Locomotives and rolling stock at bargain prices at model railway shows

[6990WitherslackHall]

Yesterday was the Bridlington model railway show. I brought a Hornby B12 for £11, (tender, loco shell and chassis brought separate from each other) and a Ivatt 2MT tank for £38. 

 

Honestly, for £49 altogether, it's not bad and I got both cheaply. Has anyone else brought or encountered something like this?

[Paul H Vigor]

6 hours ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

Yesterday was the Bridlington model railway show. I brought a Hornby B12 for £11, (tender, loco shell and chassis brought separate from each other) and a Ivatt 2MT tank for £38. 

 

Honestly, for £49 altogether, it's not bad and I got both cheaply. Has anyone else brought or encountered something like this?

Not since the first Covid lockdown cancelled all the shows - and the captive market sent online prices through the roof! By long tradition, I prefer seeing what I'm proposing to buy up close and personal.  

[John M Upton]

Always found buying second hand at shows cheaper and you get a good look at what you are buying before committing your hard earned.

 

Down side can be too much to choose from.

 

Sadly, I have heard of a number of incidents recently where people are now going to shows early at opening time with the sole purpose of buying lots of items (often cheekily asking for a discount!) and then leaving straight away without even bothering to see the show as their sole purpose is to list it all on ebay at a vast profit.

 

It's a step up from the profiteers who used to raid the Bachmann returns at Ally Pally, you would see them leaving with bulging bags before 10:00!

Edited September 6, 2022 by John M Upton

[C126]

Mr Upton's tale reminds me of second-hand book-dealers (not necessarily on E-Bay) who arrive at my mother's church book-sale as the doors open, buying up carrier-bags worth of books for a few quid, and profiteering.  I suggested the church ladies quadruple the price of each volume for all who buy more than four books, for example...

[HonestTom]

I find small shows and club open days are the best places for a bargain, usually from the members' stall. I once got a beautiful kit-built GWR 97xx for £30. At another show, I got a Dublo West Country for £40, and the only defect was a paint chip on the funnel. That same stand had two R1s for £12 each. I kind of wish I'd picked one of them up - I've often thought I'd like to upgrade one.

Edited September 14, 2022 by HonestTom

[simonmcp]

I bought a K's kit of 1361 at the Hayle show in Cornwall for the princely sum of £3. It includes wheels and motor. I just need the skill to make it.

[Mallard60022]

Is this the sort of thing you wanted? At the Donny show about 6/7 years ago, the Hereford Model Centre had a large number of Hornby Bulleid Pacifics on their stand. I was twitching as I was just starting out on my SR based layout. However I resisted. I went back near the end of the show and most were still there, about 15 of them. 

Couple of days later, knowing that HMC stack a load of their Show stuff in their glory hole Cellar, I gave them a ring. I asked if they had any of those SR Pacifics left from Donny?

Off went the chap and returned a few minutes later saying, yes we have 15. Nobody wanted them at Donny! Umm thought I.

OK I said, I'm interested and they are difficult to shift aren't they (nose extends rapidly). Could you possibly tell me what ones you have and can we agree a price please. Of course sir, I'll phone you back shortly.

Ten of the Loco's were BR Livery, all runners and in tidy condition, a mix of Spams and Modifieds. How does £300 sound I said and of course I'll pay postage (it was about £10 I think insured back then). They are yours sir.

So a build on my fleet of Engines was sorted for £31 each!

They were all in excellent nick, with some DCC Ready. A couple didn't have the Accessory packs but hey!

Is that a reasonable bargain? 

Oh yes,  I find HMC to be a super place to get stuff and I will often pay a little more for some stuff to them than (say) a huge Box Shifter because I want them to survive, despite my bargaining episode.

That was and is the only time I believe I have got a really, really good bargain, except from a pal.

Phil.

 

[Steamport Southport]

Bachmann LNER V1/V3 in bits, but with no motor/gears for £5 a few weeks ago at the ELR. Body is fine.

 

The bits can go in the spares box. The body will get a better chassis and I've just found out that Worsley Works do one. So a happy bunny.

 

 

 

Jason

[Coldgunner]

2x O gauge LNWR coaches, fully finished for £100. I'm told that's pretty good. Coaches are dated as being built in the 70's(!) but they still hold up well.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Coldgunner

[33C]

25 Hornby loco's, some boxed, in a bread crate, £150. He didn't even get a chance to display them.....same show, 5 boxed Hornby loco's, £10 each. Dinadan x2, N.E. B12, Owen Glendower and 8F. Untested he said but all needed a light service and worked beautifully. 

[Northmoor]

On 06/09/2022 at 08:10, John M Upton said:

Sadly, I have heard of a number of incidents recently where people are now going to shows early at opening time with the sole purpose of buying lots of items (often cheekily asking for a discount!) and then leaving straight away without even bothering to see the show as their sole purpose is to list it all on ebay at a vast profit.

