Model Railway News | January 2024 | Saying Goodbye to Hattons

All the latest in the model railway news, including a sad farewell to Hatton's model railways.

Thanks for watching!

0:00 Intro
0:38 Farewell Hattons
3:21 Hornby
5:51 EFE Rail
6:42 Oxford Rail
7:37 Accurascale
8:54 Sam'sTrains on TikTok

[sharkymcsharknose]

A shame to hear about Hatton's closing its doors. They had a booth at the Springfield, Massachusetts train show the past few years. As far as I know they were the only UK company to have a presence at a major US train show, and they were always good to talk to.

[ausfoodgarden]

Yes, Hatton's closing is a great loss, especially for us overseas modelers.
As others have said I hope there is a way that the information database they have can be kept available to us all.
A bit surprised that you didn't mention the end of the Warley show as part of the news. Cheers!

[avlisk]

Having lived in the USA for the last 72 years, when you say "UK model train shop", the only one I think of is Hattons. This announcement must be HUGE over there.

[matthewneleigh]

As a modeler in the U.S., Hattons' trunk service was absolutely invaluable and the vast majority of the UK models, new and used, that I've bought in the last ten years came from there. They will be missed indeed.

[trainman]

I am shocked and still grieving the loss of Hatton's. The whole crew there will be sorely missed. It was an honor working with each and every one of you. To my friends Rich, Dave, Tom and Jack, I will miss our annual show at Amherst very much. You are all in my thoughts at this difficult and painful time.

[pedalcarguy]

As an overseas customer the closure of Hatton's really saddens me. I made over 100 purchases from them during the last four years and really got to rely on them. I will miss their friendly and professional service. Wonderful people. Where will I source my UK locos and rolling stock now? Not many retailers are willing to ship abroad. Sam, thank you for commiserating with us Hatton's customers. I wish you well! 😊👍

[bryantan]

Everyone will surely miss Hatton's Sam. The news of Hatton's closing down is extremely sad to everyone including me.

[donaterdosi]

Hattons was the best for me. Im a Hungarian who wants to model in OO and with British stuff. Hattons had the best shipping and great prices on pre-owned items, so many useful information… when I eventually finish my layout I want to put up a small gravestone for them. Goodbye hattons ❤ you were the best 😢

[ArcadiaJunctionHobbies]

Sad, but "this is not the end" as Gandalf said to Pippin. The hobby will endure.

[JonathanMarks]

I do hope that a way is found to preserve the amazing training and review videos as well as the extensive product catalogue that Hattons was famous for. This remains a jewel in the crown which is unique and I am sure has a commercial value, maybe to the NRM. I also think the trunk service was a brilliant idea.

[sapphirejunction]

Those Hornby RRP prices are just ridiculous, even at the retailers.

[cliveballiston]

Hi Sam, I have the Southern bullied booster and love it, it runs well and at low speed, has small directional lighting and comes supplied with a wand if you want to turn on the cab lights, all the best, Clive

[vectorbrony]

I’ve got a Bulleid booster in Southern Green and I’m really impressed. It’s a heavy loco and the details are really good. I’ve seen with others that part of the gearing can be loose a causes a bit of noise.

[overshoe]

Since Hatton's bought large US retailer MB Klein just before this, what's the scoop on that? Love your videos here in Pennsylvania.

[michaelallen]

Thanks Sam, as ever, for a great edition of the MRN. Your tribute to Hattons was a lovely and clearly heartfelt touch.
We corresponded on Twitter so i know the Warley announcement hasn't escaped your attention. Will you be bringing this to the MRN next month?

[ringmastermodels]

One interesting thing I’m noticing folks not including in their sharing of Hattons’ news, is the dreaded “B” word. They even mention in their announcement and yet, everybody is ignoring it and even if they do, it’s downplayed.

What doesn’t help is there’s an absolute mountain of Continental image models in this country despite the limited market and since leaving the EU, any exports to customers in Europe have become expensive, time consuming and because of that: rare. Even at bargain prices, nobody in Europe is buying from Britain anymore because it’s now such a hassle.

My local shop ships more to North America and Oceania than Europe now, and they barely shipped to those locations to begin with!

I can only imagine what kind of dent in profits it did to a company the size of Hatton’s. They had good rep globally for good international service and Brexit took a lot of that from them.

[georgethomas]

Yeah I'm gonna miss Hatton's They seemed to make the effort to make model trains the best they can be and keep costs down. To a certain extent Accurascale has made an impact on the market, Ellis Clarke too. But Hatton's really did try to set standards and went to battle with both Hornby and Bachmann. That was a shame and badly handled.

[stevenbarker]

Thanks for the footage of Locomotion, I have been asking Hornby for this locomotive for a number of years now, it looks amazing Keep up the good work too, I look forward to seeing your next locomotive project too ...

[harryhill]

Real shame about Hattons. Their customer service was always absolutely excellent when I needed it and competitive prices too. I have my fingers crossed the P Class goes ahead as I have a preorder in. There can’t be a lot of money in the hobby at the moment if one of the biggest and most well used retailers are winding down.

[oriontaylor]

I hope another manufacturer acquires the tooling and designs from some of the original projects Hattons have done, both in 00 and 0 Scale. Their tooling database from all sorts of manufacturers was another fantastic resource.