Ian_M

I've started preparing for the York Model Railway Show, which is happening in just over a week over Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Easter weekend. The Train Trax stand will be a bit bigger than I did at Leeds or Doncaster, so what would you like me to bring? If you've already started writing a shopping list then do let me know and I'll try and bring everything you want. If there's something that you'd just like to have a look at 'in the flesh' without any obligation to buy it, then again just drop me a note here or email to sales@traintrax.co.uk York is a great show to visit - always a good variety of subjects modelled and always to an inspiring standard. In total circa 120 stands expected at the show. Catering isn't bad either once you've found it somewhere upstairs!

Good show but absolutely awful for access by public transport. Buses from the station only once an hour or so, and they dump you over a mile away with no pavements and little signage to where you need to go. I'll be avoiding anything at this venue in the future.

In the next few months I'd really like to recruit someone else to assist with the next stages of the business's growth. This could be an opportunity for the right person to help drive Model Railway Magic and Train Trax into new areas. MRM is a small, but ambitious company that sells model railway items online. Our success so far has been driven by our passion for delivering good value and excellent service. Do you have a strong interest in Railways and/or Modelling? Are you looking for a fulfilling career with a company that aims to have some fun? Do you want to work for an organization that is committed to making a positive impact in our community? If you'd like to know more and feel you have some useful skills, then please do get in touch. I'm very open to different ideas on how this could work, but the role would need to include hands-on tasks at the York HQ.

I'm currently holding a January sale. Substantial discounts on all sorts of stuff - take a look: traintrax.co.uk/sale. If you're interested there's two reasons why I'm doing this: primarily because such things are traditional around this time of year and also because I'm planning to move my store room to a much bigger unit (on the same site) in February. Less stock will make the move easier, and then I can spend the cash on re-stocking bigger and better than ever. Clearance prices remain in place until the end of January, and there will be very limited re-stocking during this time across all lines. Get your orders in early! If you're looking for something in particular that shows as out of stock then please do get in touch.

I'm pleased that I'll be able to have a stand for Train Trax - only the second ever show we've traded at. I'll be bringing a decent range of Kato N gauge (and a few OO9) trains, track and accessories.

All three versions available for pre-orders from Train Trax: https://traintrax.co.uk/126-4014-n-union-pacific-big-boy-steam-locomotive-4014

It will be properly 'announced' next month I think. Goodness knows what the price will be!

As it happens this year's Leeds show is going to be my first stand with TrainTrax. Any tips? Ian

Kato use a batch production approach, so once a certain model is sold out then that's it. If we're lucky then there may be a re-run, but often with gaps of years between them. A new run of the Glacier Express sets is due early next year. I currently have stock of a few different locos, the EW1 coach sets, and the recent containers and wagons. What was it you were looking for? Ian (Train Trax)

York always has a high standard of layouts, and a good mix of gauges etc. It's Easter weekend: https://yorkshow.org.uk/

I haven't provided much in the way of updates here as I've been fairly busy over the last 6 months or so! I am still lurking and happy to answer queries though... One of the things that's got fairly interesting is helping the Yorkshire Area Group of the N gauge Society with distributing kits for T-TRAK modules. This week Train Trax is having a special week concentrating on these. Follow on facebook for more... I currently have stock of all the different types of T-TRAK laser cut module kit. This now includes junctions, singles, doubles, triples, outside and inside corners. Each kit is simple to assemble and produces a baseboard ready to lay track. Uni-Track and cables available as optional extras. All available form https://traintrax.co.uk/t-trak Use 'T-TRAK-10' coupon code for 10% off all T-TRAK kits this week - I need to clear a bit of space. Contact me if you want more than two, as further discounts may be available for bulk buys going to the same address.

The crankpins are plastic I think, so a magnet probably won't do much good! I had the same problem and Peco sent a small packet of replacements in the post very quickly.

Hello, What happened to the access to the video content for paper subscribers? I've just worked out that I haven't had the normal email with youtube links since February? Thanks, Ian

The packaging issues are unfortunate, but in defense of Kato they aren't universal. It's one of those things where the people who have a problem post online, but everyone unaffected keeps stum. I have received a batch of 30 direct from Japan (Peco won't sell to me) and none have been affected. It is indeed a lovely model.

