Widnes Model Centre

This should help those shops that remain open for mail order and delivery: We are still unsure what "delivery" actually means, i.e. Can we deliver to local customers, or is it only using a Courier, Royal Mail etc. Direct lift from Twitter via BBC Web site. UK cabinet minister Michael Gove has been asked to provide more clarity on the government guidelines announced on Monday night. Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he said: Chancellor Rishi Sunak will outline more help for self-employed workers later Deliveries of "non-essential" goods such as toys and clothes can continue He says people should work from home "wherever possible" but there will be exceptions. For example, he says plumbers may be called out to emergencies but Sports Direct stores "should not be open" Ministers want to "reduce the rate of infection" and will follow scientific advice on whether or not to change the measures after three weeks Children under the age of 18 can travel between the homes of separated parents - a point he reiterated on Twitter:

We decided that we should close in order to try and stop the spread of this virus. We will be operating a Phone and Collect service. Going to the absolutely rammed Post Office to send parcels seemed to us to be adding to the problem. If we can help, Monday to Saturday 10am until 3pm, call on 07860 313130, or email barrywilliams8@hotmail.com We shall be working from home and only going to the shop to pack orders when sufficient received. Stay Safe.

Hopefully of interest: Liz, the 84 year old owner of Transport Models of Preston has started a Live Blog. Apparently she says it was my idea. She must be going a little stir crazy as she has put her age on there. She used to tell us that she a "Tad over retirement age". Liz is Self Isolating and I am sure she would enjoy railway modellers in particular contributing to her Blog. Just don't tell her I told you! Far right is Blog, sign up is simple, enter your email address and create a password and you are in. http://www.transportmodels.co.uk

Good spot Jim. That is actually Hattons phone number. MIB is 01656 665511. Hope l have got it right.

Agree with Derek 19B. The sight of a couple with a baby buggy, with or without a child and the alarm is raised. We have 12 cameras and you will literally see them counting the cameras. Our biggest loss to date was by a couple filling a baby buggy with Bachmann trains. Thankfully we recovered every one of the items on that occassion. The couple didn't even have a child and although it couldn't be proved, chances are they stole the buggy from another shop. To be totally honest, our biggest shoplifters tend to be well over the age of retirement. Exhibitions are the biggest cause of losses with large crowds milling around stalls. On a slightly lighter note, a few years ago we had a fairly large radio controlled boat stolen. The following morning while studying the cctv system, I had the face of the offender on screen, looked up and there he was looking through the shop window. I was still giggling when he got a free ride to the local Police station. Never recovered the boat though.

Hi all, most of you will know we sadly lost Paul Price last year. I know he had many friends on here. He had conversations with many of you. Doeas anybody know what Paul had done with his layouts, stock etc? His family are looking to find them and have so far drawn a complete blank. Please PM me if anyone has any idea. Many thanks Barry

We had the reverse experience, just prior to boarding a flight from LA, we were approached and as the flight was overbooked (it was about twenty years ago), would we mind delaying our flight? One night in a hotel all inclusive and $100 each, with the possibility of a second night as the flight the following day was also overbooked, another $100. All three of us jumped with joy. We had been playing in a golf tournament in Arizona and fancied some free time in LA. We were asked to remain in the departure lounge while the arrangements were made. Then came the biggest kick in the pants ever, there were some no-shows and there was now room on the flight. We were practically dragged onto the flight kicking and screaming. Still use that airline, just in case it happens again.....

Just checking out allocation of R3809 and my confirmation email shows my final allocation on the 20th January 2020. The Centenary products are the only ones with a specific limit. I cannot see any restriction on R3810. So there should be plenty of model shops with them available. Prices in certain model shops? We are often asked if we can price match certain retailers. Nobody asked us to price match when we were selling a LE Airfix kit, at £27.99, one shop mentioned here was giving customers free post but charging £59.99 for the same item. As georgeconna discovered, Marc’s Models had one in stock. We also had a walk in customer who spotted R3809 on our shelves. One happy customer. In other words if you are lucky to have a LMS, check them out. Rocket is delicate, it’s a scale model. I model in N Scale and the wiring can be so fine that you could mistake a wire for an errant eye lash. Putting crew in a loco requires the eyesight of an Eagle and the hand of a bomb disposal expert. Packaging, we have clam shell, foam, egg box and probably more that l have missed out all using various methods of trying to help get your model to you intact. Then they put their faith in a courier. I had a damaged loco returned by the manufacturer and then dropped from chest height by the courier. It had to go back for repair again. lf only Rocket had been made larger in the first place. Then again, would he have even dreamed that someone would want a model of it in 1/76 scale?

Hornby have been using the finger holes at the back of the packaging for as long as l can remember. I believe that it’s even more important with a model of this size. N Gauge steam locomotives are just as delicate and they can be very difficult to remove from packaging. Warranty returns or repairs should only be returned to Hornby if bought direct from Hornby. Otherwise speak to the retailer and they can advise. Hornby will always give assistance to the shop in my experience and l don’t see anybody with a faulty Rocket having any issues other than initial disappointment. If returned to a retailer then l would strongly advise to return in all the original packaging. If in in doubt give Hornby Customer Service a call on Monday, they are really helpful.