 

It's a step up from the profiteers who used to raid the Bachmann returns at Ally Pally, you would see them leaving with bulging bags before 10:00!

And I'll bet none of them identify themselves as a trader either on eBay, or to the taxman.....

I don't think this behaviour is new, there have always been profiteers; more fool the people who buy from them re-advertised at full price instead of seeking out the bargains with a little research.

[HonestTom]

I picked up some great bargains at the Spa Valley Railway on Saturday - two Graham Farish 00 suburban coaches for £7.50 each and two Triang clerestories for £8.50 each, plus a Bachmann San Francisco cable car for £18.50. Good bashing material at that price. My brother found a Dapol Austerity for £20, which again was something he wanted to bash (but not at the prices you see on eBay).

[KeithMacdonald]

Well done to all those who get to these shows to get the bargains! 🙂

 

Sadly, I have to balance the "opportunity cost" against the time, cost and effort of getting there (and paying for admission) and the "emotional cost" of skipping off for the best part of a day - and then not ticking-off any of the items on M'Lady's Very Important Projects list. 😒

[John M Upton]

Well, today I went to the Worthing show, not expecting to find much by way of bargains but it seems Saturdays rail strike drastically cut the numbers attending yesterday so there were still some nice bargains to be found, the society stall for example sold me two Farish MEA box wagons for a fiver - the pair!!!

 

Could have spent a lot more on some keenly priced stuff there but somehow managed to resist....

Edited October 2, 2022 by John M Upton

[Barclay]

You have all goaded me into bragging about my best recent find - an unbuilt D&S etched kit for a GWR Loriot machinery wagon.

 

£2

Of course, part of me now wants to sell it on, but I think I will build it!

 

 

[Northmoor]

On 06/09/2022 at 10:29, C126 said:

Mr Upton's tale reminds me of second-hand book-dealers (not necessarily on E-Bay) who arrive at my mother's church book-sale as the doors open, buying up carrier-bags worth of books for a few quid, and profiteering.  I suggested the church ladies quadruple the price of each volume for all who buy more than four books, for example...

I think the normal solution is to charge an early entry rate of perhaps £5 instead of £1.  The dealers have no excuse for not paying up; the extra cost amounts to about ten miles driving for them and most will have come many, many more than that.  Even car boot sales charge buyers for early entry to compensate for the "dealers" and having to deal with them.

[Barclay]

Some years ago I obtained this truly ancient EM gauge scratchbuilt Kitson 0-4-0ST for the princely sum of a fiver at expo-EM. It took some sorting out but is now in good order!

 

 

[Mike Bellamy]

4 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I think the normal solution is to charge an early entry rate of perhaps £5 instead of £1.  The dealers have no excuse for not paying up; the extra cost amounts to about ten miles driving for them and most will have come many, many more than that.  Even car boot sales charge buyers for early entry to compensate for the "dealers" and having to deal with them.

 

Our local club organise regular swapmeets with 15/20 traders all selling model railway related stuff. One time it was pouring with rain and we took pity on the queue outside and let them in 15 mins early. Those who arrived at the advertised time were then complaining that they had missed the bargains. What they didn't appreciate was that the traders had all been there for at least two hours, one to set up and the second hour to wander around looking at what their competitors were selling and then either grabbing a bargain or going back to their stand to alter the prices. One time a club member took a table as he was having a compete change of what he was modelling - a nice neat table set out with nearly new Hornby and Bachmann stock all at competitive prices. One trader made an offer for the lot and cleared the table before the event started . . !

.

[Halvarras]

Umm, let's think......£16.50 for an unboxed Hornby Pacer in Provincial blue livery at a Chippenham show around late '90s (noisy runner, one worm gear was catching, a card spacer under the motor mounting screw sorted that); an unboxed Hornby Dublo ICI bogie tanker for a tenner at a Swindon show around the same time; a boxed green Bachmann Class 37 D6826 for £32.50 at another Swindon show only a couple of years or so after the model had been released (previous owner had painted the buffer heads silver and managed to flick silver paint onto the nose ends - I got it off); a pair of brand new Hornby Mark 2e SO coaches for £15 each (Swindon again!) - they even had metal wheels and were a near-perfect match colour-wise for the Bachmann Mark 2a BFK I'd picked up from a local shop for £16 originally to go with a newer pair of B Mark 2a TSOs from Kernow which it didn't match (so I had to buy another newer one which did at over twice the price grrr 🤬!) Heljan Class 47 D1733 in XP64 blue and at a later event a Hornby Railroad Helmingham Hall in BR green, both for £49.95 from the Kernow stand at (guess!)

To date the Class 47 is the only model to give me Mazak Rot grief, but with Howes' help I got it fixed - as a diesel livery nutter it's one of my favourite models, so I've forgiven it, but if it had been a goner I could have bought another one off a show stand for £45 shortly after.

