Widnes Model Centre

We know of a few shops, can you identify which shops? We haven't received any, nor can I find them on my back-orders.

Respectfully, those concerns are still very much current and still being felt by retailers. It was only last Summer, (2016) when Steve Cooke sat in the rear of our shop and explained there would be no more fire sales. We had invited him to the shop to explain the massive stock dumping through certain outlets. By the time he came to leave we had an email to say that there was a fire sale starting the following day. He seemed a little lost for words. May not have been through Direct Sales but through other outlets. 2016 was actually the year of the great fire sale. We still have stock that we are selling for a lot less than we paid for it. Retailers still have stock that they paid less for than the same items they bought months earlier. Why do you think there are so many bargains still knocking around? We are led to believe that retailers were buying from other retailers as it was a lot cheaper than buying from Hornby. From our own point of view Hornby shot themselves in the foot, we told Steve Cooke that. To misquote George Orwell from his novel, Animal Farm, "All Retailers Are Equal But Some Are More Equal Than Others". In my humble opinion the previous management at Hornby flattered to deceive. Put simply. we couldn't trust them. We are led to believe that we don't all pay the same for Hornby products. We continue to see stock being dropped through their National Accounts. Until this announcement there was still among a lot of retailers a real fear that another fire sale was only just around the corner. Difficult to place orders with Hornby when that fear is foremost in your thoughts. Once bitten twice shy as the saying goes. Why is that fear subsiding? Retailers are putting their faith in Lyndon Davies, a man with nearly 40 years experience of this industry. I have often been outspoken when it comes to Hornby, mainly because I believe in principles. His announcement as CEO led to much jumping for joy in the trade. If Mr Davies is reading this: May I suggest that there are a lot of fantastic people employed by Hornby with a real love of their company. Start at the bottom and speak to staff, not their managers, who have "been there, done that and got the XXXXL T Shirt. Their love of Hornby is infectious. For those readers who have missed this, an insight well worth reading. http://www.gaugemaster.com/articles/product-spotlight/oxford-diecast-Interview.html

You win the most accurate post of the year as far as we are concerned.

Agreed, Humbrol is probably the brand we sell the least of. But it is also the favoured brand of the more mature of our customers, it is the brand they grew up with. I hardly ever use it, but in my case, that is because we don't have a lot of the colours due to the supply issue. That is an issue for Hornby to resolve as this will keep the Humbrol customers happy and loyal. We stock, Vallejo Model Air and Colour, AK Interactive, Army Painter, Tamiya, MIG and all manor of derivatives. With exception of Army Colour, individually all the other brands outsell Humbrol.

Echoing what Trains 4 U is saying. Track, paints, other Humbrol products; all unavailable at one time or another. The Humbrol paint stand in our shop has many vacant slots and as the till is opposite it looks as though we cannot be bothered re-stocking. We use four different suppliers and they are all sold out and have been for at least 9 months in some colours. The only solution is for us is to perhaps run down the Humbrol and move onto a certain German company. Production of Humbrol paint is in the UK. Platform pieces, I get embarrassed when I am asked if the price is for the box, actually no its per piece. We are selling well below the rrp but that doesn't help. We wrote to Hornby over 12 months ago and stated that the deep discounting was devaluing the Hornby Brand. No one wanted to listen. Flying Scotsman, Tornado, Mallard were all sold at a loss. We will not restock, we sold our last remaining Scotsman a few weeks ago. Price to match competitors £54.99p. Now that is a ridiculous price, forced on us by Hornby's ultra deep discounting. We have put our faith in the new CEO. I believe he will, given time, turn Hornby round. Part of our livelihood depends on him.

Totally agree Alex.

Yes, there are no cyclists allowed on the new bridge which has a 60 mph speed limit on it. The old Silver Jubilee Bridge, although closed to vehicles is still open for pedestrians and cyclists. When it re-opens there will be only one lane in each direction for vehicles. There was a great deal of money spent when it was widened to take two lanes each way, now it will be back down to one.

Hi Steve, apparently you can telephone and make payment over the phone or use Payzone in many shops I am told.

