Southampton Model Centre - Gone?

On 28/01/2006 19:51, JMUpton2000 said,

Their website does still seem to be OK, but a bit slow

"Paul Boyd" wrote

Website incredibly slow, but still there and their eBay shop still has loadsa listings - not as if that means anything.

John.

They close at 1pm on saturday afternoons, however some saturdays appear to close even earlier.

IMHO there are two better model shops in Southampton, first is Footplate Models in Shirley (see:

and The Old Toy Shop in Northam/St Marys ten mins walk from the city centre. It stocks a good range of Bachmann and Hornby plus plenty of second hand stuff and his prices are some of the lowest I've ever come across from a reputable trader. Thoroughly recommended by a satisfied punter. See

Southampton Model Centre has an advertisement in February's Railway Modeller, Page 25A. Opening times are given as 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday, and 9.00 am to 1.00 pm on Saturday - and from my own experience they have closed at that time on a Saturday for a few years. Telephone and Fax Nos are 02380 - 667317 and 02380 - 873873 respectively. Hope this is of assistance, David Costigan. PS - I thought the Southampton show today (and tomorrow, for those interested) was pretty good. Star layout (in my humble opinion) was Charleweston by the Wolverhampton MRC. Scale length trains, accurately formed, on a layout instantly recognisable as being based on the ex-Great Central main line, no derailments, no "finger-prodding" to get things moving and very good working semaphore signals. Well worth an extended viewing.

So bizzarely they close early on the one Saturday in the year when there is a high proportion of railway modellers in the City. Great business sense that!!

My geography of Southampton is a little rusty (All I know is the Railway Station, Burger King and the Eastpoint Centre!!) so thanks for these, I will put them on my to visit list next time I am in the area.

Regards John M Upton

Agreed. One of the best Eastpoint shows for a while. I particularly found both Charleweston and also the lovely 009 layout fascinating and normally narrow gauge isn't my thing!

Regards John M Upton

ISTR that the people behind Southampton Model Centre are heavily involved in running a Soccer team in Winchester. Hence the closedown of the shop on Saturday Afternoons.

G.Harman

Thats what I thought - I've been more and more unimpressed with Soton Model Centre which seems to be heading downhill over the past 18-months. Last time I visited they appear to have been invaded by dolls houses.

You're welcome, all I can say is that I'm a satisfied punter at both the shops so I'm happy to recommend them. Both shops have parking outside, alternatively you can use buses to get to each, let me know if you need details.

I'll second the recommendation for the Old Toy Shop, very good pricing on new stuff and all sorts of old & interesting second hand bits & pieces. Unfortunately I didn't make it to Eastpoint this year, always a good show, and I particularly wanted to see Charwelton, but I had the kids in tow, and the venue is always ( IMHO of course) really hot & crowded, and very buggy hostile, being multi-level.

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote: > Unfortunately I didn't make it to Eastpoint this year, always a

I have to agree, Eastpoint isn't good for those with even minor physical impediments, most small-medium venues seem to have some issue or another though...