Model train shops in Glasgow

Over the past 50 or so years, quite a varied selection of shops selling model railway items have existed in the Glasgow area. These are just the ones we have been able to recollect. This list does not claim to be fully comprehensive nor definitive. Further information is welcome.

Of all the retailers listed below, only the final three are still open for business.

This shop was at the western end of the Argyll Arcade on Buchanan Street and was really a department store. The toy department was located on the 1st floor, access from the Arcade being gained by ascending a marble staircase, traversing the furniture department and ascending another stair on the right. An excellent toy department awaited you which at Easter time even displayed a large incubator full of live chickens. Fortunately for the chickens, they were not on sale. All year round the model railway section usually featured working train sets made up from either Hornby Dublo, Tri-ang or Trix-Twin components. The building is now divided into smaller shop units.

I well remember a layouts in this store, but it was a man called Harold Elliot who did the comedy act, using not Thomas the Tank Engine, but the older Sammy the Shunter. I have to admit to being caught out by the 3 BG's!. An article on Mr. Elliot and his travelling layout appeared in one of the contemporary issues of the "Railway Modeller."

This was probably Glasgow's largest department store and was located on Argyle Street opposite Queen Street. They maintained an all year toy section located in the eastern half of the third floor. At Christmas time, Santa's Grotto exited into this area.

In some years, in the run up to Christmas, there was a large 'O' Gauge layout promoting Thomas the Tank Engine. The half hour displays were all manually controlled by one operator and included the correctly stopping of a train in the Country station. The secret of success was to have listened to the description of this train and of all the others which had been carefully described. The sequence started with a sleeper train and progressed through suburban rush hour to long distance trains. All of the big four companies were represented in model form. A child from the audience would be invited to stop the train at the station, but he had to have noted that the first 3 coaches were full brakes and should be run right past the platform which was only long enough for the passenger coaches. The operator gave a live commentary all through the display which culminated with Thomas escaping from his coal siding to 'play' with the big trains. The operator became very angry with Thomas and started chasing him with a rolled up newspaper. Clever Thomas hid underneath the main station canopy peaking out at different ends. The operator then chased Thomas from end to end of the canopy swiping at him with the newspaper. Bear in mind the operator was operating Thomas while chasing him (No automatics) and the main line trains were still running.

This building has now been completely refurbished and sub divided with the major occupant being Debenham's. (Supplementary information provided by Douglas Boyle).

Originally located at 5 Pitt Street on the western side near the meeting with Argyle Street, this shop subsequently relocated to larger premises around the corner at 478 Argyle Street. They offered their own make of model railway accessories such as point motors and specialist components as well as proprietary makes such as G&R Wrenn 00 two and three rail track, the type with the fibre base and pre made double junctions, single and scissor crossovers, all of which required additional wiring and sprung point levers. This whole site is now occupied by the Marriott Hotel.

This compact department store was situated at 393 Sauchiehall Street at the corner of Elmbank Street and was easily identified by two ornate lamp posts outside the Sauchiehall Street door. One display window on Elmbank Street usually presented a selection of toys and models tempting potential customers to seek out the main stock. This stock was located in a somewhat cramped spot in the basement. Not only was Tri-ang Railways represented but there was also plenty of the then newly introduced Trix 2 rail range such as Der Adler, Trans Pennine, A H Peppercorn, Metcam Pullman cars and the ubiquitous Whisky or grain wagons advertising a range of a dozen or so Scotches. One day, those lamp posts attracted unwanted attention when a runaway lorry descended the very steep Garnet Street opposite and entered the store through the main entrance. Very severe damage was inflicted on the building, not to say the lorry and the store remained closed for some time. The complete structure has now been replaced by flats with a Royal Bank of Scotland branch on the ground floor.

A peculiarity of some shops that stocked Meccano products was that their primary business was not toys but sports equipment and Foster's was one of these. This shop was located at 409 Sauchiehall Street, near the junction with Elmbank Street. At the end of Meccano their Hornby Dublo stock was put up for sale at half list price but this did not seem to generate a lot of excitement. This truly was half price as retail price maintenance was still very much in force at this time. Some excellent bargains were to be had, for example the Hornby Dublo 2224 Stanier 8F for 46/3. This was acquired on the 8th of January 1966. The location of this shop still has a sort of railway connection, it is now the Canton Express fish and chip shop, resplendent with a colourful, if somewhat imaginative, image of an HST.

Another sports shop that also had a toy section selling Meccano products. Located at 80-82 Sauchiehall Street, this site is still a sports shop but now named Greaves. The only place where train appears on the inventory is in the shoe department.

