Our Visit To Arcadia Model Railways In Oldham

We visit Arcadia Rail Models in Shaw near Oldham. A look round the shop and a chat with Tim the owner. Ww also unbox a Big Boy loco and Trevor unboxes a huge G Scale german tank loco!
Arcadia Rail are Model Railway Specialists stocking all leading brands LGB, Roco, Bemo, Hornby, Bachmann, Peco, Gaugemaster, Lenz Digital, Herpa, Fleischmann, Faller, Farish, Prieser, Pola, Liliput.
#modelrailways #modeltrains #modelshops
01706 882 900 67
Rochdale Rd,
Shaw, Oldham
OL2 7JT
Opening Hours
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
9:30am-5:00pm

[@TheWylies]

This is a superb model shop in Shaw, we visit regularly being only less than a mile away.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

It's a very nice shop and you are lucky to have it so close. Thanks for watching Rick

[@samshunt5715]

Probably the best model shop in Existence Tim and Karen are a fantastic couple and can get you everything you need, it’s the only model shop I use, Brilliant

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Glad to hear it, I'm blown away by all the brilliant comments people have left about Arcadia. Thanks very much Rick

[@janetlewis7145]

Rick & Pauline thank you for your part in promoting high street model railway shops. When I was in the hobby 50 years ago there were 3 local shops I did business with. The hobby is still very much alive. Bill from California

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much for your comment Janet. Irt would be such a shame if all the shops disappeared. People need to visit them and see just how good they are. The help and advice they can give about the models is priceless. All the best Rick

[@ewhurstgreen]

So nice to be able to put faces to voices heard over the telephone - thank you! 👍 Have used purchased Arcadia several items (mail order) and personally having found them excellent to deal with, placed a link to them in BloodandCustard's modelling section. 🙂

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much, we are happy to put faces to the names!

[@andrewregan5877]

Tim at Arcadia is a great guy. I’m really lucky to have such a superb shop less than a mile from home.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

It's exactly what a model shop should be. Thanks for watching Rick

[@andrewregan5877]

It’s great to see you guys supporting the hobby like this. Keep up the good work.

[@julianlane8313]

I have dealt with Arcadia they provided a great service and I was very happy to do business with them. I will definitely use them again. 👍🏼

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Great to hear Julian.

[@Michaelgoestofrance]

I used to go to Arcadia every weekend in the late 90s/early 2000s before I moved to France. The owner used to let me go into the stock room because he knew I'd always find something I 'needed'. Great shop and friendly service. Glad to see it's still going strong!

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Michael, glad you enjoyed a rummage round the stock room. It's an amazing shop with a great reputation.

[@conistonoldman]

Since I first got into modelling Swiss railways, I’ve been visiting Tim at his superb model shop for over 20 years, and have spent a few bob there! Such a nice, friendly guy and so knowledgable about his stock. The way Arcadia have always displayed their stock is so enticing. The prices are always fair and they’ll source things for you if they’re not in stock, put things aside and mail them promptly if you can’t get there in person. You can literally spend hours browsing without being bothered by the staff, apart from being offered a cup of tea! It’s been such a bonus to have a shop specialising in Continental European models here in the North West (at one time Waltons in Altrincham carried a lot of it as well, heady days). I really hope Tim carries on for some time yet. The hobby really needs retailers like him.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi, I'm sure Tim will be around for a long time. He seemed very busy when we were there, the phone never stopped ringing! Thanks for watching Rick

[@lucitonstjames3925]

Some 24 years ago My grandmother had a flat just round the corner from the shop, used to go over nearly every weekend , see the old girl, dolphin chippy just down the road & nip in the shop for supplies . It's a great shop, with moving away , don't get the chance to go over these days.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks for sharing your memories, it seems this shop is very important to people and no doubt the local community. Reading all the great comments and the recent loss of Hattons we feel we should do more videos on model shops. All the best Rick

[@lucitonstjames3925]

@@wellchuffedrailways Tim does a stellar job & its worth going in just to admire the continental HO stuff form Roco etc, as they are just on another level. Jim at The LocoShed in Whitefield (Bury Old Rd near Bessies tram stop) is another gem of a shop. The sheer amount of sceondhand is unreal. Again always a warm welcome , cup of tea & the chance to have natter with Jim. I dont think there is enough promotion of the independent retailers on youtube / social media See enough unboxings / reviews but very little on the guys selling the stuff , get their take from the coal face so to speak.