Without wishing to increase blood pressure anywhere, I was wondering if anything in the background is going on to get compensation from the old hosts. Keeping backups on the same drives as the original is pretty much gross negligence - I'd have thought a half decent laywer could make a case for loss of earnings from ads at least. Was there an SLA? I know in my old IT job that sort of failure would be a 'major non conformity'

The new site at https://traintrax.co.uk/ is now live and taking orders. If you spot anything that looks wrong, let me know so I can get it sorted!

Quick update: Tomorrow morning (8th March) I'm hoping to launch a new website for Train Trax, which will involve the site being unavailable for new orders for a couple of hours. Please place orders as soon as possible if you think you might need anything urgently! Following the upgrade you'll see a better, more secure site that works well on mobile devices, allows more choice of payment methods and a smoother pre-order process. Importantly for me it will make maintenance much, much easier! All accounts and order history will be transferred and of course the same range of fantastic products at fantastic prices.

A few weeks ago, Keith Blanchard's announced his retirement after 14 years of building up the Train Trax business (https://www.traintrax.co.uk). Train Trax is exclusively dedicated to Kato Model Railway products in N Gauge. As far as possible it carries the full range of Kato Unitrack and buildings at extremely competitive discounted prices. In stock are all the popular Kato Unitrack track sets, ground level track, viaduct track and bridges, points and crossings, signals, buildings, accessories and much more including Unitram and large range of locomotives, carriages, wagons and sets from Kato USA and Japan. I'm delighted that I am able to take over Keith's business and continue this fantastic resource. Since the legal transfer, I (Ian - the new owner) have been pretty busy sorting everything out. First the stock had to be collected from Keith's base in Surrey and transferred in a very full van up the M1 to the new HQ in York. Then there was the inevitable chaos of unloading and sorting boxes which had got muddled, and squeezing it all into the storage space I'd set up. Then a few overdue deliveries of further stock from suppliers arrived which I also had to squeeze in, as well as trying my best to keep up with the steady stream of new orders going out. A few notes about the transfer to allay any concerns: - I'm aiming to keep up Keith's high level of service, great pricing and product range. I'm really sorry if there are any hiccups or delays to orders while we're transitioning everything - do let me know if there are any problems. - We had professional advice not to announce the transfer before contracts were signed. In the end the legalities were completed very soon after that. I'm sorry if it came as a surprise to many. - All pre-order information has been transferred. When items arrive in this country I'll be sending invoices - these will come from my company's QuickBooks system but I'll also try to drop you an email. Payment can be by BACS or PayPal. Items will be shipped as soon as possible after payment is received. - For a while Keith is still around in the background to deal with queries and issues about previous orders, and to provide a bit of technical and product support if needed. Please contact me in the first instance and I'll pass on the queries. A note about the company: Model Railway Magic Ltd was founded early in lockdown by me as a part-time business 'model recycling programme' buying and selling second hand model railway items. For the moment it is just me, but that may change in the future. Do get in touch if you have items which you'd like to convert to cash. I'm intending that Model Railway Magic will continue its model recycling programme under its own brand as well as operating Train Trax full-time, and planning future ventures! A note about new releases: There have been a few new announcements from Kato Japan and Kato USA. I haven't had time to list them on the website just yet, but let me know if you are interested in pre-ordering any of them. I lurk here on RMweb quite a lot so do DM me if you have any queries. Ian M

I have now - still none the wiser...

Anyone heard anymore about this business sale? There doesn't seem to be anything on the Cooper-Craft website - I'm aware of the history! Whilst I realise many would recommend against it, I'm on the look-out for model related businesses which I could buy into and improve.

Hi, Someone has pointed out that my username may not instil trust. It refers to a long-ago student shenanigan so maybe it is time to change it. How do I do so? With thanks, Ian M

I've nothing much to add to the above, except to emphasize that smaller traders have lower overheads so will offer more. You can find some of these independent traders in the Facebook groups referred to above. In a small way I also do some trading and would be happy to give a quote. Ian

I've sent 250+ royal mail small parcels using this service in the last few months. All 4 of my local post offices accept them without any bother at all. I sent one via Hermes, and it got lost for a week but turned up later.

Walked past this place earlier this week and was surprised to see it was still there. There was a sign to say it was only trading on eBay during the pandemic, but still encouraging!

I'm one of those guys selling on eBay from my spare room (recently started). I aspire to get a small shop unit in the next couple of years so this thread has been a fascinating read!