The location was 52-54 Sauchiehall Street on the north side between West Nile Street and Renfield Street, near to the Lyric and opposite the Empire Theatres. They specialised in the products of Meccano. This whole block has since been redeveloped and the numbers 52-54 are now utilised by the Bodycare shop.

Located on the south side of Paisley Road West near Edwin Street, this shop was again similar to Foster's in that primary business was sports equipment but Meccano products were stocked. At the end of Meccano the supplies of model railway items dried up.

The delight of this shop was that for many, many years it had a simple model train layout in the front window, in amongst the rest of the display. To the side of the plate glass window, on the frame itself, there was a coin slot that took one old penny. When you popped the penny in, the train ran for a few minutes. Seems a bit sad now, but then it was the height of excitement! It was my treat for not crying when visiting the dentist across the road! (Supplementary information provided by Ian Wallace).

Not usually known by this first name. The original location of this shop was at 247 Argyle Street under Central Station bridge, on the south side. To all intents and purposes the shop appeared like a gift and china shop. Don't be fooled by appearance. On carefully negotiating the delicately balanced china on display and descending a somewhat narrow and precarious wooden staircase to the basement, an excellent array of model railways and other models were to be found. Evidently hobby business improved, the named changed to Argyle Models and the shop relocated to larger premises at 229 to 235 Argyle Street, on the same side, at the eastern end of the bridge. Fortunately all that china nonsense did not follow. Again a slight railway connection still exists on this site as it is now full of puggies, being occupied by the Las Vegas amusement arcade.

This shop was located on the eastern side of Stockwell Street underneath the approach tracks to St. Enoch Station. One of the specialities of the house was Tri-ang Railways. Due to the restricted ventilation and a nearby fish supper shop, there was always a strong aroma of chips in the place. After the destruction of this once fine station, the final insult is that the area is now a car park. (Information provided by David Coddington).

Another department store. This one was located on Glassford Street on the east side between Argyle Street and Wilson Street. On entering the shop you headed for the metal wire enclosed lift where you were greeted by the lift operator requesting "which floor please?". There was always a musty damp smell, just like the subway, on entering the lift. The lift was a "Rolls Royce" of its time giving a smooth ride to your floor. The lift driver stated "first floor - bla bla", "second floor - bla bla". However, reality existed on the third floor, toys. Right turn out the lift and down a stair to the toy department where you were greeted by a massive train layout. Behind the wooden topped counters were piled high bright red Tri-ang Hornby boxes inviting the spending of your hard earned pocket money. (Information provided by Bill Watson).

This was a general hobby retailer located at 312 to 314 Argyle Street, on the north side, between Wellington Street and West Campbell Street. It was not dedicated just to model railways but catered for most types of modelling and hobbies. The site is now split into two, 312 being the Silk & Secrets lingerie emporium and 314 being The Guitar Store.

This newsagent shop existed at 367 Allison Street near the meeting with Cathcart Road but also housed a comprehensive array of models and hobby items. Expansion took place and a further two shops opened, one just around the corner at 533 Cathcart Road near Calder Street and a large shop at 74 Busby Road in Clarkston, opposite the shopping centre.

This business had premises located at 20 Robertson Street, in a second floor office suite, up a somewhat steep stair. Specialising in American, Japanese and European items, they soon moved to larger ground floor shop front premises at 79 High Street. Later, M G Sharp relocated to Sheffield.

This business opened at the location previously occupied by M G Sharp at 79 High Street and stocked not only model railways but a selection of model buses, aircraft and plastic model boat kits. Subsequently the business advertised its name in the form of N F Miller Railmail and then Railmail (N F Miller).

This business operated out of the premises previously displayed as N F Miller Railmail at 79 High Street. Railmail became well known for high profile marketing and pioneering in discount mail order business from their other store at Railmail of Watford. Relocation of the Glasgow shop took place to an office suite at 121 West Regent Street then to a lower ground floor shop at 165A St. Vincent Street. Yet another relocation took place to 25 Parnie Street near Glasgow Cross. After a reorganisation, this shop eventually traded under the name of Argyle Model Dockyard although the inventory of nautical and model chandlery was sparse.

This business first opened in an office suite at 40 St. Enoch Square, upstairs. Catering for general model railway supplies, they specialised in a vast range of quality transfers then unavailable on the market. Eventually they relocated to a shop front site at 87 Wellington Street, near the corner of Bothwell Street and became a full service model shop. Later another move took place to Unit 17 within the Anderson Centre but on redevelopment of this site this shop closed. After some period of absence, these decals are now back on the market under the name of Modelmaster Decals, the business being located in Troon.

