Good shops for O gauge?

[cromptonnut]

I don't recall ever seeing a discussion about this so I thought I'd start one.  It could be very useful for when we're "out and about" and possibly even stickied.

 

What shops have you been to that have a good range of O gauge items - whether kit or rtr - in stock?  Helpful if you can list what range(s) are stocked too.

 

Tower Models of Blackpool, of course, do plenty of O gauge.

 

Gaugemaster of Ford, Sussex, had some Heljan O gauge, plus Peco and Slaters kits and bits when I was last in there.

 

Can you add to this list?

[woodyfox]

I used Tower for the purchase of my 47 with all it's bits - good service although mail-ordered. They seem to specialise in 7mm. I went to Hattons expecting an Aladdins cave type of shop but it was very 4mm dedicated and laid out like an Argos style shop. Howes in Oxford seem to supply many things 'O'.

[Aggers58]

In the 80's hey days " The Home of O Gauge" used to be the Mecca for the Scale, but now I feel the scale has an excellent shop window called the Reading O Gauge Show, The Guild Exhibition in Telford, along with Kettering and Halifax and not forgetting the Up coming Bristol Show.

All of these are worth visiting if you are new to the scale and looking for assistance and inspiration.

[brian daniels]

 

 Howes in Oxford seem to supply many things 'O'.

 

Howes only sell the odd Heljan loco and ESU sound decoders for O Gauge and Railmatch paint for when you have finished your model. They are a 4mm and Radio Control shop.

[John K]

I do almost all of my 7mm shopping at specialist shows, and a bit online.

Best,

John

[Andy Y]

I would echo Woodyfox re Tower.  I have bought from them over the years (mail order) including a special paint job on a Tower Brass GWR auto trailer.

 

Also try the Gauge O Guild traders web page  and filter on retailers.

 

In 24 years of 7mm modelling, I have never found the 7mm equivalent of the 4mm high street model railway shop.  It has been modelling by mail order, specialist shows and now the internet.

 

I'm not sure what the link should be or whether it's just available to Guild members but the link won't work I'm afraid.

[southern42]

If you're in North Wales - the Conwy Railway Museum and model shop in Betws-y-Coed is always good for a visit.

 

http://www.conwyrailwaymuseum.co.uk/model-shop.html

[Guest Isambarduk]

Also try the Gauge O Guild traders web page  and filter on retailers.

  

I'm not sure what the link should be or whether it's just available to Guild members but the link won't work I'm afraid.

 

Try this:  www.gauge0guild.com/x-links.asp

 

[84B Oxley]

JPL Models of Tyldesley, near Manchester, is an Aladdin's Cave of O Gauge 'bits and pieces'. They sell items like wheels and axles, axleboxes and castings for all kinds of locos, carriages and wagons, as well as things like nickel and brass sheet, tube, rod etc. Not to mention a few ready to run locos, usually kit or scratch built. Well worth a visit if you're in the area. Closed on Mondays. 

Other than that, as others have said, it's online or shows.

[alant]

JPL Models of Tyldesley, near Manchester, is an Aladdin's Cave of O Gauge 'bits and pieces'. They sell items like wheels and axles, axleboxes and castings for all kinds of locos, carriages and wagons, as well as things like nickel and brass sheet, tube, rod etc. Not to mention a few ready to run locos, usually kit or scratch built. Well worth a visit if you're in the area. Closed on Mondays. 

Other than that, as others have said, it's online or shows.

 

Thanks for that. I presume this is the same JPL that attend Guild shows. Didn't realise they had a shop, sounds like a good place to visit. I don't get up to that part of the country very often though.

 

Alan.

[84B Oxley]

Alan

 

Yes.it is one and the same, the workshop where the owner turns cast iron wheels and makes brass mainframes, coupling rods etc, is in the cellar !

 

Jeff

[switcher 1]

The lack of shops dealing with O gauge is why it has declined to such an extent as to have been virtually extinct, but now that there will be RTR, perhaps this situation will improve. People will hopefully be tempted when they see it is no longer so elitist.

Unfortunately, I know of no shops near where I live, & have to use the internet, & the traders do seem to be quite variable in their dealings with their costomers.

[81A Oldoak]

The lack of shops dealing with O gauge is why it has declined to such an extent as to have been virtually extinct, but now that there will be RTR, perhaps this situation will improve. People will hopefully be tempted when they see it is no longer so elitist.

Unfortunately, I know of no shops near where I live, & have to use the internet, & the traders do seem to be quite variable in their dealings with their costomers.

I don't think this entirely true as O Gauge has always been a specialist market. However, I do miss "Home of O Gauge" and I am trying to persuade my local model shop to dip more than a toe into the O Gauge market. Meanwhile, I am delighted to see you using an Ixion Hudswell Clarke for your avatar picture and I hope that the loco will attract more people to the scale. We have sold approaching 700 so far.

 

Regards,

 

Chris Klein

[Guest Isambarduk]

"... O gauge is why it has declined to such an extent as to have been virtually extinct, ..."

 

Virtually extinct?  When was that?  Not in the past few decades that is for sure; I doubt that anybody has thought that since the early 1970s.

 

David

[jhock]

K S World of Models i Stevenage, he carrys all sorts bits of O gauge and sells Slaters and Parkside kits.

