What would someone in the 1960s have made of the term 'Bluetooth'? Perhaps they'd think it was some mysterious mouth illness borne of breathing smog-ridden air. They almost certainly wouldn’t have pegged it as a control method for model trains. But one of this week’s OO Gauge collections features diesels from all points of the BR timeline fitted with Hornby’s popular HM7000 sound decoders. So this band of 'Hymeks', 'Westerns', '37s' and '47s' can be driven and adjusted from the comfort of a smartphone. The mention of which would problaby also flummox our 60s spotter; but one of the delights of dealing in pre-owned trains is the countless interesting permutations (some explainable, others less so!) that we see every day.
Going back even further in time – although much more recently in model terms (does that make it 'back to the future'?) – we dug up something a bit special in the warehouse last week. OK, so 'dug up' is a bit agricultutral. They were nestled away in a corner, seemingly not wanting to be bought: a shiny six-pack of C2000B. Which, in plain English, is the other half of LNER Teak Quad Art set no. 90, thought to be sold out and thus gone forever. We love it when this happens. It's like when you find a £20 note down the side of the sofa. Not that you can have the 'Quads' for £20. They’re a bit more than that. But they're the perfect opportunity to complete your prototypical '8-set' and still available here.
The showroom has been a revolving door of – well, just about everything this week. Alongside a beautiful collection of O Gauge figures, we’ve seen Continental HO, some fascinating live steam engines (of the sort that powered mill machinery, so very rare in model form) and the return of OO Gauge ‘rummage’.
The latter has been much requested – we have a vast stash of mostly mint-condition coaches and wagons that we keep in our warehouse for exhibitions. But as our next OO Gauge show won't be until October, it seemed a shame not to make said stash available to showroom visitors, many of whom travel from afar to while away an hour or two in our well-stocked and ever-changing shop. 'Rummage' is perhaps an unfortunate term, for these are top-quality models from all the big names, most of them never used. They’ll not see the website, but you can pick up them up for way less than new should you happen by Toller Court in Skipton – so pick n' mix to your heart’s content.
And while on the subject of bargains, don't forget that until the end of June, every tenth Demountable bought from Clark Railworks (and every tenth Presflo from Ellis Clark Trains) will be free. Could you be a lucky number 10 (or 20, 30, 40, 50...)? Only way to find out is to buy one – and then see if a full refund comes a knocking at the end of the month!