This was a primarily a television and radio service dealer located on the south side of Shettleston Road opposite Ardholm Street. A sign stated that early 405 line TV receivers were able to be accepted for adaptation to receive the new STV broadcast on Channel 10. BBC was already transmitted on Channel 3. Anyway, a stock of toys and Tri-ang Railways items were maintained year round. The shop window display usually enlarged on the approach to Christmas.

Located at 1001 Shettleston Road on the corner of Ardholm Street, this was a dedicated toy shop, had the Meccano dealership and maintained, amongst other toys, an excellent display of Hornby Dublo and Dinky Toys items. One of the last new items displayed at the end of Meccano was a Hornby Dublo Barnstaple at the sum of £5-15s-00d, no discounting remember due to retail price maintenance, this was a huge amount of money at the time.

This was primarily a furniture shop located on Shettleston Road near the corner of McNair Street. Once you fought your way through the carpets and sofas, Tri-ang Railways in the era of Series 3 track were to be found at the back of the shop.

Buchanan's was a local family business and was one of the main suppliers of radio receivers and subsequently television sets in Shettleston. The shop was located on the southern side of Shettleston Road, between South Chester Street and Amulree Street, on the eastern side of the Methodist Church. In the early fifties, Hornby 0 scale tinplate trains and accessories were on display. This site was later occupied by Stepek Travel and is currently The Hospice Shop. (Information provided by David Black).

Dunns was situated in Cumbernauld Road at the junction of Roslea Drive, Dennistoun, about 100 yards from Duke Street station. It was quite a big shop selling a range of toys, prams and cycles. The part of the shop selling cycles also did spares and repairs and was a popular place for local cyclists to get their punctures repaired. Of most interest to me, however, was that part of the shop selling toys and models. Dunns sold both Tri-ang and Meccano ranges covering most of the popular items sold by these companies. My first train set was bought from Dunns and I can remember the Saturday my dad took me to Dunns on my 11^th birthday. The choice of set came down to a Tri-ang passenger set with Princess Elizabeth and two coaches or an Hornby Dublo goods set with an N2 loco and goods wagons. I wanted the passenger set (naturally) but my dad thought that the Dublo set would last longer because it was metal. It just so happened that the Tri-ang representative was in the shop that day and overheard the discussion about which set to choose. He got a Pedigree doll from the shelf and asked my dad to break it. Needless to say he could not and I got my passenger set! Dunns closed sometime around 1961/2 and in their closing down sale my first weekly working wage of £5 was spent on a Britannia and a Winston Churchill. (Information provided by John Anderson).

E & D Doig was located at 625 Duke Street, Dennistoun, near the junction of Meadowpark Street. The main business of the shop was as a newsagent and confectioners but a display of Margate made model railways was maintained throughout the year due to their status as a Tri-ang Hornby official service dealer. An advertisement at the time stated "Are you well trained? If not, and even if you are, why not visit the model railway department of Douglas Doig, the East End's Tri-ang Hornby specialist". On closure of this shop, the premises was assimilated by the adjacent bank.

Beatties of London was not exclusively a model railway retailer but was part of an extensive chain of full range hobby shops with branches located throughout England. It was only in the 1990's that they opened a shop in Glasgow and this was located at 30 St. Enoch Square. On entering this shop a vast array of plastic construction kits of aircraft, motor vehicles and ships were to be seen on display. Right at the back of the shop were glass fronted counters and display cabinets showing the latest offerings from Hornby, Lima and Bachmann and also a range of other model railway related items. The shop ceased trading around 2000 and the premises lay vacant for some time. The site is now occupied by Maplin Electronics.

Opened in 1987, this business trades at 56 Bell Street and stocks a comprehensive range of not only model railways but die cast vehicles, plastic kits, dolls houses and accessories.

Although a fairly newcomer to the scene, this business brought something new to the hobby in Glasgow, a shop specialising in pre owned model railways, collectible items and vintage toys and dolls houses. Initially located at 48 Park Road, just off Great Western Road, they relocated to larger premises at 140 Maryhill Road. Further expansion took place when they moved to their present spot at 126 Maryhill Road.

Another later new arrival on the scene. This shop is located at 671 Cathcart Road, not far from the original McMillan Models shop. The official opening of this business had the attention of Strathclyde Police by being investigated by Chief Inspector Taggart, alias Mark McManus, doing the honours. This shop caters for a wide range of hobbies, not just model railways. (Information provided by Douglas Boyle).