I have never been to Warley but when an acquaintance who was going offered to see if he could source a decoder-removed D1677 Thor for me off the Bachmann stand he came back with the very thing for £60 (this was effectively half-price at the time - as this model rarely dipped below £110 I began to wonder if the decoders in this DCC-fitted model were gold-plated or something 🥴!)

[big jim]

On 06/09/2022 at 08:10, John M Upton said:

 

Sadly, I have heard of a number of incidents recently where people are now going to shows early at opening time with the sole purpose of buying lots of items (often cheekily asking for a discount!) and then leaving straight away without even bothering to see the show as their sole purpose is to list it all on ebay at a vast profit.

 

I’m one of those who seeks out the club stall as soon as I walk through the door, then have a look at the traders and the layouts afterwards, I’m not buying to sell on at a profit but am always keen to find a bargain, in fact this years BRM show at Doncaster I was there for 09:30 solely to make my first port of call DC Kits with their £75 144 units, also grabbed a couple of other cheap bits and bobs off ‘anoraks anonymous’ which resembled an old school Bachmann scrum and something from footplate, had a look at the layouts and I was away by about 11:30, not until I got home and saw other posters pictures I realised I’d probably only seen about a third of the layouts! 
 

Admittedly I have had a few impulse cheap buys off club stalls at various shows that I’ve ended up putting on eBay months, even years later, when I realise I’ll never actually run it! 

[polybear]

There's a certain seller of loco, wagon & carriage kits (pre-covid times - not sure if he's still around) that hoovers a lot of stuff off the bring n' buy stand then sells it at significantly increased prices on his own stand.

[The Black Hat]

On 04/09/2022 at 10:30, 6990WitherslackHall said:

Yesterday was the Bridlington model railway show. I brought a Hornby B12 for £11, (tender, loco shell and chassis brought separate from each other) and a Ivatt 2MT tank for £38. 

 

Honestly, for £49 altogether, it's not bad and I got both cheaply. Has anyone else brought or encountered something like this?

Its okay getting bargains if your happy with what you have and realise the longer term costs of getting them. 

I was in a model shop recently and saw a young man, all of about 10-12 who was really showing interest in the hobby. He had some pocket money and relative in tow as he looked about the shop, spied the odd bargain and looked for the points he wanted to extend his yard. A lovely young man showing promise and interest in the hobby that I recognised in myself some years ago (im not that old). 

However, getting analogue engines at knock down prices can be great to get people into the hobby but these engines are simple, easy to use and tend to be sold on and sold on again. However, there is still a bit of a market there for them for those running an analogue system for years and don't want to convert to DCC, or for youngsters entering the hobby. 

But at what price do we reward interest for those getting bargains when the longer term costs will be to loose money if you need to convert to DCC. Analogue engines are bargain prices because there is a gult of them out there. Selling older models to those showing interest means that they need to bare the costs of conversion later and in turn will get little for the engine they bought sold to them by a shop, trader or individual looking for the quick sale. Digital engines hold their value, as supplies from new stock have diminished thanks to changes in China, Covid, transport costs and inflation. However, our young man would be far better off trying a few analogue engines out and then more quickly making the jump to DCC. That way he keeps things that will be of value and be able to retain their value in years to come. 

Otherwise we risk crushing the optimism and enthusiasm a youngster has by saddling him with a system that is now historic and for him will be no use going forwards. Yes, some at the club will be running on analogue and have the same system as what he starts with, but encouraging him to follow their path would, I feel, certainly not serve his best interests. This youngster could have engines that when looking to be sold on to a trader again could be getting them a return for £5-20 meaning they might need to sell back 2, 3, 4 engines to get a second hand digital one. I honestly feel its a betrayal of their interest and that doing this does not support them into the hobby. 

I do love seeing the enthusiasm youngsters have for following into the hobby and getting what they can but the future is digital and there is no way its going back. Honestly, can we please encourage them to get a set up that will be much better for them in the longer term and encourage them into that, especially now as digital stock is about to go into the Next generation of DCC and so there will be second hand digital engines entering the market in the coming years and these are what they should get to foster, grow and explore their shared interest. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by The Black Hat

[rogerzilla]

What do you mean by "analogue engines"?  Those without a DCC socket?

[The Black Hat]

7 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

What do you mean by "analogue engines"?  Those without a DCC socket?

Yes. As in, no digital socket at all and would need to be hard-wired for conversion. 

[Northmoor]

@The Black HatYou seem to suggest that analogue DC will become obsolete (by the correct meaning of the word, "no longer available from the original manufacturer") in the near future, I don't see that happening at all.  DCC has its evangelists who seem to see it as the only possible future and that model railways won't be built without endless functions the owner never uses.  I suspect that there is tremendous inertia in the hobby that will mean it takes a very long time for DCC to become the standard (and what version of DCC will be that standard?).  Plus there will be 20/30/50 years of secondhand stock on the market which has not been converted for DCC, that will still be available to the analogue modeller.