Trade Titfield Thunderbolt News

Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Ok you hep cats - get with the groove and check out my funky new "blog" type thing on my website. I'm calling it "Talking Shop" - shades of MRN for the 21st Century eh?

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

This is ahead of a major upgrade on Monday next, when the database will be fully re-loaded with all the latest goodies and the "What's New" page will be comprehensively what it purports to.

So strictly speaking the new bits alluded to won't work until Monday:rolleyes:, but you can now at least "like" the website on Facebook!!

Yippee - here comes the youth market and untold riches as I distribute obscure train books to the X box generation:))
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
PS Great Western Journal 81 just landed:

Bulldogs At Work by John Copsey
Reading Goods Pt 2 Vastern Road Yard by Chris Turner
GWR Horse traffic and horseboxes Part 4 by John Lewis
The evolution of the 44XX class by Alan Hall

And yesterday:

Lightweight DMUs The Early Derby Works and Metro-Cammell Units by Evan Green-Hughes. At £16.99 from Ian Allan, eight pages bigger than the railbuses book but probably containing a bit less colour. Appealing book on appealing prototype, well OK, just the Derby units:eek:

Simon

In da shop
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
George was in this morning and we have now completed the major part of the overhaul of the Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop website.

Every page featuring and listing books is now generated from a single database and the what's new page is now a listing of all books added to the shop/database since a certain date, which I have set to the 1st January 2012 in the first instance.

If you look at this page you will see some books which are not newly published, they are listed because they are new to the shop, ie I have never stocked them before.

Notable additions under this heading are a series of three reasonably priced all colour books on the Midland & Great Northern Railway, published by the preservation scociety at £6.95 each. I don't think these have been distributed at all to the book trade and they are real crackers. Part 4 is due out on the 10th February and I will certainly be stocking this too.

Going back to the website, I now need to put in some missing images for the Wild Swan journal pages, add missing bibliographic details to some basic Wild Swan listings and more generally start writing my "reviews" of books as I add them. Hopefully the new entirely logical method of producing the website will encourage me to do this.

In the meantime any comments/thoughts/suggestions would be most welcome, in addition to reports of any dud information etc. that may have escaped our attention.

In more general terms I'm happy to report that the business is growing. Although it isn't as busy as it will ultimately need to be, having now got two months of sales (December and January) where I can make a year on year comparison, I can report that there is a consistent growth in sales over the period of c. 30% over both months.

Not meteoric but then times are quite tough and I also need to promote the shop more, especially as the "basics" are now pretty much all in place and working.

Thanks very much to Cynric for allowing me to promote and talk about the shop here on WT and thank you also to all customers past and present.

Now its back to getting some scans of the Wild Swan journal covers....

Simon
 
Neil

Neil

Western Thunderer
A growth of 30% seems a pretty strong performance to me Simon, would that UK economy manage a tenth of that.

Edit: Just noticed you're canvassing for suggestions and comments.

[adenoidal whine]
I've noticed that 'booksearch' and 'shop main page' result in a not found error if accessed from the 'what's new' page.

Might be a bit of a bind to list all the second hand books and model railway stock, but it might be a good idea to let the punter know that these are available too; I couldn't find mention of them on the site.

The home page and bookshop page seem to duplicate each other to a certain extent. I know it's a bit Rimmer-esque to suggest a tidy up, but it might pay dividends.

Pictures; I see that some of the issues of MRJ have their front covers depicted in glorious technicolour. Would it be better to direct this effort at books, higher value, less of a known quantity. I particularly like those on line book sellers that include a low-res sample page or two.
[/adenoidal whine]
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Thanks Neil, I hadn't spotted your additional comments until today.

The linking glitches have been sorted out and I have started using George's new functionality with images to improve the new journal pages for GW Journal, LMS Journal, Mid Record and BR Journal.

Interesting point about images/values, my/our objective is to get images of all Wild Swan books up on the web and fill in the journals as they come in, but not (probably) push this "feature" too far back into the back issues.

I like the idea of some featured content too, might try and do something with that idea.

Today I had wanted to re-do my blog page as I have a couple of things to "say" but I think I've just run out of time..

Anyway, here's the latest arrival in the shop, part four of the M&GN Society's colour series on ther line and its an absolute corker. 40 pages of art paper, all colour softback at 240mm X 170mm for £7.95.

Newbook.jpg

Lots of very good images including some very atmospheric BR blue shots on the remaining freight, (my favourite probably D5542 in blue at Norwich City with resident 03 in background on 4 June 1968) and also including the last 1970 Yarmouth - Lowestoft trains formed of a Blue Cravens DMU. Also featuring B12s, green diesels, happy holidaymakers and a trackless Melton Constable.

