Trade Titfield Thunderbolt News

Simon

Flying Squad
Dum de-dum dumty da-da....

After long and careful consideration, I have decided to "take the plunge" and the Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop will be operating from retail premises in Bath from November this year.

If all goes according to plan, (which is my expectation) I should take possession on the 1st November and kick off with a "bit of a do" on the 13th of November.

I have asked a number of people down for the 13th and Neil Rushby has very generously volunteered to attend with Shell Island and make an exhibition of himself on the day, so if you come down you will at least get to see Shell Island and its creator in the flesh.

I will be there with Lesley (my wife) and Harry and Charlie (the boys), and refreshments will be laid on.

Having said that I have asked a number of people it is basically open house and everyone is invited, so if you are anywhere near and fancy coming along then we would be delighted to see you.

I will flesh out the day and what will be on offer shop-wise in more detail over the coming weeks, but in the meantime (and with Cynric's permission) here is a link to a page I have just put up to my website that gives the salient details as they currently are:

http://www.titfield.co.uk/newshop.htm

I would just like to say a few things more about this:

Although I am a bookseller who sells books, and I have and will from time to time (or even more frequently if you're really unlucky) mention or flag up various books or magazines that I might be selling or be aware of on Western Thunder, I have absolutely no expectation that anyone here will as a consequence buy a book from me or feel that I think that they ought to buy a book from me.

Nor will I get grumpy if anyone goes off and buys any book(s), aforementioned or not by myself, from anywhere or anyone else, even if that be at a stonking great discount from Rainforest Books inc. or someone like that ;)

Basically, I'm "only here for the beer" as an advert once said, although if anything I should say or do, (subject of course to approval by The Guv) makes anyone whizz down to Bath and purchase a containerload of books from me then then I would probably cope, somehow....

Joking apart, thank you very much to Cynric for letting me flag this up. I aim to create a bloody good railway bookshop which will hopefully give pleasure to myself and visitors/customers and generate some sort of meaningful revenue for my family along the way.

As the journey unfolds I will be very open to all and any suggestions, comments, brickbats etc

Thank you very much!

Simon Castens
 

28ten

Guv'nor
New Shop

Simon said:
I aim to create a bloody good railway bookshop which will hopefully give pleasure to myself and visitors/customers and generate some sort of meaningful revenue for my family along the way.

As the journey unfolds I will be very open to all and any suggestions, comments, brickbats etc

Thank you very much!

Simon Castens
Sounds like my sort of shop :thumbs: :thumbs: Looking forward to the 13th :)
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
New Shop

It's a long way from me Simon :( , but It sounds like just the sort of place I could while away an hour or four, so until I'm passing your neck of the woods again ..........I'd like to wish you every success in your new venture :D :thumbs:

Phill :wave:
 

Pugsley

Western Thunderer
New Shop

Good luck with the new venture, Simon.  I'll definitely drop in if I'm passing that neck of the woods.  8)
 

Neil

Western Thunderer
New Shop

Simon said:
....  so if you come down you will at least get to see Shell Island and its creator in the flesh. ....

I'm pretty certain that this will be the last time that Shell Island goes public. I've had a mind to retire it for the last couple of years and this way it goes out on a high. If any fellow thunderers turn up then please offer to take the controls, I'm always up for a tea break, and if you've any EM stock you'd like to run then please feel free to bring it along.
 

Simon

Flying Squad
New Shop

Thanks for all your good wishes!

I was on the phone to a solicitor today, thought I'd better get the lease checked out before I signed it.

?175.00 an hour and she reckons it'll be an hour and a half to read it through and make basic comments :eek:

Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound, or two hundred and sixty two and a half ::)
 

lancer1027

Western Thunderer
New Shop

Hi Simon, solicitor's there having a laugh at those sort of fee's. Tell her to read more quickly so it only takes 10 minutes ;)

Rob
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
New Shop

lancer1027 said:
Hi Simon, solicitor's there having a laugh at those sort of fee's. Tell her to read more quickly so it only takes 10 minutes ;)
'Ere! I'll have a read of it for just a 'undred quid and a free copy of Sabotaged & Defeated Vol 2!!  :p :p
 

Simon

Flying Squad
New Shop

Thanks for the encouragement :thumbs:

I today received the report on the lease and the bill for same from the solicitor.

It brings tears to my eyes but it is signable, so things still heading in the right direction.

I have been speaking to various suppliers and am now pretty confident of opening with a really good stock of new books, quite a lot more than I already hold in stock.

Also, with helpful input from Tim Graham who built Whitemans up over 20 years until he sold it in 1995, I have added a web page talking about Whitemans and leading readers into the new shop. Whilst I am deploying this onto the web in order to maximise publicity for The Titfield Thunderbolt and capture browsers unknown to me who might google "Whitemans Bookshop" given the unfolding situation, it is also to mark and give some background information on what used to be a really special place for quite a lot of people.

http://www.titfield.co.uk/Whitemans.htm

I haven't done any modelling recently, although I did run D6319 and a short train in the garden on Thursday - magic :)

Simon
 

28ten

Guv'nor
New Shop

Simon
something you will want to look into is getting on to the front page of google. if I search for 'railway books' you are on page three and it is generally accepted that most users never go beyond the first search page. there are lots of things you can do but one of the most effective and cheapest is to ensure all your key words are on your front page and phrases like 'Railway books' are at the very top.
 

Simon

Flying Squad
New Shop

28ten said:
Simon
something you will want to look into is getting on to the front page of google. if I search for 'railway books' you are on page three and it is generally accepted that most users never go beyond the first search page. there are lots of things you can do but one of the most effective and cheapest is to ensure all your key words are on your front page and phrases like 'Railway books' are at the very top.

Good idea, I'll see if I can't insert appropriate phrases and words into my text ;D
 

iploffy

OC Blue Brigade
New Shop

Simon is your shop far from Bath Central as I get free travel on the rail an may come down to visit the shop when I get the chance.

Ian
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
New Shop

iploffy said:
Simon is your shop far from Bath Central as I get free travel on the rail an may come down to visit the shop when I get the chance.

Ian
There's a frequent bus service from the bus station adjacent to Bath Spa station to Larkhall, otherwise it's around 1.5 miles or so if you want to walk it.
 

Simon

Flying Squad
New Shop

iploffy said:
Simon is your shop far from Bath Central as I get free travel on the rail an may come down to visit the shop when I get the chance.

Ian

Hi Ian

As Tim says, its actually quite a way out of the centre. That said there are a choice of two direct bus routes, the one Tim mentioned and another, and both are frequent and  go to and from the bus station which is right next to Bath Spa.

So very do-able, if you were going to come down then let me know and I'll get all the relevant details for you.

Simon
 
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