[@echohunter4199]

I’m an American model railroader, first time watching your channel and I took delivery of my first model made by a foreign company, I got a PIKO Southern Pacific ML4000 which we didn’t expect to see on the market but we’ve been waiting for years for a domestic manufacturer to produce one but in came PIKO and we’re completely stunned at the quality! At $330 for a unit with sound is an excellent price as well! Our opinion of the new production run of the Rivarossi Big Boy model, we just don’t feel that they improved their level of detail and accuracy, a huge detractor is the engineers cab windows, they’re just horrible. We considered that for the price, doing some detail improvements would be feasible but many modelers just don’t do that and they look elsewhere. We’d all love to own a TRIX made Big Boy but not at the current prices. Thank you for showing me the various inventory along with prices and level of detail, I hope to buy a couple UK steamers and a German DRB Kriegs damflok in the future but I’m not sure which brand name has higher quality, I should’ve bought them when I was stationed in Baumholder, Germany. Thanks again sir.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi, thanks for watching and leaving feedback. Our knowledge of both continental and American models can best be described as minimal but we know a good model when we see one. The range of models at Arcadia is astounding isn't it? Good luck with your future purchases and happy modelling. All the best Rick

[@goarmysleepinthemud.]

I am in the USA and buy UK models. Accurascale, Rapido, and Bachmann all make great UK models. UK Bachmann seem to be better quality than US Bachmann. Hornsby is the biggest maker of UK models.

[@echohunter4199]

@@goarmysleepinthemud. Sir, by chance are you an 11B/11C/11H?

[@scottishcontentcreators]

It's people like yourselves, youtubers, that are keeping the hobby alive.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thank you very much. 😀

[@gwheregwhizz]

The loss of Hattons could be a good thing for the traditional model shops as many can sell near the online MRP of new models on the websites of Hornby and Bachmann but not the reduced Hattons prices due to a high street having huge operating costs. I also expect small traders will be offered more used model collections too. There's still a lot of people that want to see something for themselves before buying, especially as models aren't cheap and that's where local model shops can do well, along with their knowledge.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Indeed it could be, it seems many people defaulted to Hattons without even bothering to see what else was around.

[@ianhawk1554]

I take my hat off to anyone selling Continental models! Keep up the great work!

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Cheers Ian

[@markorollo.]

This is the kind of thing Oldham town centre needs, fill the empty shops with local small business traders selling all kinds of things.

[@AgenoriaModelTrains]

It looks a really nice model shop, like an Aladdin's cave. I'd be happy to spend hours in there. The shop owner mentioning that not enough young people are getting into the hobby confirms my own ones regarding this topic. Sad but true I'm afraid. But I can understand why. When you see the price of models on the shelves as well as coaches, wagons, buildings and even track, it's not hard to see why many are put off from coming into the hobby. When the majority of the public think of model railways, a Hornby train set is what usually springs to mind. Some might buy a train set but then go no further. I've been in the hobby years now and even some of the prices of stuff put me off from buying.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi, in our next well Chuffed show vlog, prices and young people coming into the hobby is one of the things we will be discussing. Although we are far from experts we do speak to a lot of traders and clubs. Also attending exhibitions is a good indicator of the modeling demographic. Thanks for watching and all the best Rick

[@OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars]

Nice trains a and items.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks for watching Arthur

[@nigelcurtis5773]

Some of these shops are amazing and there is nothing like the buzz of visiting a good model shop. Please support them as much as possible otherwise they will not weather the storm.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much Nigel

[@HenrikSweden1]

oh one thing. Now i run american trains, so i watch a small shop in the us, that sells trains to people visiting the shop but also through the net. They use you tube to get the info to customers. The owners walk the shop and show people some of their trains that are newly arrived or at a reduced price. This is live and the buyers can put their orders on line. This is something most shops could do in order to get some more orders. Usually they concentrate to one gauge at each show.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Ah that sounds good! Thanks for watching Rick

[@billystanier6327]

My local shop, despite living 15 miles away in Stockport. Sad how few model railway shops there are around now.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Worth the trip though, we still see Ron from High Lane Model Railways at some shows. It was always good to pop into the market and see what he had for sale.

[@trevorhardy651]

Rick, just a correction, class 31's are A1A A1A not CO CO. Great video glad people liked the Kiss loco unboxing.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Trevor

[@ausfoodgarden]

Woah! The Big Boy! Probably the only US loco I'd like to own. You are so right about supporting your local stores and it's really important to do that as much as you can. I used to have a local store that would negotiate prices if I told them who was selling at what price (none of us want to pay too much) Often we'd meet somewhere in the middle. Sadly he got bought out by a company that prefers selling RC cars and they are not really interested in trains. For all us overseas folks, do you have a couple of good suppliers that we could try now the big H has gone? I've used AJM railways in the past, very helpful, good prices but the range is small. Not even sure how active they are now. It's been a while. Anyway, thanks, and good on you for supporting your local.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi you try Arcadia Or Sawyer's Models and Great Eastern Models. We have done videos at both of these shops. I have no idea whether they ship to Australia though. Hopefully we will be doing a couple of more shops in the coming months and we can discuss their mail order arrangements. We are quite lucky in having some goods not a million miles from home but many parts of the UK are not as well served as their shops have closed down. if we don't use them they will disappear. All the best Rick

