Mainland UK orders

There is a £10.00 Minimum Transaction on mainland UK orders.

Postal charges are as follows:

Order Value from £10.00 to £35.00 add £2.50 postage and packing.

Order Value from £35.01 to £150.00 add £6.00 postage and packing.

Order Value over £150.00 post free

We do not cover postage costs on any returns.

Export Orders

Our terms and conditions for export orders are as follows:

Within the European Community

After the 1st July 2021 on exports to Europe there is a new system coming into effect on small orders where the local European VAT is to be collected by the shipper and subsequently we have to submit a European VAT report and payment every month. This only counts on small orders under £150.00 and we do very few of these through the year so from the 1st of July our minimum order size for Europe will be £150.00 so that we avoid this paperwork.

With orders over £150.00 the system remains the same and we are deducting the VAT component of the prices on orders for the EU, with the local VAT being collected by local customs in the destination country. This basically works out about the same price as before but with some handling changes for the local VAT charges by the courier company.

Outside the European Community

There is a £25.00 Minimum Transaction On Export Orders outside of Europe.

We will automatically deduct V.A.T. from all orders exported to countries where applicable.

Payment

Unless an existing credit account is in operation, all orders to be exported from the U.K., must be paid for in advance. To allow us to correctly deduct V.A.T. and charge postage at cost, we prefer payment by credit card. We require the credit card holders' name, home address, card number, expiry date and 3 digit security number. In the case of trade customers using a credit card, we will ship the goods to their business address rather than their home address if preferred. However, to comply with credit card company rules, we must still have the address of the cardholder as well as delivery address. We accept the following credit cards: .

We DO NOT accept Diners Club or American Express.

We Can Accept Credit Card Orders By Telephone

We can also accept payment by cheque from a British bank, Eurocheques, Travellers Cheques in sterling or Sterling cash. Any of these methods, however can cause problems if the item is out of stock, unavailable or the V.A.T. or postage are incorrectly calculated. Very small amounts can be difficult to recover or refund, so we do prefer payment by credit card.

Your credit card will not be charged until despatch is made. In the event of a split delivery, only the goods despatched will be charged to your credit card. Goods are sold on firm orders only, we do not offer any form of approval system.

Postage

Postage at cost is charged on all export orders, whether retail or trade. Items weighing less than one kilo will be sent by Air Mail Small Packet Post, which is both quicker and cheaper than surface mail. Larger items can only be sent by Air Mail. This does have the advantage of automatic insurance up to a maximum value of £150.00 per parcel. We do not cover postage costs on any returns.

Enquiries

All enquiries (except those from existing trade accounts) that require an answer must be accompanied by one or two International Reply Paid Coupons. Your local Post Office will be able to advise on this.

We have been exporting goods all over the world since 1979. Please be assured that we will take all possible care with the packing, despatching and handling of your order.

Terms and Conditions.

We comply with UK terms and conditions for both Distant Selling Regulations and E Commerce Regulations though we would like to bring your attention to the following points:

Part Payments / Deposits.

In special circumstances we may accept part payments for large orders. Though be aware if you do this then it is considered a non-refundable deposit.

Tower Painting Services.

The service we offer for painting and finishing the Tower Brass and Bachmann Brass ranges are special commissions for which we require a deposit before begining work on the item. This is also true for the Heljan re-paints we offer. Generally this is the cost of the item to be completed with the fee for painting only payable upon completion. Such goods, completed to the customers own specifications cannot be cancelled once work has begun therefore be sure of what exactly you want before commissioning such items.

A REALITY CHECK ON CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS We offer a wide range of kits and ready-to-run items from a number of sources. Our aim is to offer a quality product at an affordable price. this seems to satisfy 99% of our customers. However, there appears to be a growing number of people in the model railway fraternity who expect perfection for a pitance of a price. Let me make it clear that the perfect model does not exist. It is utterly unreasonable to expect full working inside motion on any of the models we sell or any other complex working details that can barely be seen, especially at the price and no, the cab gauges don't really work! All our items are for standard 'O' gauge finescale. They are made from plastic, resin, white metal, pewter and brass. They are powered by electric motors. Real locomotives are made from iron, steel, brass and copper. they are powered by steam, diesel or electricity. If anyone wants to duplicate all the features of a real locomotive may I suggest he buys a real one. They are much bigger than ours and cost many times more than the ones we sell. At the end of the day model railways are big boys toys and meant to be fun, let's not forget it.

This is not an online shop, purely a catalogue of what we hopefully can supply. Suppliers often let us down, items come and go from time to time. If the manufacturer has none available there is very little we can do but we will keep you informed. At the end of the day we recommend you call to confirm availability when placing orders as this can avoid any mishaps.

We are also only human, we all make occasional mistakes and sometimes I might even have an error(shock horror!). Often we do not get any notice from manufacturers of price increases though I will endeavour to update the website as soon as possible. This can obviously leave us in the ackward situation where adverts in the model press (which have to be placed 3 months prior) do not actually reflect current prices from the manufacturer. Therefore we reserve the right to alter prices without any notification. If you find an error then let us know and I will update it the next time on the website.

Yours faithfully

Roger Whittam and Monty