This news does raise some interesting questions but, for me, mainly just as a casual observer of the OO scene.

I'll be interested to see where it goes, many elsewhere seem to think Heljan will become Accurascale's "Railroad" range but their MO doesn't seem to fit with many of the compromises in Heljan models (printed nose doors on a 4mm class 26 anyone?) Also thoughts elsewhere that the big 2 will need to change their pricing structure. Don't see that either, Branchline new tool diesels seem more a competitor for the main Accurascale range.

Heljan don't always have the retailer presence of other brand either. This was the rationale given when a few of their models appeared in the early days of the EFE rail development.

What does seem clear is that Accurascale are the leaders when it comes to self promotion(and nothing wrong with that). Meanwhile Bachmann carry on largely in their established way with good new models arriving with reasonable regularity, N included.

I suspect being unable to stock Heljan will be an annoyance for some retailers, especially those who had taken pre-orders, but this is not the biggest challenge the small independants have faced, not when compared to the growth in Internet shopping for example

Quote from: Newportnobby on March 27, 2026, 10:11:25 AM

Quote from: Roy L S on March 27, 2026, 09:57:03 AMThe point is though that if there is a gradual direction of travel towards direct sales only, each manufacturer going down the route will mean less products for a model shop to stock making it harder and harder to survive. As we depend on those models shops for everything we need to build our model railways (which is way more than just locos and stock) then that WILL make a difference, there is a whole railway modelling ecosystem which depends on the model shops in some form.

I appreciate that, of course, Roy, but you make it sound as if without locos and rolling stock retailers will just shut up shop. I can't envisage that ever happening as they will have to 'cut their coat according to their cloth' with model railway stuff as, with most of them, that's not all they sell

I think many would do exactly that Mick (shut up shop) as locos and stock are (1) the "bigger ticket" items that are relatively high value for the space they take up on the shelf and (2) facilitate the ability to buy everything you need in a single place.

Consider that say a Farish V2, non-sound, even if discounted to £180 will probably provide a gross "profit" contribution somewhere in the region of £30 to the retailer. How many packs of Woodland Scenics clump foliage at £10 a pack (maybe £2 gross which takes up four times the space on the shelf) will it take to generate the same return?

It currently still works (just) because the first offsets the second, but if all a shop could stock is low ticket items, then the amount of shelf space needed (and the cost of it) given the level of stock turnover necessary to generate the same level of profit would make the whole business model unviable for a typical model shop given that all the big overheads are fixed costs.

Roy

Quote from: Roy L S on March 27, 2026, 09:57:03 AMThe point is though that if there is a gradual direction of travel towards direct sales only, each manufacturer going down the route will mean less products for a model shop to stock making it harder and harder to survive. As we depend on those models shops for everything we need to build our model railways (which is way more than just locos and stock) then that WILL make a difference, there is a whole railway modelling ecosystem which depends on the model shops in some form.

I appreciate that, of course, Roy, but you make it sound as if without locos and rolling stock retailers will just shut up shop. I can't envisage that ever happening as they will have to 'cut their coat according to their cloth' with model railway stuff as, with most of them, that's not all they sell

A song that I like but I much prefer the Joe Cocker version

Quote from: Bealman on March 27, 2026, 12:57:55 AMSo you drag yourself upright and mutter, "That's ok" when in fact it's anything but.

I don't say it's OK. I moan about it but, then again. I'm a whingeing Pom

Quote from: Newportnobby on March 26, 2026, 10:29:14 PMOn the basis Heljan do not do N gauge, and Accurascale have very little interest in the 'proper' gauge (IMHO) this news doesn't really make a scrap of difference to me...........

.......unless - the companies I do buy from decide to drop their retailers in favour of direct sales, and I can't really see that happening as, for the most part, their retailers do so much for them and to bring all that back in house would increase their costs considerably

In isolation and at this point in time it may seem like it won't make a scrap of difference to an N modeller, or indeed possibly a OO one as the amount of Heljan stocked in a typical traditional model shop is limited. It may potentially have a different effect on the O Gauge modeller and in particular the specialist O stockists like Tower Models in the shorter term, but as I understand it, already (and the big discounts point to this) it was becoming more difficult to sell the O diesels without huge discounts suggesting a market shift.

The point is though that if there is a gradual direction of travel towards direct sales only, each manufacturer going down the route will mean less products for a model shop to stock making it harder and harder to survive. As we depend on those models shops for everything we need to build our model railways (which is way more than just locos and stock) then that WILL make a difference, there is a whole railway modelling ecosystem which depends on the model shops in some form.

Roy

Stoney days.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIWY8UyW9bw

I will get my meter out an check the voltage on the bars. Also may substitute bullet connections for crocodile clips nearer to the action. My 00 gauge version is using DCC so higher voltages.

I recognise all of the artifacts in that picture. In fact I had the same ones!

Another blurry photo unfortunately. But this shows my first "Permanent" layout.
The loco is the cheaper version of the Tri-ang Princess, which was "Princess Victoria" in black with no representation of the Walschaerts valve gear. It came with 2 red and cream coaches, to which my uncle added a restaurant car.
My dad made up a couple of Airfix kits, some which might be discerned in the picture, including the footbridge and water tower.
We also had an original Tri-ang station set.
I later built up quite a big collection of mainly Tri-ang but also a few Dublo and Wrenn items, which I eventually sold to fund my first sortie into N Gauge.
The frame of this layout lives on underneath part of my N Gauge layout here on the other side of the World 65 years later!