[@terrynutlob4073]

Best model shop in whole of UK .Owner Tim will do anything to try and get what you want. I live in Kent and have been up to his shop many times. Can't praise this shop enough.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Terry, Tim will be loving all the comments as he watches our channel. 😀

[@lifeisgood3386]

Thank you pauline and Rick for another wonderfull vid , Arcadia you have a superb shop well done.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching. All the best Rick

[@michaellowe9744]

Evening. Excellent. Thanks for supporting the High St.😊Cheers Mick.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much Michael

[@TimberSurf]

They have massive stock range and great prices too, I could spend hours in there.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Great isn't it Tim

[@HeritageGardenModelRailway]

Ive been going to Arcadia for a long time, and got to know Tim and Karen, both really nice people to get on with, always been made welcome, with and alway offered of a cup of tea or coffee.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Yes they do a good brew as well! Thanks for watching and all the best Rick

[@edgein7892]

Now that's a hobbyshop, small aisles, stock right up to the ceiling, many different brands and an owner who knows his stuff. A modellers dream I'd say. Way better than some bigger shops that just specialize in certain brands. I sure hope shops like this will continue to exist. Great video again.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Ed, I'm definitely going to go back and pick up some goodies at some point. Cheers Rick

[@ModelTrainOutsider]

Greetings, R & P! What a great shop, thanks for sharing it with us. Amazing collection, and a large selection of continental! Brilliant tour... I could spend a few hours there, for sure.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Anthony, I'm sure there are a few models there that would look good on your layout. Cheers Rick

[@ChrisJohnson-te3eg]

What a fantastic looking model shop! Lovely selection of models and friendly staff too. Enjoy your enthusiasm for the hobby both of you. Great channel 👍

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much Chris

[@clivengauge]

Hi Rick and Pauline what a great shop and the man knows his business wish I had a shop near me like that thank you for sharing 👍

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much Clive

[@christinerobottom9444]

I remember the first 50 cl56s arriving at Tinsley from Romania they all had to have their bogies changed because they were wrong, I worked at Tinsley and well remember the master and slave units used on the hump shunt good days.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Great to see the 56 still going albeit rebuilt and renumbered all these years later. All the best Rick

[@nickboden5866]

When you start your weathering, Remember Little is More……I always use powders on my vehicles

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Nick!

[@peterhopewell9431]

Absolutely love Arcadia rail. My layout is pan European and I've hauled myself from Notts to Oldham a few times, but sadly not recently. Tim and Trevor are two of the most helpful guys I've met. Thanks for featuring this great outlet. or

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Peter, I'm glad to know Arcadia is known throughout the country. It really is a gem of a shop. Thanks for watching Rick

[@alantraish3368]

Nice to see Tim, the man behind the voice Ive bought off of many times. I live in Essex so a long way from me but a superb shop and always exchanged when Ive had faulty models. Thanks both for the video. Its good to get feedback from shops about who is buying the models.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Alan, good to put a face to the name! Thanks for watching Rick

[@chrissharp5073]

Well done to you both using your blog to support a local model shop. But then it's also about all the other local model and hobby shops around the UK that we support. My local model shops are an Aladdin's cave full of model railways and everything else besides. Keep up the good work. The futures bright, the future will still be model railways.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Chris, thanks for your comment, we plan on doing some more model shop videos and have offers from two other shops to film. They are both a bit further afield from us but we hope to cover them both in the next couple of months. All the best Rick

[@ModelRailwayShed]

Hello Rick and Pauline, wow what a great shop and such a huge range ❤️

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Cheers Deano

[@ngaugefouroaksstreetstatio6932]

I used Arcadia models and purchased a class 40 n gauge from here in Perth Australia, great service.

[@HenrikSweden1]

nice shop ! the big steam engine at 14.56 has a danger sign telling the reader that the water in the tank is poisonous so you can't drink it. You can still see these great engines in Harz in southeastern germany and also on Rugen in northestern germany. Big engines on narrow-gauge. Thanks !

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Monster of a loco!

