Driving instructor swaps cars for model train sets
AFATHER’S gift for his sons when they were little led to his partner starting up a business which is going at full steam.
When lockdown put the brakes on Jill Stevens’ driving instructor business last year, she decided to clear out the house and came across a bin bag full of old train sets.
After getting them repaired she put them on eBay and with help from her partner Steve Hunt, she found that they were “selling like hot cakes”.
Now she has turned her lockdown project into a business and has opened up a shop in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire.
Jill, 54, from Upleadon, recently opened her shop at the Olympus Park with support from Steve, 58, who helps with the day-to-day running of the business.
The shop has a large selection of pre-owned and new train sets, locos, carriages, rolling stock, track and layout accessories. Now that Jill has her shop she is able to buy new products from Hornby, Bachmann, Gaugemaster and Peco.
Jill said: “I started out a year ago running my business from eBay. This started because of lockdown last year. I was a driving instructor and after 12 years loving my job I taught my last lesson on March 21 2020.
“We all went into the national lockdown and like so many people out there I was unable to work, so decided to have a spring clean and started selling unwanted items on eBay.
“One of the items that was taking up a lot of space in the spare room was a big bin bag of model trains that Steve had for many years which he bought for his sons when they were little.
“Some didn’t work and not knowing anything about model trains a good friend Jim Street stepped in and carried out the repairs we needed.
“We are very grateful to him. He is a retired engineer that has had model trains all his life and there is not much he does not know and he has given a new lease of life to so many locos.
“When we put the first few on eBay they all sold like hot cakes. So we started looking at some of the online auctions and started buying and then selling on eBay.”
With business booming and not being able to operate from home Jill knew they had to look to finding a shop.
She said: “We have outgrown working from home. We have one spare room we use for packing and shipping items and a small photographic studio for photography items to list online. Plus two further rooms full of stock.”
Jill’s Trains also stocks older brands such as Hornby Dublo, Triang, Trix and Wrenn as well as continental brands such as Lima, Heljan, Noch, Faller and Roco.
She said: “We have three outlets for our stock. Our preowned stock changes from week to week; what you see on the shelves one week may be totally different the next.
“We can also order items in if we don’t have an item in stock that a customer is looking for.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to learn about this very indepth hobby. It’s not until you talk to people that have loved this hobby all their life that you realise how much there is to learn.
“This is a new and exciting venture for us. We would hopefully like to expand into bigger premises one day, and keep adding to our very varied list of stock, but feel very lucky to be able to take this first step into the model train world.
“A lot of people are very surprised when they realise that it is a woman running what is mainly considered a male-dominated hobby. My partner Steve does help out when he can, and he does like to help out in the shop on our Thursday late-night opening.
“On Saturday he’s also very useful for carrying all the heavy boxes back from auctions and antique and flea markets.”
A lot of people are very surprised when they realise that it is a woman running what is mainly considered a maledominated hobby JILL STEVENS