iankemp Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) It is with great regret to report, that the owner of Rail and Barter Shop in Long Eaton has sadly passed away. Neil the owner passed away on the 30th May at 11.10 am from suffering an illness. He was 86. He owned the shop in Long Eaton, his extensive knowledge of repairing models and making them run again will be missed. Neil was such a kind man and always had time for people, shared his knowledge of what would be best for young people who were just starting up in the model world. The modelling world has lost a great man and a true gent of his time. May all our thoughts go to his family and people who were part of his life. Edited June 6, 2015 by iankemp Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sub39h Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) That's so sad - I was just in the shop a month or two ago chatting to him. I'm not local to the area but I've purchased a few things from there over the past two years. Always used to pop in on my frequent jaunts up and down the M1. Lovely shop and lovely man - wouldn't have guessed he was 86! My condolences go out to all the family and friends. Edited June 6, 2015 by sub39h Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted June 6, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 6, 2015 Thats a real shame, went in there a few times back in my fastline days and chatted with him a fair bit, its a real treasure trove of a shop too I made a point if trying to get there when i started with colas but when i did finally tie in a job finishing in toton with their opening times i got there to find they were on annual leave and i never have managed to get back there since Thoughts go out to the family Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGR Model Store Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Sad to hear. RIP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScRSG Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I remember going there many years ago when the RBS stood for Roy's Bargain Store! Bought a Hornby Dublo 8F at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Sad to hear of his passing. Not a place I was able to frequent that often but in my coach driving days we had half a dozen jobs a year to Trent College and I always like to pay a visit whilst waiting there. One of those places you take for granted really, doubtless it'll be another of the fast diminishing breed of 'old school' model shops to be lost to us. RIP Neil, our thoughts are with your family and friends. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 My father in law was a regular visitor to this shop and often enjoyed banter with Neil. He would recommend the shop to me many times. Sadly I have never had the chance to visit, but on behalf of myself and my father in law I wish to send condolences to Neil's family and friends. A sad loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Oh dear that is sad news. I had been a customer of Neil on and off for some 30 years or so. My sincere condolences to Betty and the family for your loss. RIP Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Country Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Very sad to hear this. As a native of the Long Eaton area RBS was a regular haunt for many years (and for my father many years before that). Neil was always very friendly and extremely knowledgeable on the subject. His advice set me up for 30 years of modelling and I'm sure many more modellers can say the same. My sincere condolences to his family. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Sadly it seems that the RBS will also be no more. An announcement on Facebook by Neil's grandson has stated that the shop will not reopen. Of course the loss of the shop is not as important as the death of the owner. Once again condolences to all of Neil's family and friends. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sub39h Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Sadly it seems that the RBS will also be no more. An announcement on Facebook by Neil's grandson has stated that the shop will not reopen. Of course the loss of the shop is not as important as the death of the owner. Once again condolences to all of Neil's family and friends. Definitely a shame, but as you rightly point out not the priority. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Radford Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Condolences to the family. This was a fantastic shop, one of those where you came out with something you never knew you needed! RIP Neil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simdmuk Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 A great loss. One of the deminishing "old school" model shops. Fantastic for items long since discontinued and second hand.Been a regular customer for many years.Neil and his family were always friendly and helpfull and like Bill said above, you always came out with something !RIP Neil and condolences to all the family. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted June 10, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 10, 2015 Local newspaper has published an obituary here (although I found it difficult to open the page due to pop up adverts !) http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Long-Eaton-Railway-Barter-Shop-closes-death-owner/story-26657668-detail/story.html . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I read this on the Long Eaton Memories Facebook site earlier this week - sad news. I used to live in the surrounding area and worked just around the corner in the mid seventies so was a regular visitor. After I moved away I used to try and pop in whenever possible when visiting family etc and always enjoyed a chat with Neil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iankemp Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 There were times when i went in there i would end up talking to Neil for a few hours after purchasing items. We would talk about railway stuff, the holidays Neil had been on. He loved his trips to Scotland by boat and would travel near to where i live now. I lived in Long Eaton for almost my life until the last 10 years when i moved to Loughborough, but i would always make a point of going in to see Neil when i came back to Long Eaton. I now live in Scotland just north west of Glasgow. When visiting friends and family i would always go in and see how Neil and Betty was. Neil will be sadly missed. R.B.S was the beacon for the modellers of the East Midlands and it will never be the same now. If the shop does close for ever Long Eaton will have lost a shop that has seen many shops come and go over the years. We just hope and pray that someone who has a great interest will come and rescue the shop from being another one of Long Eaton's ghosts. When i say that i meant that it would be good if it could be taken on and be kept as a legacy to Neil and his whole family. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted June 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 11, 2015 RBS, Neil & Betty will be much missed, there was no where quite like if & no other reason for visiting Long Eaton, with the possible exception of the Home Brew shop. They had a little trove of gauge 0; I wonder what will happen to the huge stocks of rtr kits & bits. Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srihaggis Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 The shop in question has reopened (not sure if it's a pernament reopening), although they no longer specialise Railway. Just the other 'stuff' they sold it seems. One of my collegues was in Long Eaton today and dropped me a text so I asked them to investigate about whether it has reopened as a model rail shop as the signage for the shop was took down a few months. Seems the family are running it but "The railway stuff has been sold back to the manufacturer". Opening hours says open till 2pm on the door. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted December 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2015 Sold back to the manufacturer? Even the treasure trove of mint Lima? Perhaps not. Did see evidence of activity this morning driving home from Tesco but I couldn't see what. I have happy memories of the shop from before but I wish the owners well with whatever they are selling to turn a crust. Griff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
50002Superb Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Tomorrow is its last day of opening, no railway stuff left. Such a loss Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave parker Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 The shop in question has reopened (not sure if it's a pernament reopening), although they no longer specialise Railway. Just the other 'stuff' they sold it seems. One of my collegues was in Long Eaton today and dropped me a text so I asked them to investigate about whether it has reopened as a model rail shop as the signage for the shop was took down a few months. Seems the family are running it but "The railway stuff has been sold back to the manufacturer". Opening hours says open till 2pm on the door. hi did anyone watch homes under the hammer last week. the property was sold and turned into 2 shops with flats worth watching for the novel loo flush I assume Neil constructed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now