Sad to read that people have not received R3809, I didn't even keep one for myself. However I was unable to travel to Margate due to a back injury in January. Instead sat at home in my comfy chair and kept on refreshing RM Web. Then courtesy of Andy Y, the new Hornby items appeared. Ooh, we'll have some of them and them and ooh them as well. Scribled R numbers turned into a hasty email, all sent of to our rep by about 9.20am. Sitting smuggly thinking ,,,,, We had to have our orders in first as those in Margate would still be drinking coffee and dining on bacon sandwiches. Nearly fell off my chair when the dreadful news came in. Certain items had been allocated. Drat and double drat, we hadn't even been allocated some loco's. But we had to accept that it had been done fairly and proportionally. Nevertheless we knew exactly what we were getting and they went on as an announcement on our Facebook page. First in got what they wanted. Then we started a reserve list in case anybody decided after their euphoric phone call that they actually didn't want item a, b or x. R3809 is the first of Hornby's announcements that has gone viral on Ebay. I suspect more new arrivals will go the same way. 1500 units will not go a long way, Hornby website, the Hornby wholesaler, national accounts and retailers. Break that down and if every Hornby retailer who had supported Hornby was allocated one then that IS fair. I hope the retailers who's last invoice but has a Hornby account was for £3 4s and 6d didn't get one. I suspect that would be the case. Only going to mention one Retailer who had items on Pre-order, long after they were all pre-ordered. When you tried to add R3809, the wording changed to something like "Sold Out On Pre-Order, No Further Orders can be Taken". Well done to Rails. I do hope that the members on here are able to secure R3809 at no more than the RRP. There must be retailers like ourselves who are overlooked for Hornby Products. Am I bitter? Maybe a little, I was on duty at the Rainhill Trials in 1979. At that time being 22/23 I thought it was a big murder trial or maybe even sheep dogs. But I did help to get Rockets wheel repaired overnight and ready for the next day. But that is another story. So should I be bitter? nah, could have kept one but customers come first. Finally in the lithographs, paintings depicted in here. How clever were the engineers of the day? They drove a railway line under bridges. Road over Rail bridges, now that was forward planning! On a clear day, I can see Rainhill, also the location of our second favourite restaurant. I will be getting R3810 for myself.

In fairness, Hattons never said they would supply the Class 66 to retailers. I don't know if this will change but that is the current situation.

Hi Mike, missed you again. We were in the Pacific Quay. Parking was £4 for 24 hours, presumably cheaper for a shorter stay. Car park leads to the Bells Hill Bridge. About a three minute walk to Hall 3. Still got wetter than if we had swam The Clyde. Gill in her attempt to get out of the rain ☔️ ran into the bar. Unfortunately it was an iron bar on the bridge .. ouch. Chipped tooth and cut lip, she still set about posting photos on the shop Facebook page.

Arrived back late this afternoon. Great organisation, modelling etc. Horrendous weather which I hope didn't detract from the visitor numbers. Minor moan, I enjoy looking at modelling above all else, but I don't mind a train running around every now and then. I don't find movement at all distracting! Great to meet up with our suppliers in no particular order, Hornby, Bachmann, Gaugemaster, Peco and Accurascale. I know it is still going on but can anybody confirm the dates for 2021? Just about to book our hotel for next year.

Not sure if we will make it to the SEC, concerned about crossing the footbridge over the river Clyde. It’s wild out there. Might stay in our hotel and await photos on here. Wrap up warm everybody.

According to Hornby's DPD Tracker, our Rockets are an hour and twenty five minutes away and counting. Main issue is the shop is closed on Thursdays. We are en route to Glasgow for Model Rail Scotland. Just hoping the bike shop opposite don't use the parcel as a foot stool. If they do I will certainly be giving the owner a Rocket!!

I can confirm that the " Rights for the Drawings" for various model(s) were bought from the Liquidators of DJ Models Ltd. No Tooling was bought. Just to eliminate any sidetracking of collaboration between the two companies.

Just received an email from Hornby. Rocket is “imminent”. I was at the 150th Anniversary at Rainhill which is just up the road from our shop. That was a week to remember. Hornby promised early delivery and have come through. Not clear from the email whether it is both variants but l imagine it will be.

After banging on about the arrival of our Titanic plastic kit in 1/200, I thought we had better get back to Railways! I have attached a simple list of items due this quarter. This I believe shows how much Bachmann have now managed to get their factories up to full speed and possibly slipped into Overdrive. Bit of a Bachmann Turner Overdrive you could say. (Turners the guy who checks everything into the warehouse. No, honest I didn't make that bit up). Some of the items were we only told about earlier this week and are arriving soon. Anything highlighted in Yellow is Newly Announced, anything in the lower half and "shaded" is New Tooling. Might have to shift the Titanic and make room on the shelves for more railway items. Spring 2020 British Railway Announcements .pdf

