Hi Everyone, I'm at the track buying stage now for the layout, When any of you have bought track in the past have you go to several dealers and asked for their cheapest price bearing in mind i rekon theres about £500 worth of track or are they all generally the same across the board?? Or shall I wait for Warley? 

Not sure what to do....

Cheers Ian

Hi Ian,

Not sure you'll get any track bargains at Warley but as I've never been you may strike lucky.
My experience in buying Peco code 55 is that it is certainly cheaper to buy flexitrack from the major outlets in packs (owing to postage difficulties they don't tend to split packs up unless you buy in the shop). I bought a pack from Hattons and then just topped up when necessary by buying individual lengths from my local model shop.
I armed my self with a points cost spreadsheet before I hit the shops (see attached).
I also found that buying bulk, I could do a deal with whoever I was buying from.
Hope this helps

The way I worked out costs was similar to NN.

I did a spread sheet of everything that I needed, down to how many IRJ's and rail joiners, and worked out the total costs including postage. While it may work out cheaper to buy from several different sites, I decided that when I looked at the final total figures overall, and for simplicity and one postage cost, it worked out cheaper to go to the one dealer for the bulk buy. That way you have all your track without the frustration of waiting for a supplier to deliver the piece that you're waiting for.

Then after that it is down to the local model shop for the odd bits and pieces.

One thing you may what to ponder is to order extra flexitrack than want your plan says, for instance Anyrail will tell you that you need xxx length of flexi, but it doesn't allow for cutting waste, unless you want to join lots of short pieces together 

That is EXACTLY what I did too 

Made a list of all the track I needed (£550 worth!), plus some Dapol wagons that were just released and likely to sell out quickly, then approached one of the major retailers who also has a physical shop. Asked them to confirm when everything was in stock and I would pop down and collect it, and sure enough about a week later the 10 wagons were in and all the track was there. Drove down and also picked up a few extras in the shop, managed to negotiate a bit of bulk discount, and also had a nice day out visiting Rochester Castle and a local tea shop into the bargain!



Paul

I wish I had been as organised. I must have spent £30 or more on shipping in the past year. Being in Kent I'm a fair way from any of the bigger (online) retailers.

I have got better, well that's my opinion, and now try and make up 'bundles' of wagons, coaches and bits and pieces to keep the delivery costs down. I seem to get stuck with the growing number of pre orders though.

Always good fun 'discovering' new stuff, usually here on the NGF, to add to my wish list.

Dave G

Quote from: daveg on November 08, 2012, 10:21:59 PM
I wish I had been as organised. I must have spent £30 or more on shipping in the past year. Being in Kent I'm a fair way from any of the bigger (online) retailers.

Thought you'd have used The Signal Box in Rochester as you're in Kent, bought most of my track from them and they did me some good prices, although it did cost a bit to get shipped over to Spain but a lot, lot cheaper than I can buy here.

The Signal Box, Rochester - exactly who I was hinting at in my post above. Top bunch of people, gave me a good price too and consequently have had many more hundreds of pounds out of me for pre-ordered stock including a single order for FOUR Class 156 sets. 


Paul

I have to confess they had not come to my attention  .

Only 24 miles away AND I don't have to cross the river spending extra cash on the toll.

Goes to prove that the Forum is the place to get great help and info.



Dave G

  for all the info guys 

Since I need to get my stuff shipped to France I started going down the spreadsheet route but soon realised that by the time I'd eliminated those that won't ship outside the UK and made allowances for the fact that some retailers stock some products and not others I could spend more time researching than modelling!
At the end of the day I found that I can get virtually everything I need from Gaugemaster or Hatton. And neither have let me down yet.

Likewise here in Spain good service from both of them, Rails of Sheffield are also reliable. 

Thanks for the tip, whiteswan. I'd always thought of Rails of Sheffield as being a bit 00 orientated. Perhaps I'll have another look.

Quote from: Frenchie on November 19, 2012, 02:01:14 PM
Thanks for the tip, whiteswan. I'd always thought of Rails of Sheffield as being a bit 00 orientated. Perhaps I'll have another look.

Since i started working at Rails i've always promoted N gauge as much as i can, most potential new railway modellers also get informed of the forum.

Ollie

Quote from: Ollie3440 on November 19, 2012, 04:18:51 PM

Quote from: Frenchie on November 19, 2012, 02:01:14 PM
Thanks for the tip, whiteswan. I'd always thought of Rails of Sheffield as being a bit 00 orientated. Perhaps I'll have another look.

Since i started working at Rails i've always promoted N gauge as much as i can, most potential new railway modellers also get informed of the forum.

Ollie

Can you sort me out Ollie