Model Railways Marketplace Shrinking

[Masbroughlad]

I read that Rails of Sheffield have now bought Olivia's Trains:

ℹ️ Important Update Regarding Olivia's Trains/ Rails Bespoke

We would like to provide an update following our recent announcement regarding Olivia’s Trains.

railsofsheffield.com

Since our original statement, circumstances have changed, and Rails of Sheffield will no longer be taking over the Olivia’s Trains brand. Olivia’s Trains have decided not to proceed with the agreement, and as such, they will continue to operate independently.


However, we want to reassure our customers that very little has changed in our plans. We are still moving ahead with the launch of our own customisation services - Rails Bespoke, offering digital & sound fittings, high-quality weathering and other customisations for your locomotives and rolling stock.


Our new highly experienced customisation team is eager to begin. We are applying the finishing touches to our bespoke studio with state of the art technology, heavily investing in expert technicians and equipment. No expense has been spared making sure we have the best of the best.


The Rails Bespoke service is currently in development, and we look forward to sharing full details with you some time later this month.

They (fairly) recently bought Hattons of Liverpool - another big player in the market.

Sadly, many smaller, local shops are closing down. The bigger ones are swallowing others.

This is not me criticising Rails, far from it - I really like them and use them a lot. I am just concerned that consumer choice is shrinking, market dominance increases and prices might go up even more.

What do people think?

 

[D1511]

I got the triumphalist email from Rails today too. I think they felt they had to try to match or better TMCs custom weathering, numbering and sound fitting service, so they've just bought in those skills from Olivia's. I'm not sure if Olivia's was in bother or whether it was a more aggressive acquisition, but either way, as you say, it shrinks the marketplace further. I only tend to use Rails for pre-orders and new stuff.....I think their used stock is ludicrously overpriced, IMO.
I've never actually purchased anything from Olivia's as far as I'm aware, and I tend to do my own amateur (but improving) weathering jobs rather than pay someone, so from a selfish point of view, I doubt it will make a huge difference to me. But one fewer player in the marketplace is never good for competition.

 

[Trainlog]

I agree, whilst I welcome the success of Rails of Sheffield and do check in on the site from time to time, its certainly sad seeing the decline of modelshops to just sporadic stores, pop up shops at model railway exhibitions, and online stores instead.

For me, I just wish that WHSmiths (TJ Jones, like X now being Twitter I don't really want to acknowledge a pointless rebrand) would see the potential of reviving some Modelzone stores and have somewhere that can stock.

• Model kits
• Model trains (N gauge up to OO gauge)
• Warhammer
• Lego sets

Its a bit melodramatic but Modelzone is up there as one of the shops I have missed the most closing in Maidstone. We have had two since, one being Regals models which unfortunately didn't last long (2013-16) and the Chatham one moved out of its building in 2021 which is a shame as it was a worthy successor to Modelzone and Rochester models which was alright when it was here but lasted a little over a year as it's hours weren't exactly great and shut earlier than other shops in the Mall (at 16:00).

Point is, whilst I want to still support smaller model shops and still do when I can, some high streets could do with a Modelzone that can cater to the hobby community in these 4 categories, even if they have limited stores in larger town malls or Cities.

I know someone will say Hobbycraft does to an extent, but its a very bare minimum selection and no longer stock model trains of any scales.

 

[Harpo]

I only tend to use Rails for pre-orders and new stuff.....I think their used stock is ludicrously overpriced, IMO.

Rails ‘pre-owned’ is frequently priced higher than Rails new. E.g., Heljan O NSE GUV £99.50 new or £179.50 used.

Search: 24 results found for "heljan guv network"

Rails of Sheffield - Model Railways Specialists. Worldwide Shipping, Every Major Brand Including New and Pre-owned, Pre-Orders, Hornby, Bachmann, Dapol, Gaugemaster, Graham Farish, Heljan, Peco, Accurascale, DCC Concepts plus many more.

railsofsheffield.com

 

[Ted633]

Olivia's trains were expensive, much more so than Rails. Vast majority of their stock was RRP.
They seemed to do very little in the way of discounts/sales as well, seeing as they were still trying to sell their exclusive EM1/2s at their original (or higher) prices. This was a model that came out well over 10 years ago!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Oct 2025 ==

I read that Rails of Sheffield have now bought Olivia's Trains:

ℹ️ Important Update Regarding Olivia's Trains/ Rails Bespoke

We would like to provide an update following our recent announcement regarding Olivia’s Trains.

railsofsheffield.com

They (fairly) recently bought Hattons of Liverpool - another big player in the market.

Sadly, many smaller, local shops are closing down. The bigger ones are swallowing others.

This is not me criticising Rails, far from it - I really like them and use them a lot. I am just concerned that consumer choice is shrinking, market dominance increases and prices might go up even more.

What do people think?

Interestingly, Olivia’s website is now back up and running and all mentions of the merger have disappeared from the Rails of Sheffield website. Wonder what’s going on here?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Olivia's trains were expensive, much more so than Rails. Vast majority of their stock was RRP.
They seemed to do very little in the way of discounts/sales as well, seeing as they were still trying to sell their exclusive EM1/2s at their original (or higher) prices. This was a model that came out well over 10 years ago!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Oct 2025 ==


Interestingly, Olivia’s website is now back up and running and all mentions of the merger have disappeared from the Rails of Sheffield website. Wonder what’s going on here?

I've just had an email from Rails announcing that they're no longer taking over Olivia's Trains (despite the text in the link below).
https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/olivias-trains-joins-the-rails-family

Since our original statement, circumstances have changed, and Rails of Sheffield will no longer be taking over the Olivia’s Trains brand. Olivia’s Trains have decided not to proceed with the agreement, and as such, they will continue to operate independently.


However, we want to reassure our customers that very little has changed in our plans. We are still moving ahead with the launch of our own customisation services - Rails Bespoke, offering digital & sound fittings, high-quality weathering and other customisations for your locomotives and rolling stock.


Our new highly experienced customisation team is eager to begin. We are applying the finishing touches to our bespoke studio with state of the art technology, heavily investing in expert technicians and equipment. No expense has been spared making sure we have the best of the best.


The Rails Bespoke service is currently in development, and we look forward to sharing full details with you some time later this month.

 

[Masbroughlad]

Wonder why that has changed?

 

[Iskra]

I considered commenting sooner, but quite a lot of customers point out that Olivia’s have a ‘take it or leave it attitude,’ so I suspect that may have something to do with it.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wonder why that has changed?

Perhaps the terms offered weren't deemed mutually acceptable.

 

[Masbroughlad]

Perhaps the terms offered weren't deemed mutually acceptable.

Just strange to announce something in a press release with bells and whistles attached, before everything was finalised?

 

[trainswitheddy]

Olivias now closed?

 

[Iskra]

Sams trains mentioned the Olivias trains saga in his model railway news.

Either way, Rails wins here as it’s less competition. Presumably they’re taking on some ex-Olivias staff to launch their customisation service with, but now just without official reference to Olivias?

 

[Harpo]

Olivias website redirecting to ‘Rainbow Railways’.

 

[Iskra]

Olivias website redirecting to ‘Rainbow Railways’.

Interesting

 

[trainswitheddy]

Olivias website redirecting to ‘Rainbow Railways’.

That's just happened then!! Was saying closed due to retirement for me.