[jcm@gwr]

K S World of Models i Stevenage, he carrys all sorts bits of O gauge and sells Slaters and Parkside kits.

I'll second that, he also has Dapol's new R-T-R wagons on the shelf (not that they

stay very long!) and will quite often order in stuff for you.

Jeff

[jhock]

I'll second that, he also has Dapol's new R-T-R wagons on the shelf (not that they

stay very long!) and will quite often order in stuff for you.

Jeff

Plus he has slaters wheels and and parts on the shelf, C and L track parts and so on. Plus the chap who runs it is very knowledgeable and friendly.

 

He does not have a website but the number is 01438 746616, only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

[switcher 1]

...... Meanwhile, I am delighted to see you using an Ixion Hudswell Clarke for your avatar picture and I hope that the loco will attract more people to the scale. We have sold approaching 700 so far.

 

Regards,

 

Chris Klein

Best thing I did was to take the plunge by buying that.

[antony1947]

Unfortunately as you have found, very few model shops cater for 7mm.  My local one says there is not enough demand !  Thank goodness therefore for the excellent '0' gauge shows as the forthcoming one at Bristol and the very user friendly traders from whom you can mail order.

 

 

Jayson Kent

[cromptonnut]

Unfortunately as you have found, very few model shops cater for 7mm.  My local one says there is not enough demand !  

 

But then if they don't stock anything - even Peco trackwork - then 7mm modellers are going to go elsewhere and not even ask them to get stuff in, rather getting them mail order from shops they know at least has things in stock.

 

When you go into a shop you invariably find other things you need even if they're "non scale specific" like paint or scenic items, so retailers lose out.

 

O gauge may still be "minor" compared to OO but it's not an insignificant market, if it was we wouldn't get Dapol, Heljan etc dabbling in the "rtr" market, and as most people get into the hobby via a train set then expand their interests, if people don't see O gauge then they can't even think about buying it.

[David Siddall]

I think we'd all like a local model shop which catered for our every need, however the reality is that the overheads associated with running a specialist-market retail business in commercial premises are far from conducive to running a 'service'; which is what most modelers lamenting the loss of specialist retailers actually seem to want (...any one remember Max Williams' treasure-trove of a shop in Bristol?).

It's fixed costs exceeding profits which tends to finish businesses off and the significantly lower overheads of e-commerce can make the difference between a viable retailing proposition and taking a very big risk.

But what about the demise of 'service' the traditionalists chorus? Well, I find that a polite email or phone call usually provides as much service as I could possibly want.

OK, but what about delivery costs the chorus continues! Apart from visits to Shows I choose to buy on-line because I can do so whenever it suits me with delivery adding (usually) no more than a couple of quid. To drive to my nearest retailer with a modest stock of 7-mil products (and back) would involve several hours and cost me a couple of gallons of fuel plus parking. To drive to the nearest retailer with a substantial stock (including those specialist items I might only want occasionally) would involve a tank of fuel and a long day out!

IMO (and as e-commerce is part of what I do professionally I'd suggest that my opinion is fairly well informed), there's a good chance that the growth in popularity of 7-mil might well be down to the benefits and opportunities offered by on-line retailing...?

TTFN

David

PS: It's also worth turning the coin over and considering the numerous manufacturers of products which don't generate volume sales. Manufacturers need to make at least a 'break-even', though most I'd suggest would like to make a modest profit. If the manufacturer's only option is to sell via the retail trade any profit is invariably impacted by the retailers' margin. That's one of the main reasons so many specialist manufacturers now sell direct on-line.

[Guest Isambarduk]

Very elegantly put, David.  I agree with you and I had thought of writing something along your lines - but I wouldn't have done it so well!  I cannot see what the problem is: with ecommerce, we all effectively have a local shop in our workshop/office/study/living room/wherever and, as you say, with phone calls and emails, detailed communication (with illustrations, even) is better than it has ever been.  7mm modellers have surely benefitted from this.

 

David

 

aka DLOS

[thirty2a]

All the above points are great but sometimes when out shopping with the missus and I pop into the local chain model shop I might buy a wagon kit or some track even a buffer stop kit if there was one to be got! and since peco do O gauge and are selling their whares in oo and n in shops why not a bit of O?

[cromptonnut]

I suppose part of the issue is that O gauge stock can take up a lot of space, and be quite expensive for the retailer to buy in the first place and 'sit on the shelves' unsold.

 

Little Johnny can save up his pocket money and buy a £10 wagon, or indeed daddy can do the same on a whim - whereas even £40 for an O gauge kit is much more of a "do I really need this" purchase, and as for a £450+ loco, well that's definitely beyond most people's "impulse buy" abilities (or put on the credit card without getting an earful when you get home).

[3 link]

 whereas even £40 for an O gauge kit is much more of a "do I really need this" purchase,

 

 

and as for a £450+ loco, well that's definitely beyond most people's "impulse buy" abilities (or put on the credit card without getting an earful when you get home).

 

Of course you really need this, that £40 wagon kit ( most are £35 ) will give you hours of enjoyment in the making and then a lifetimes joy trundling up and down your layout, bargain !!

 

If all I got was an earful for a £450+ loco, then I would willingly suffer that and have a full engine shed by now :locomotive: .

 

ATB,

 

Martyn.