I thought I would share this post that appeared today on a local history site. Credit: Steve Horton, Liverpool Hidden History. The grave in St Andrews Churchyard Maghull of Frank Hornby, inventor of Meccano, Hornby Railways and Dinky Toys. Frank died in 1936, when he was living at Quarry Brook, now part of Maricourt High School The following is an obituary that appeared in the Liverpool Echo........ Mr. Frank Hornby, the well known Liverpool manufacturer, and ex-M.P. for Everton Division, died today at the David Lewis Northern Hospital. For some months Mr. Hornby had not enjoyed the best of health. His eyesight increasingly failed him and recently he went to Germany for treatment, returning in July. A few days ago he was admitted to the Northern Hospital, where on Friday morning he underwent an operation for an internal disorder. Mr. Hornby was a "self-made man" and his successful business career was something of a romance. A native of Liverpool—he was born in 1863—he tried his hand at several occupations after he left school, without their giving promise of any advancement. It was the result of a sudden inspiration which came to him in a railway carriage that a career of prosperity was opened up to him. Although not trained as an engineer Mr. Hornby, as a youth, had an ingenious faculty for "making things." He practised his hobby in a workshop at his parents' home. One Christmas Eve, while yet a young man, he was travelling from London to Birmingham to spend holiday with a relative who had children. The train stopped opposite a goods yard. His eye alighted on a small crane. He had been wondering what he could do to amuse his relative's children, and the thought came to him there and then —why not make a toy crane for the youngsters out of small stripe of steel? The more he pondered over the idea, the more his imagination kindled to the possibilities of inventing mechanical toys which would appeal to the boy mind in general. And so Meccano came into being—a toy which could be put together by any boy of average intelligence out of a supply of little steel strips, punched with holes at regular intervals, and which, with the help of brass wheels, thin rods, and tiny nuts and bolts, could be capable of assuming many designs in miniature machinery form. The invention of the Homby trains, with their realistic railway equipment, was a later development which set the seal on the creative output of the company of which he was the head. Mr. Homby made the first "Meccano" set himself, drilling the holes in the steel strips in his household workshop. He had very little money when he started out on what he felt sure would be a good business proposition, but very soon he was able to engage an assistant, and gradually, though not without many reverses and discouragements, he managed to develop both an industrial and a selling organisation. which within a score of years had made Meccano one of the most successful business enterprises in the country. By this time a company had been formed with Mr. Hornby as its chairman. Mr. Hornby bad selected "Meccano" as his trade name because it was one that people of every nationality could pronounce. And in the course of time people of every nationality were not only pronouncing "Meccano " but buying it. For some years now Meccano products have necessitated a factory covering five acres, in Binn's-road, Liverpool, with a staff of 2,000 men and girls to keep pace with the world-wide demand for the company's supply of mechanical toys. An off-shoot of the business has been the issuing of a magazine, which is printed in seventeen languages, including Chinese. Public life had no attractions for Mr. Hornby—his business absorbed all his time—until the autumn of 1930, when he accepted an invitation to become prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Everton Division, a quarter of the city in which he had spent the earlier years of his life. Twelve months later, in the General Election of 1931, he topped the poll in a three corner contest against a labour and National Labour candidate, being elected by a substantial majority. At the General Election of 1935 Mr. Hornby declined to accept nomination again for Everton. pleading as his justification the pressure of business engagements. Mr Hornby married Clara, daughter of W. G. Godefrey of Liverpool. They had three children. two sons and a daughter. The latter died when 14 years of age, but the sons survive. One, Mr. Roland Hornby, resides at his parent's house, Quarry Brook, Maghull, and the other, Mr. Douglas Hornby, is married. Both sons are connected with their father's business. Mrs. Hornby has been in indifferent health of late, and, acting on medical advice, she left for a Mediterranean cruise ten days ago with Mr. Hornby's niece, Mrs. Charles Gibbons, the latter's husband and two nephews. Both Mr. and Mrs. Homby were looking forward to their golden wedding anniversary next January. Arrangements for celebrating the event were already in hand, and Mr. Hornby himself had been planning the programme a few days before being struck down by his last illness. A keen interest in music and the drama was shared by Mr. and Mrs. Hornby. In their young days they both sang in the choir of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and they first met at the society's concerts.

The iceberg will be supplied with the kit. It will be a fresh one, none of that frozen rubbish.

Having attended the Retailers Day on Tuesday, we were informed that some of the items we were looking at would be with us soon. Fast forward to five minutes ago..... Emailed invoice, the Titanic will be with us later today. Just need to find a place to display it.

Just trying to help out Hattons. I believe that Dave is in Nuremberg at the Toy Fair, he may not be able to answer.

Photographs can be deceptive. This shop is absolutely huge. Last time I was in there they had everything you could think of. Make a note of the way you went in, you can get lost, there are that many showrooms. Try and visit personally, you will not be disappointed. Free parking and plenty of it, right outside the shop. Hopefully get to visit before they close down. Might even get an invite to the Retirement party, hint, hint.... I presume Liz is taking "early retirement". Would like to take this opportunity to wish Liz, Mark and all the staff all the best for the future. This shop closing is a great loss to the hobby. Barry, Gill and Tom.

Hope they are in Greece and not Warrington as per your location.

Mike owns C and M Models in the town centre. Not far from the train station. Well worth a visit no matter where you live.