Arts & Crafts when I was little was a different story though!)

 

For those who want to avoid the parking costs, there are usually a couple of spaces to be found in the Queen's Park area of Handbridge, just across the river Dee (which is where I parked today, only a five minute-walk from the shop). Otherwise tickets for certain council car parks work on a no-charge basis after 3pm, which is quite handy. There's a four-hour limit on free stays though, which I suppose is fair enough.

 

I'm only in the UK a couple of times a year but I'm going to make a point of dropping in whenever I'm here now. As someone else said further up, use it or lose it.

 

Cheers,

 

JB (a.k.a new happy customer)

Edited by jivebunny
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jivebunny

jivebunny

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Popped in again today, after collecting some N gauge trackwork from Stevelewis and seeing his cracking US narrow gauge locomotives in action!

 

Fell victim to "but it's so pretty!" syndrome and came back out with a beautiful Dapol 26, which I believe has been weathered by GC Weathering. In fact I think it may even be very same machine that's in their website's gallery, as every last detail looks identical. Had to buy it even if the class isn't relevant to the area I'm modelling (although I do have a soft spot for Scotland, having lived for two years in Edinburgh).

 

I'm sending one of my two 37s off for the same treatment, the other one having already been weathered (possibly also by them, it was second hand).

 

I can't recommend these guys enough.

 

IMG_2373_zps90f3b4f8.jpg

Edited by jivebunny
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Riverlane

Riverlane

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Re the new Chester model centre.

I paid a visit to the shop this morning (Saturday 4th January 2014 ) but was surprised 

to find it closed at 9.20.

There are no opening times on the door.

I hope they add some soon, it will be a shame if they loose a lot of new customers.

I will try again at a later time and will post my findings. 

 

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Riverlane

Riverlane

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Life is so strange at times, I have been following your interesting railway hobby threads for ages Tony as well being an admirer of your excellent east coast layout. Last week I purchased December's British Railways Illustrated and was amazed from reading your excellent ' A Cestrian's Urchin Tales 1 that your a native of my home town Chester. Like you my spotting days started with the ex Cheshire Lines railway running out of Chester Northgate but from the other side of the triangle heading towards Dee Marsh.  My parents house was in Abbot's Park and the end of the garden was opposite the signal box at Chester West Jnc  and I could watch the coming and goings through the old Liverpool Rd station which closed in 1952 four years before I was born but I can remember steam working the line and seeing coal being delivered to Allan Morris's yard then being stock piled down a lane that ran alongside the embankment towards Parkgate Road.

I was also a regular visitor to the wonderful Mr Trickett in Garden Lane where my first trains where purchased for birthdays and Christmas etc. The Model Shop in Frodsham St was owned by a lady called Miss Neadom if I remember correctly and was at one time located next to Siddals Options on the Cross for a while. The shop in White Friars was an interesting little shop assess to which was along a long narrow corridor  and I can remember purchasing a green Traing DMU . The Arts and Crafts Studio was owned by the Hutchinson family and the youngest son Nick is an old friend of mine and am still in contact with to this day. It has be a difficult time for him as he stayed on as manger of the shop after selling the family business to the Model-zone group.

To keep my personal link to my old friends shop is also a strange twist as Penketh Paul is also a good friend and I wish him all the best in his new venture and hope that the local modellers will support this most welcome addition to the Chester shopping experience.

I look forward to part 2 of your article 'A Cestrain's Urchin Tales ' Tony

I was a regular buyer from the Arts & Crafts studio for many years after moving to Chester in 1993, and became a friend of Nick and the staff, it was very sad when the shop closed, another victim of hard times and too many of us buying from the internet !

I wish the new venture every success, it will be of more interest to me if they stock some larger scale items.

Allan

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Riverlane

Riverlane

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I paid another visit to the new Chester Model centre today ( Saturday 4th January 2014 ) at 2 pm and the shop was open with the staff busy filling the shelves.

At the moment only the ground floor area is open, with a small range of Model Railway items between the counters, and a small selection of plastic kits and die-cast items around the shop.

Hopefully they will have a bigger range to choose from when they have fully stocked the shop.

I will pay them another visit in a few weeks to give them a chance to fill the shelves.

The opening times for the shop in Warrington are -:

Monday 10am - 4:30pm Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 4:30pm Friday 10am - 4:30pm Saturday 10am - 4:30pm

We don't close for lunch.

I can only assume that the chester shop will be the same.

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Riverlane

Riverlane

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Re the new Chester Model Centre

They now have a website -: http://chestermodelcentre.com

With opening times and details of the latest releases.

Some parts of the site are yet to be completed.

The latest news is that the Penketh closed on the 29th of March,

and at last they will be opening the first floor area in the Chester shop.

This is good news, as the floor area downstairs is small, and only allowed

them to show a small range of items.

I will post more information as soon as i have a chance to pay them a visit.

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