Model Shops Remembered

DougT

Western Thunderer
In 1981 this ad appeared in the Railway Modeller.
View attachment 129805
I applied, got the job, and if you bought stuff at ‘Kings Cross Models’ between July 81 and 85 there’s a good chance I served you.

And as an example of how as society we have developed in the last 30 years, isn’t 14 York Way, London now the Kings Cross Nando’s?
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Hijacking the thread a bit more...:), I read the other day in relation to theWaverley's "bump" that paddle steamers have to approach a pier at a good speed to maintain steering. In ships with screws, which are in close proximity to the rudder, steering effect on the rudder is maintaind from the water flow from the screws. In paddlers, the only flow round the rudder is from the motion of the hull and the steering effect reduces to zero as the hull slows down. So the practice was to approach at speed then stop or reverse engines to provide braking from the paddles. That, I think, would be quite a skilled action.

Even further hijacking, my father recounts tales of steamers from rival companies racing to be first into a berth on a pier in the Firth. That would be flat out until the last minute. :)

Jim.

Jim,

Thanks for that info, I know very little about steamers and boats. My late friend Graham, was for ever telling me there were only boats and targets, he being an ex submariner!

Yes the competition for the Clyde traffic. Brodick to Glasgow, St Enoch or Central, in 80 minutes. Steamers racing to Ardrossan then trains running side by side through the dunes of Ardeer with opposing firemen heaving coal at each other! Wonderful stories but the Great War ended competition.

Ian.
 

PMP

Western Thunderer
And as an example of how as society we have developed in the last 30 years, isn’t 14 York Way, London now the Kings Cross Nando’s?

Yup it is. The shop closed because rents were astronomical, and the block was going to be demolished in the original KX redevelopment scheme, all prior to Eurostar etc at St.P. By quirk of fate most of that east side remains as it was in the 80’s.
 

paratom

Western Thunderer
A very old family friend modelling David Ratcliff was modelling Banbury LNWR and John and Jerry's models of York Minster and other churches inspired David to ask whether they would make an ecclesiastical model for his railway - a corrugated iron misson hut. They did and it was beautiful. Anyone know what happened to it after David died?

As for missed model shops, there was one in Hitchin - was it Wilman's. He modeled Midand in 7mm when 7mm wasn't popular.

Mike
Hi Mike just going through old threads about model shops I knew in my youth. I bought the Banbury layout a few years back hoping to finnish it. I have done some work on it but being a Midland man my heart wasn't really in it so I have abandend it. The John and Jerry models that came with it are a work of art. I will probably be selling the layout with all the research material that came with it, etches for the station buildind and John and Jerry's models.

Tom
 

GrahameH

Western Thunderer
bought the Banbury layout a few years back
Hi Tom,

May I ask as an aside please, I am unaware of this layout, is it the GWR early / late replacement or Merton Street ?
An old work colleague moved from Wales and was the Clerk of Works for the demolition and rebuild of Banbury Station.

I started a model of the "old" GWR station many years ago when I lived on the outskirts but never saw the you have model anywhere.

Grahame
 

paratom

Western Thunderer
Hi Tom,

May I ask as an aside please, I am unaware of this layout, is it the GWR early / late replacement or Merton Street ?
An old work colleague moved from Wales and was the Clerk of Works for the demolition and rebuild of Banbury Station.

I started a model of the "old" GWR station many years ago when I lived on the outskirts but never saw the you have model anywhere.

Grahame
Hi Graham the layout is Merton Street the old LNWR Station.

Tom
 

GrahameH

Western Thunderer
Hi Graham the layout is Merton Street the old LNWR Station.

Ah ! I thought it might be, nice little station and some scope to model the surrounds, all of which, like most places don't resemble the original area one little bit now.
Ironically one of the buildings which replaced it was an Insurance agents where my best friend ended up working at the time !

Much obliged to you Tom and a HNY.

Grahame
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
I refer to Modelmaster in Scotland. I got on well with Jim G. but so often after placing an order I am left tearing my hair out. If only he would get orders out and stop sending emails asking people to place orders to take advantage of some discount or other.

17th January 2022, an email came through saying the order was being despatched. A week later (today 25 January), order still not arrived. The Modelmaster website says "Please phone".... so I did. The response was "This mailbox is full ~ Sorry".
 
Last edited:

NHY 581

Western Thunderer
I don't know if this fits in here or not...

My Father introduced me to the world of railways as a very young boy. There was only one shop to go to in our home town of Cardiff and that was in Canton. Bud Morgans. One of those strange emporiums that had everything. Toy cars, plastic balls and of course model railways. Triang was everywhere. My first engine bought for me was a Britannia. 50 odd years later I still have it...sort of. It was the first engine to recieve a 'modern' upgrade. Comet chassis, Markits wheels with a Branchlines gear box with a 1224 motor (yeah, I know!). Later after we had moved to Cwmbran, we found that the Brit had a habbit of burning out it's XO4 motor and Dad used to take it to a place in Caerphilly to get the motor re-wound. Can't remember the name of that place though.

Mike

Cardiff was and arguably still is, well served with model railway shops, though less now than a few years ago.


The Bud Morgan shop I remember was in the Castle Arcade for many years. Quite small but packed to the rafters with all sorts of goodies. I still have a Triang Lord of the Isles bought from there for my 7th birthday.
Bud was there as was Mr Williams who I remember as always wearing a blue stores coat. They also had a plastic kit shop upstairs on the balcony from where I bought many kits including Esci and Tamiya 1/35th military kits when I was a teenager. I'm pretty certain that Peter Lord, now of Lord and Butler worked there for a little while.
The shop was taken over by Antics who expanded into the shop next door, then moved to High Street, then Wood street and they now reside in the Wyndham Arcade. Not a patch on Buds though.

