Probably the best On Line Hobby Shop Experience I've ever had!

[learmoia]

Over the last 10 years or so, I've been hunting for a hobby shop that has has the right combination of:
Good Prices
PreOrdering
PreOwned
Holding items for shipping
and General ease of use on the site.

I think I've finally found it... in the UK.. 
https://www.hattons.co.uk/

In my search for Thomas cars (detailed below) I found that Hattons had many examples (New undercoated kits and Used cars).. priced in the 6-8$ range.
I could add everything into a cart and have it shipped.. OR.. Put in my Trunk...A box at the store to hold my items until I have enough stuff to make shipping worth while.  I know other shops offer this type of service, but this is the first time I've seen it implemented in an on line market place.

At this point I was just trying to see what their shipping costs for roughly 25 cars, and I was surprised that Shipping was 12$ for Royal Mail, or 18$ for DHL Express.. So I just put my order in and shipped it.  I chose DHL so I'd have tracking..

I ordered Friday morning - The box arrived to my house Monday Morning (a day early).

If someone in the US can capture this combination of features and prices in an on line store.... I"m in!


Backstory:
Recently I found that Bachmann planned to continue it's N scale Thomas line, so I ordered most of the first run items through Caboose Stop and Pre-Ordered the second run....

But Bachmann's ratio of Locos vs Wagons was way off and I wanted to expand my wagon fleet.  I had read that Bachmann was modeling Thomas at True 1:160 so I didn't want to jump in and get a bunch of British 1:150? N scale cars to go with it.  I found a US seller who had a few cars at a reasonable price, so I grabbed those and found that they were a good match.. So, Bachmann Thomas N scale is 1:150 (maybe based on the Graham Farish  molds?) and the Tomix Thomas items produced in the mid 2000s were just way over sized.

With this knowledge I went on a hunt for more 'cheap' cars..
Ebay was quickly ruled out due to excessive shipping costs, so I started to look at UK Hobby shops.

[Chris333]

I ordered a locomotive from them and it took over a month in shipping.  Nothing to do with the shop though

[peteski]

I shop at HLJ (Hobby Link Japan), and they have something similar - they call it a "private warehouse" where you can purchase items and leave them there adding additional items later, then decide when you want to ship them all together. But they do have a time limit on how long you can hold the items there.

As far as the Bachmann N scale Thomas goes, I'm confused.  They seem to have few items with rapido couplers ( I bought some to uses with my Tomix items).  Bachmann also seems to have a wider selection of Thomas models with some oddball couplers, and those are described as H0 narrow gauge.

As far as the true scale is concerned, why does it matter?  These are models of models. If they were scaled as true 1:160, they would be very tiny (likely larger than even T gauge.  You probably mean "scaled from 1:1 trains", but there is not such thing. Even if there is life-size Thomas locomotive, it is based on a fantasy model.  Loose scale at the most.

[learmoia]

As far as the Bachmann N scale Thomas goes, I'm confused.  They seem to have few items with rapido couplers ( I bought some to uses with my Tomix items).  Bachmann also seems to have a wider selection of Thomas models with some oddball couplers, and those are described as H0 narrow gauge.

As far as the true scale is concerned, why does it matter?  These are models of models. If they were scaled as true 1:160, they would be very tiny (likely larger than even T gauge.  You probably mean "scaled from 1:1 trains", but there is not such thing. Even if there is life-size Thomas locomotive, it is based on a fantasy model.  Loose scale at the most.

It doesn't really matter, but before I sink a bunch of money into freight cars, I don't want them to look out of place with the pieces they will operate with.
... I recall some discussion when Bachmann first announced that the Thomas items in N.. they would be true to scale because it was smaller than Tomix.. when really.. Tomix was larger than British N scale, and Bachmann is somewhere in the 1:150 scale..

Back when the TV show was using a model railroad for filming... the models were all based on a standard scale, and built from prototype kits.. (with a few exceptions..)  The locomotives strayed furthest from the prototypes, but the wagons were pretty much built from prototype kits.

To your other point..
There is HO/OO Narrow Gauge Thomas and N scale Thomas.. Both run on N scale Track.

[C855B]

I have used Hatton's once, for a German-made model during the pandemic where shipping out of Germany to the US was highly restricted. They did good by me; IIRC it was in my hands a week after ordering (but who could tell, really... clocks and calendars were meaningless during the peak!  ).

[peteski]

There is HO/OO Narrow Gauge Thomas and N scale Thomas.. Both run on N scale Track.

Ok, but with different couplers it won't be easy to run with the (Tomix and Bachmann) "N" version with rapido couplers. I also wonder how they look size-wise?

[learmoia]

Ok, but with different couplers it won't be easy to run with the (Tomix and Bachmann) "N" version with rapido couplers. I also wonder how they look size-wise?

Bachmann HOn30 Thomas uses hook and loop couplers
Bachmann N scale Thomas uses rapido couplers
Tomix N scale Thomas uses rapido couplers

But Tomix N Thomas is noticeably larger than Bachmann N Thomas.
And Bachmann N Thomas fits well with British N scale.

All run on N scale Track..

[peteski]

Bachmann HOn30 Thomas uses hook and loop couplers
Bachmann N scale Thomas uses rapido couplers
Tomix N scale Thomas uses rapido couplers

But Tomix N Thomas is noticeably larger than Bachmann N Thomas.
And Bachmann N Thomas fits well with British N scale.

All run on N scale Track..

Thanks Ian!

[lock4244]

This did not age well 

[dem34]

This did not age well 

Like the fabled Icarus, they perhaps flew a bit too close to the sun.

[learmoia]

Yeah I was really bummed.. I've shopped around at 'Rails' (of Sheffield) The website is similar but not the same..

~Ian