A large part of the joy I get from collecting trains is 'the hunt'!! I've been very fortunate to travel around quite a bit with my former occupation and have always tried to seek out trainshops wherever I happen to be. The items that I find do not need to be magnificent locos, or whatever, in order for the hunt to be considered successful- even a few bits of track will do! In most cases I can remember fairly accurately the circumstances of each 'find'- the effort to get there, the excitement of finding the shop and the expectation of boxes of old trains to rummage through. I definitely value the experiences more than I value the actual item.
There have been many, many great times, and hopefully there will be more! Of course there have also been disappointments- shops closed, modern trains of limited interest etc. etc.
One place, definitely my favourite, is called Wheels of Steel, in London. Run by a really good bloke called Jeff, this shop is in reality a very small permanent market stall in Gray's Markets, very close to the Bond Street tube station. You enter around the back, and go down, and right at the bottom of the steps is a very small stall, packed with all sorts of great old trains!! Mostly British, as one would expect, but with the occasional European or American as well. That for me is one of the attractions, you just never know from one day to the next what you'll find there! I ALWAYS find something that I really want!! There is a very high turnover, as the prices are very realistic, and you always get a discount unless you try to bargain!! One thing which makes me smile is that Jeff always says "you should've seen what I had last week"!! I really enjoy meeting up with Jeff each time I go, and the good-natured banter that takes place with him and the other customers. Thoroughly and wholeheartedly recommended to any toy train enthusiast visiting London, with the caveat that I haven't been there for a year now, so I really hope it's still there!! I plan to visit in July this year. My daughters have all been there without me too, and Jeff has guided them very well indeed as to what I might like as a gift!!
An interesting aside about this market is that there's a bit of a 'water-feature' in the basement right next to Jeff's stall. Far from being ornamental, it is said to be the only visible remnant of a river which once ran through central London, called the River Tyburn. It was all gradually built over, but flows right through the Gray's Markets basement! One does have to wonder how it is that the water is so clean and consistent, given that the enclosed river is now effectively a sewer. Nearby Oxford Street was formerly called Tyburn Road, and Marylebone Lane follows the twisting course of the former river, now deep underground. Incidentally there's a really good fish and chip shop up Marylebone Lane, but this blog is about trains, not food!! Trains and good food, an excellent combination!!
While I probably couldn't have built my present toy train collection without the help of eBay, I much, much, prefer to go hunting for trains in obscure places such as this! Long may these great places continue!!