Simon
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Quick update from the shop:

Twelveheads beautiful book on Royal Albert Bridge now available in quality paperback edition at £19.50:
Royalb.jpg

MRJ 213 in stock:

Newmag.jpg

Edited by Barry Norman and with a distinct tang of the Atlantic Coast about it. Trerice redux sees Iain Rice back on his best literary form in the West Country, there is a magnificent 7mm rendition of 34002 Salisbury, Gordon Gravett's barge is drawn up on the beach in North Devon, Barry revisits North Cornwall and Peter Swift improves the Hornby Maunsell coaches. The Lionheart mineral wagons are effectively weathered by Mike Baker and Ralph Burrows takes us back up the line to show us his Arts and Crafts masterpiece in the New Forest. Terrific!


I have also just taken into stock the complete "West Country related" range of "Branch Line" DVDs. I used to stock their videos and thought them very good, so have decided to put their DVDs into stock. They aren't entered on to the database yet so they won't appear on the website immediately - another job to do. These include the latest Lawrence Hill/Westbury "cab ride" titles.

In the meantime (and as a relief to all this rampant advertising;)) local author and postcard collector Andrew Swift came into the shop last week with a series of photographs of WR bridgework that he had bought with a collection. He and I would be interested to learn more, so here's the first one for your consideration. I think I know where this is but will be very interested to hear others thoughts on just what is going on, when, where etc.

Yelvcr.jpg

I'm off to update the website, its a beautiful day here and I've got the door open and another tea on the go:)

Simon
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
This crane looks like either GWR No.2 or No.3.... seems to be a R&R 36T. Any other photos of the crane or of the match truck or weight truck?
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Dog Star said:
This crane looks like either GWR No.2 or No.3.... seems to be a R&R 36T. Any other photos of the crane or of the match truck or weight truck?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately there is only the one image at this location. Tim is right I think but I'm intrigued by what they might be doing, as far as I can see the jib must be over the turnout off the headshunt that leads to the turntable, a bit OTT for trackwork I would have thought?

Simon
 
Phill Dyson

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
MRJ sounds right up my steet :) ..........got some of those Branchline vids myself, the Ilfracombe & Swanage branch ones are my favourites :)
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Here's what I think are three pictures of a second location, we have/had a feeling these might be in Plymouth somewhere?

Mystpic1.jpg
Mystpic2.jpg
Mystpic3.jpg

My guess is that pictures one and three are taken from opposite sides of the bridge.

I look forward to your thoughts....

Simon
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
The second photo of the three featuring the girder bridge being worked on is definitely Pennycomequick bridge, immediately to the west of Plymouth North Road station. The first one looks to be the same, but I'm not sure about the third, partly due to the presence of the platform ramp immediately next to the girders, even though North Road station is close, I'm not sure that it was that close? However, if the photos are all of a series, it seems logical that they will all be of the same location and event.
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
Thank you for that Tim, I'll pass on the info to Andrew and must remember to post the pics of the third location here as well.

Meanwhile in the shop, the latest Archive and Railway Archive are in stock, Moseley Trust's Sylvasprings A4 booklet by Paul Webb has arrived, and Wild Swan's LNER wagons vol 4A is being sent out by the publisher next thursday so will be in stock Friday or following Tuesday at the latest.

I have been putting up extra shelving and have now lost the large black fixture in the middle of the shop that messed up conversations. I am still working on some new fittings behind the counter for the modelling stuff and once this is up I will have a mild expansion into a few more wagon kits and a bit more Bachmann wagonry.

Bob Gregson's "Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway around Preston" is a cracker and even Ian Allan's new "Great Western Steam Locomotives on the Main Line (Edwardian era pics) is rather good. Quirky book of the year so far is "Oakwood Press the first 80 years" which is really quite fascinating. Second Generation DMUs has been reprinted by Ian Allan and I found myself being embroiled in the details of Class 155s earlier today as a result:rolleyes:

I'm doing the Nailsea show with the bookstall this weekend but Kevin is in the shop tomorrow if anyone's headed that way.

Simon
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
I've just updated the website and put up a new "blog" page, complete with pictures of new shelf extensions:rolleyes:

I'm working through a large-ish secondhand book collection of a late friend who was an LNER enthusiast, so if anyone is after any particular books on this company I may have them. Also complete set of the RCTS loco series on various companies including the GWR. I would rather sell these as sets and am open to haggling if anyone wants to indulge.

I'm off to play trains in the garden now:thumbs:

Simon
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
I've updated the website to include the new postal charges (ouch!) and also to offer an integrated Paypal option on the shopping cart, which seems to have proved its worth already.

On a different note, on Saturday morning last a customer of mine, David Gale from Bristol, brought in his latest 7mm model building for me to have a look at.

It's unfinished but is already looking very good I think:

hut1.jpg

David's technique for producing those great looking stones is tissue paper and pva pummelled together and then cut into blocks of differing sizes with scissors - they look brilliant! Mortar to be added, preliminary painting carried out.

Good innit?

Simon
 
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
It does look nice, I must admit, and an ingenious way of producing stonework.

Glad to see that the shop is entering into the Jubilee spirit of things - you old Royalist, you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
What's New?
Top