[@thestocktonflyer4059]

Great video guys 😊 what a lovely model shop 😀 keep up the good work 👏

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks very much 😀

[@dannyvanstraelen3273]

Hi Rick & Pauline, very nice shop you went to, and also great video work. You can buy online, perhaps do good deals, but entering a train model shop is always a nice experience, and sometimes you can do better deals in the shop, than online. Of course there are also the train shows, where you have a big choice, but here it's all brand new and entering a good shop, the floor space doesn't have to be massive to spend hours in there to take everything in, love it. Look that shop had also a lot of continental rolling stock, they even had the Bombardier Traxx (see 1:35 upper right with the green nose) that I drove a lot into Germany. Definitely a shop to visit one day… PS. when are we going to see the Big Boy on your layout???😜 I saw a real one once at a train museum near Dallas, huge monster…

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Danny, great shop isn't it. Unfortunately the big boy was not available in blue so we elected not to purchase one. All the best Rick

[@dennismeijer1783]

Hi Rick & Pauline. The scale 1/32 German 99 series tankengine from Kiss Modellbahn Trevor showed you reads: Danger No drinking water. Great shop with lots of continental trains. Thanks for sharing.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks for watching Dennis

[@Shauniboy1984]

Great video and really good idea for a mini series. I can highly recommend popping to going loco models at lofthouse for a video of this nature - Ive tried several shops in my area and that was far and away the best, including prices. Cheers Shaun

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Shaun, we plan on doing more shops if they will let us. It's important to us that they get involved with the video as it's their business and we want people to know who they will be dealing with. Thanks for watching Rick

[@timstrainvideos142]

great video like all the euro model trains

[@KellinoRail]

Interesting what he says about the OBB class 1020 / DB class E94. I did an Inter-rail at the beginning of 1989 and saw them working in the Arlberg and immediately grew a huge affection for them. Luckily when I did find a model shop in Austria selling them it was a Saturday afternoon, so the shop was closed, so I got away without spending my cash! lol

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Yes best hang onto your cash when inter-railing!

[@briancooper562]

You missed the BEMO section of HOm (12mm gauge HO scale} same as TT track gauge and HOe (9mm gauge HO scale) same as N track gauge. They also do 1:43 (O) gauge, narrow gauge prototypes of Austrian ,Swiss and German narrow gauge prototypes

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Brian, thanks for the info, we have more footage from the shop which we will feature in a future vlog. All the best Rick

[@marksinthehouse1968]

I would love to support my local shop if I had one ,we had jones models in Chiswick ,closed in 86-87 Braley models near Northfields tube closed around 2006,we had model zone in Holborn ,kingston abd croydon gone ,my nearest now is Jane’s trains in tooting two buses or tube and Thames link to tooting stn im in Hammersmith,even in our shopping centre I live a love above we had toys galore with a great model railway dept gone ,I’m concerned that even the big box shifters are having probs heavy discounting going on ,my surplus cash is smaller due to every day items thank goodness my job I get free TfL staff pass I blame in part a certain vote but I won’t get political Rick causes to much bad feeling ,but your videos help mate thank you bud keeping it alive Mark 😊😊

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Mark, yup we have lost a few up here as well. I'm gonna discuss this in our vlog in a few weeks. All the best Rick (and I never mentioned the vote) 😀

[@DiggerEvans]

Hiya guys what a great shop you showed us

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks Digger

[@modeloco]

Fabulous place and luckily the price of progress didn’t force this shop out of business with it being totally self contained I presume and off the high st. Never comes up on internet searches but, now on my to do list 👍

[@wellchuffedrailways]

It's on the outskirts of Oldham in a village called Shaw. There aren't a lot of shops adjacent but it's handily located not far from the motorway. Thanks for watching Rick

[@modeloco]

@@wellchuffedrailways No problem 👍 The shop name rang a bell but, had completely gone off my radar. Do wonder how that ‘Big Boy’ in HO looks beside our OO ?

[@beatlebrad5339]

Hi Rick. Well..... O WOW this is just fascinating!!!! I don't have much to say because I am in all of this store:). !!! WOW he sure dose have it all:). Just the box itself was great. But the Train is just magnificent :)!!! Ok the next one. Is just so big and that is just the box LOL!!! I just don't know what to say about it all. Unboxing number 3 so nice wow!!! Next room o wow great. + some nice Buildings too and a LOT MORE :)!!! Did you get anything? I did notice the $$$ of something and lol wow a lot mate!!! But this was just great to see and have a great weekend too my friend :)!!!!

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Brad, we are due a trip back at some point to get some goodies. Glad you enjoyed it! All the best Rick

[@beatlebrad5339]

That sure was a good Train show!!! I did enjoy it well done you cheers mate!!!!!

[@hotdogpilot6319]

Great to walk into a shop where they know your name.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Cheers. 😀

[@christinerobottom9444]

Great vlog as always, Just a question do you remember the price of them superb breakdown cranes, Thanks.

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Hi Christine, sorry no but you can always have him a bell, he does do phone orders. All the best Rick

[@christinerobottom9444]

​@@wellchuffedrailwaysOK thanks may have pack a picnic and set off from Mansfield thanks again.

[@jbhtrams]

Would be great if you could afford anything in there. You'd pay a fiver for dome fishplates!

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Thanks for watching.

[@JPoulAndersson]

Did you actually buy anything?? Kinda rude not to…

[@wellchuffedrailways]

Not on this occasion but I'm planning on going back!