For members information: Not sure what is the best location for this, so if it should be elsewhere, admin please move. As of the 14th October 2017, the Runcorn Widnes Bridge is now closed for at least 6 months. Anyone who is traveling to any of the of the model shops in Widnes will now need to use the Mersey Gateway Crossing. This is a tolled crossing and costs £2.00 each way. There are no toll booths and it is Automatic Number Plate Recognition. You have until midnight the following day to pay. Don't get caught out and end up with a penalty charge. When the old bridge re-opens it will also be tolled. On a positive note, the journey time from the M56 to Widnes has been slashed, it is a wonderful piece of engineering. www.merseyflow.co.uk

We were told that if pre-ordered before the cut off date in October 2017, we would get them at the original price. If your dealer has already placed your order then they may and we certainly would honour that original price. I would check before cancelling your order.

Sorry, MGR, I didn't agree with what was said. You will have to ask Hornby. Not my place, but I considered it was my place to ask for an explanation as a retailer.

Hi Owen, R3576 is due into us today, so presumably the same at other dealers. We were advised by Hornby that the price was going up on 9th October to £99.99p. I asked if this was a mistake as it was a huge increase, especially for an 0-4-0. It was explained to me why the huge increase was necessary. Hornby website showing £64.99p. R3577, "Graham" is showing as £99.99p.

We may be bucking the trend. We do have lots of young modellers and railway modellers that buy from the shop. As a marketing exercise I asked the youngest if he had seen the Hornby Junior. He had but his evaluation wasn't good. Asked him why and he replied words to the effect of "it's a toy". He was rather more articulate than that with his explanation but I don't want to upset Hornby Marketing. Best guess at age would be 8 or 9.

Someone on here will know a release date, but one of them was the Manchester Ship Canal Sentinel. Not that old. Discussion between retailers tonight leaves us all guessing still. 2 years old is not that old. Or are we to believe that some products may deteriorate on the shelf? All my loco's are kept in a nice warm dry shop. Even we find it very pleasant. More than 2 years ago and our previous shop was cold and damp, still approved by Hornby though!

So glad you brought that up Coryton. Can anyone who has recently purchase a Hornby loco confirm that this is still the case? Just before we were closing, we dip-sampled two random boxes that were unopended. No paperwork mentioning warranty. Perhaps coincidental. Shall be checking more tomorrow.

Totally agree but as we don't know....... Certainly in the past, Hornbys attitude to small retailers has been indifferent to say the least. They tell us things are improving and that communication is key.......

It is a long time, but if we returned them to Hornby and said "these just don't sell" I think we all know what the response would be. If we buy something from any supplier and then sell it to a customer, the Warranty then kicks in. How long have Hornby had it before they sold it to us? Earlier this year, concessions were closed by Hornby and the stock ended up in model shops. What date have they put on those items? We have had similar issues in the past with companies. They contacted us and explained how the warranty and returns procedure would work in practice. Is this announcement from the date in question or have they made it retrospective? It states with "immediate effect", doesn't say if that is two years from the announcement date Or did Hornby just wipe out all warranty from that date for older stock? No one knows, we have only had what 87029 posted a few days ago. It came as part of a News Letter, announcing the countdown to the Great Electric Train Show, then the price increases and then the Warranty. Really? Yes!

Agree, without checking, we must have items over 2 years old. As for other retailers, I am sure that those that have "Ten or more in stock" will have stock older than 2 years.

I would suggest your retailer checks again. There are a great deal of prices that are unchanged. Maybe this is what you are meant to do. Then there will be less of the stock that there isn't a price increase on. No reason then for a "Stock Clearance Sale". Hornby return to profitability and we go back to having nothing to worry about. Problem solved in a few posts.

Called in when passing through this weekend. What a great shop, a proper model shop at that. My wife Gill and I really enjoyed meeting and talking to Mark. She even made a small purchase !! Now I know where to go when we are in Wales and it is too far to nip back to our own shop.

Hi Jtn, did it break where it had been crimped to stop it sliding? We have had a number break in the same spot. They have been returned to Gaugemaster as we believe they were a faulty batch. Suggest take it back to wherever you bought it from for possible replacement.

We never received any of the first batch and we have absolutely no idea when and what is due in the next delivery. Our disappointed customers were pointed in the direction of this post. They then asked if they could cancel their orders and this has been done. I feel sorry for Peco, an excellent company with great staff.

New website just launched, in it's infancy as we have over 1400 lines to load. Just the bare bones up at the moment. www.widnesmodelcentre.co.uk http://widnesmodelcentre.co.uk/

Evergreen 9005 is what you are looking for I believe. I have looked at our suppliers and they appear to be the only manufacturers of 5 thou.

Thanks Richard, not that long I spoke to them. Had me worried uksweet.