Bruce Depot Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Regarding Birmingham, there was Roy's models at Rubery, now toys only. Still got Tennets Trains as Halesowen but seems to have 'odd' opening hours/days (Well its been closed the last four times I have passed it when back!) Was there not a model stop by Stechford station, Bob's models??? Never been in there so no ideas. Anyone remember the small shop in Burlington Arcade years ago? cheers Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 If Mr Trebus had ever ventured into retail it would have been Sleepers. Ouch! Still, do the contents of the shop actually justify the risk of getting buried alive? While on the subject of model shops in the Birmingham area (well, you may not be on that subject, but I am, so shush), and while I agree that Ian Allen is about the only worthwhile destination in the city centre, I would like to cast a small vote in favour of Hobbycraft. Yes, all the rolling stock they sell is RRP Hornby, but they've actually got a surprisingly good range of incidental stuff, from Woodlands Scenics to all kinds of paints and tools. Incidentally, has anyone else visited Ian Allen in Brum since their recent move? They're now on a corner on the wonderfully named Ethel Street, with a second floor that's above ground rather than below. I don't suppose their range is any better than it was, but at least there's some natural light in the shop now! Downstairs in the old IA, I always got the impression that a real train would burst through the back wall from New Street... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Was there not a model stop by Stechford station, Bob's models???? Southern Railways - it was still there a couple of years ago or so, just secondhand stuff; the pricing of stock on show in the window always put me off actually going inside. The little shop in Burlington Arcade was a regular stop on Saturday morning shopping trips as a kid to ponder just how long it would take to save up for various Wrenn items. A stones throw away on the corner between Stephenson Street and Navigation Street had a radio shop that also used to sell model railway stuff, add Rackhams and Beatties/Argyle Models into the equation and there used to be a good selection in the city centre way back when. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted December 12, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2009 Cities I've visited without proper model shops: Dundee (though there is one out Perth direction) Perth (despite having a large model shop). Re: Perth - isn't there one on the way to Dundee? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Southern Railways - it was still there a couple of years ago or so, just secondhand stuff; the pricing of stock on show in the window always put me off actually going inside. Southern Railways was still there this autumn, although it was closed on the day I passed by (possibly a Wednesday). He had an O-Gauge Triang Hymek for ??30, and what looked like an LNER shunter (Y1?) for a similar price, also in O. Don't know if those are good prices or not, but his die-cast stuff didn't seem too cheap. Daresay there'd be some bargains to be had if you rummaged hard enough... Bob's Models was in Lode Lane, Solihull, but he's not there any longer. I seem to remember a Mike's(?) models in Kingstanding, but I think he was mainly R/C stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60B Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: Perth - isn't there one on the way to Dundee? There was a Beatties (?) a few streets south of the multi-storey but thats gone. There is one on the first stop out of Dundee on the Perth line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 The shop in Burlington Arcade was fascinating, it was tiny, L-shaped if I remember right... As a kid I always marvelled at the Wiking cars and trucks, they were HO but they seemed streets ahead of anything available in OO in 1973! I could never afford them of course. That was all swept away before the Burlington Hotel/ Bacchus Bar redevlopment. The new B'ham Ian Alien shop is excellent, I think the increase in space has in fact enabled a greater range to be displayed, particularly of Oxford Diecast, Corgi and so on, as well as more room to move around the types using it as a library. I just wish the tantalising 'N' display case wasn't right in yer face at the foot of the stairs.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westie7 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 There was a Beatties (?) a few streets south of the multi-storey but thats gone. There is one on the first stop out of Dundee on the Perth line. Invergowrie Model centre. slightly biased to Diecast and Kits, but gives good discount off RRP, I was in a few weeks ago and Gus has some bargains on Bachmann ViTrains and Hornby, Think he's findings things slow. Hopefully he'll make it until he chooses to retire other than the choice being made up for him. Rgds Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60B Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Invergowrie Model centre. slightly biased to Diecast and Kits, but gives good discount off RRP, I was in a few weeks ago and Gus has some bargains on Bachmann ViTrains and Hornby, Think he's findings things slow. Hopefully he'll make it until he chooses to retire other than the choice being made up for him. Rgds Mark I'll be in Dundee sometime after Christmas so will pop in and see what he has. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 The new B'ham Ian Alien shop is excellent, I think the increase in space has in fact enabled a greater range to be displayed... The new location has enabled the ventilation to work, too - some of the more, shall we say, savoury customers made a visit to the old shop a little off-putting at times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D605Eagle Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Is Hobbyrail still in Sutton Coldfield Steve? Pete ran it IIRC. Having been out of the model scene a few years you kind of loose touch with everybody! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Is Hobbyrail still in Sutton Coldfield Steve? Yes, he's still there. I've not been in recently, but one or two others on this thread have mentioned him as still being around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Yes, Peter's still running it. If you haven't been in for a while you won't recognise his lad, who now seems about six foot! Does anyone remember the (name of the) model shop that used to be in Walmley village, approx where the Co-Op is now? As a youth I'd cycle across Sutton to it, Gills had shut by then and it sold rail joiners etc... Now I live in Walmley but it had gone by the time we moved here in 1997. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D605Eagle Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Yes, he's still there. I've not been in recently, but one or two others on this thread have mentioned him as still being around. Thanks Steve, i must have missed him been mentioned when reading though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon attwood Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Theres nothing for the modeller in Truro as far as I know, used to be a nice shop in the corner of the pannier market but it's long gone. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomstaf Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 How about 'The Engine Shed' in Leytonstone? Hi The Engine Shed is sadly nowadays a sorry state of affairs. I went in towards the end of August and it felt like one of those ageing Post Offices where the stock, price labels, display et al are ancient. There is lots of junk lying around (literally brimming from plastic boxes), and I don't think the place has been cleaned since the late 1990s! It is a pity as the shop used to be very well stocked with rtr of all makes, detailing parts, paint and materials. Unless you want a disappointment, I wouldn't recommend a trip there. Technically not London, but The Signal Box in Rochester (about a 5 min walk from the station) is well stocked with reasonably priced rtr, materials and lots of accessories. Thomas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudley Dodger Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 I often go to the new ian allans, whenever i make my own way home from school. I don't quite get why they moved. They'd been under the pallisades since before i can remember. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomstaf Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 The new location has enabled the ventilation to work, too - some of the more, shall we say, savoury customers made a visit to the old shop a little off-putting at times. He he, I used to pop in there a few years ago as it was round the corner from Central Train HQ. The smell was indeed TOXIC on occasions ! I offered them a free air freshener (the sort that at the time were being installed on the CT 150 fleet) but the gothic looking women who worked there smiled and pointed towards a pot of poo pourri just below the till. Obviously it was a well known problem. Regards Thomas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I think the old IA premises disappear as part of the New Street rebuilding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plarailfan Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Leeds is a city lacking a good model shop, there is Modelzone, but for details and components such as wheelsets or nameplates etc, - no chance! and everything is full RRP. Last year, due to redundancy, I did my own market stall at Huddersfield market on Saturday's (it's the secondhand market day) selling among other things, good railway books, model railways, carriages and wagons, accessories and spare parts, all at good prices, selling these items was very difficult, with no interest at all in my Hornby yellow track cleaning coach pads. When I did manage to sell anything, customer's often thought I was fair game for selling boxed 'OO' seacow ballast wagons etc, for two quid each, - far less than I myself had to pay in the first place, so I turned down their derisory offer and sold my stock on ebay and packed in the market after 10 months, I couldn't keep going. Huddersfield has two model supplier's 'Something wicked' and Toymaster, both charge full RRP on everything and 'Something wicked' has old N gauge Farish loco's such as the Waterman Railway's black '47' which has been on the shelf for well over 12 years, and it's still on now - at 2009 Bachmann full RRP!! so they are obviously struggling to move stock too!! On the whole, people aren't buying models in quantity like they used to, there are toyfairs locally at Pudsey and Morley, also, a couple of good shops in the Wakefield area, so, what demand there is, gets scattered around over a range of selling/retail outlets. Halifax toyfair struggled on and finally gave up about a year ago. I wouldn't open a train shop in West Yorks, if I had a lotto win, for instance, as my recent experience is just not encouraging at all. P.s. tried Otley car boot with my stuff on Sunday's 12 till 4PM, and that was exactly the same as my experience at Huddersfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I think the old IA premises disappear as part of the New Street rebuilding. AFAIK all those premises are on short, renewing leases at the moment with an eye to relocation/ closure during the rebuilding. The Ian Alien guys made no secret of the fact that they were loking for better premises, and the Ethel St shop is in a different league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan100 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 [reminisce mode] In Brum in the 60's the little shop in Burlington Arcade was one that stocked Triang TT, and then later after Triang had stopped it, I had to travel out to Bob's Models on the Coventry road, who stocked 3mm scale items by GEM, Bec, Esanel, etc. [/reminisce mode] But in those days there were a lot more shops that stocked rtr stuff, and in Smethwick was a shop which I suspect was typical of thousands of toy shops up and down the country, in that it sold dolls, prams, Airfix kits, Humbrol paints, Scalextric, balsa wood, aeroplane kits, boat kits, etc., etc. A real treat on a Saturday morning. Geoff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Bedding Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Yeovil lost a perfectly good claim, to have the heart of a city,last week with the permanent closure of Hendford Halt. Now that will change my retail therapy. PB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-Greg Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Yeovil lost a perfectly good claim, to have the heart of a city,last week with the permanent closure of Hendford Halt. Now that will change my retail therapy. PB well you guys are realy lucky I live in the south of france, and model shops that carry railway related items are very far and few between most of them only cater for aircraft,, cars,, ships and so on so far I have had to get most of my stuff from the UK,, even when you find one its expencive,, at the moment I need 14 seep point motors price in UK 4 > 5 quid in france I only found 1 site and they require 8 euro each and no reduction for quantity of course engines and rolling stock have to come from uk anyway,, were i live I have found only 3 shops 1 in Paris 6 hours away 1 in Marsielle 2 hours away 1 in Peppingone 2 hours away ( not been there yet ) buying from the uk by e-mail increaces the cost due to transport apart from the fact I like to see what I am getting,,before parting with any money luckly I am quite a lot in the uk because of my work and have been able to source things while there like I will be passing through Rochester next saturday so a stop at "The Signal Box " will solve the seep problem better stop at that before you all get the violins out,, Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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