Lendons is still going strong in Llanishen which is still the go to shop for bits and bobs and is now arguably the best destination in the country for Hornby spares.

I also remember a model shop in Frederick street but can't remember the name. Disappeared when the area was redeveloped to build the St Davids centre.

I worked in Beatties, on Kingsway for four years, moving on when I was 20 to work in a motor cycle dealers. Thinking back to Beatties, we stocked Hornby, Mainline and obviously Lima as Beatties was part of the Riko group. Also LGB, Fleischmann, Roco, Trix, Graham Farish and Minitrix. Kits included M&L, Ks Ratio and DJH. Funny but typing this, I can still visualise the Model Railway deparment.
Before it was Beatties, it was a Welsh Craft shop with a coffee shop in the area which became the model railway department. We frequently had people coming in asking about the coffee shop.

There was also a model railway shop in Broadway which dealt in secondhand, run by the grumpiest bloke you could wish to meet.

There were probably others.

Rob.
 

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Growing up in Stafford it was Bagnalls. A 2 storey shop with general toys for kids for most of the ground floor but the railway section was at the rear iirc. The 1st floor was model kits and radio control stuff. Lots of RC planes hanging from the ceiling.

I spent loads of my pocket money there. First Airfix planes, then matchbox planes and tanks. A few warships thrown in for good measure. Then a diversion on to Star Wars figures before trains kicked in quite late.

Funny what you remember...the phones had a particular ringtone - a high pitched warble. Very occasionally I hear a ring like it now and it takes me right back.

Moving up to the present day and er, there's very little in the way of model shops anywhere nearby in the East Midlands. I work in central Birmingham and the Ian Allan shop has closed. I'm not counting Hobbycraft in Tamworth...

Most of my spend is now via mail order or shows (remember them).
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Regarding Modelmaster, Jim has just phoned me. It seems I will have to 'just sit on my hands', as he puts it, seeing as the post in Scotland is all over the place due to Covid casualties and all that.
 

Martin Shaw

Western Thunderer
Less of that Mr Goddard, whatever her failings she's done rather better than Boris. The post has definitely been all over the place, a jiffy bag from Alloa went missing mid Dec, still to be found, the replacements arrived a day after requesting them.
Martin
 

Boxbrownie

Western Thunderer
Being an Islington lad (it wasn’t posh back then!) when I wasn’t playing on the bomb sites I was looking in the windows of BECs in Upper Street my local shop, or if I wanted a real treat a bus ride to Beatties or maybe Victors, Beatties I can still remember the huge Polk model cars assembled and in display cases in the windows.

And of course there was the yearly visits to Gamages at Christmas to see the massive layout they had each year.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Does anyone remember the model shop on Northam Road in Southampton? I used to frequent the place and bought several Wills Finecast kits there in the late 1960s.

Sadly, the owner decided to retire and then died almost immediately after closing the shop.
 

Stephen Freeman

Western Thunderer
Model Shops eh? The first one I can remember going to was Bassett-Lowke in Manchester, E N Carless in Crewe, Norman Wisenden in Greenfield, CDS in Warrington. All gone now of course. When on Holidays in North Wales, there was a Model/Toy shop in Llandudno and think the proprietor may have had something to do with the Model Railway in a back street up a flight of stairs. GEM in Rhos-on-Sea. All gone now.
 

Stuart D

Active Member
Growing up in Preston, the first model railway shop I remember was Harry Welch's in Church St. Bought my first copy of 'Railway Modeller' there in November 1978. (showing my age again!) There was a fishing tackle shop next door that had a fire, Harry Welch's wasn't damaged (apart from some minor smoke damage), but for some reason it never reopened after that.
.........

Paul
Only just discovered this thread, and on reading through my eye was caught by your reference to Preston in the 70s.
Do you (or does anyone!) recall Mears Model Shop, at the bottom of Lune Street (if memory serves correctly...) - a 'branch' of the big Mears shop (department store?) on Fishergate. I only remember it because I had a Saturday/school holiday job there for a short while - would have been 1970-71 probably. I think it probably closed a very long time ago.
A fascinating thread - fond memories of very occasional visits with my father to Wisenden's in Greenfield in the later 60s and early 70s, a bit of a trek from the Fylde. Also many visits to a very strange little shop down one of the Yards in Kendal - run by a man called Darcy.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
Only just discovered this thread, and on reading through my eye was caught by your reference to Preston in the 70s.
Do you (or does anyone!) recall Mears Model Shop, at the bottom of Lune Street (if memory serves correctly...) - a 'branch' of the big Mears shop (department store?) on Fishergate. I only remember it because I had a Saturday/school holiday job there for a short while - would have been 1970-71 probably. I think it probably closed a very long time ago.
A fascinating thread - fond memories of very occasional visits with my father to Wisenden's in Greenfield in the later 60s and early 70s, a bit of a trek from the Fylde. Also many visits to a very strange little shop down one of the Yards in Kendal - run by a man called Darcy.

Sorry a little too early for me - I moved to Preston in 1989. I'm not sure if it was Mears but I have a vague recollection of a model shop round the back in Charnley Street just a few streets down from Lune Street, but it's all bricked up now and I could be mistaken.

1643234006959.png

Likewise I have fond memories of the visits with my father to Norman Wisenden's in the late '70s, he was just starting scratch building loco's professionally and Norman was very helpful for providing a showcase for his work and got him several building commissions in the early days.
 
Top