Rails of Sheffield: How UK's 'biggest' model railway shop with famous fans began life at back of grocery store

Rails of Sheffield, on Chesterfield Road, Heeley, is a veritable Aladdin’s Cave for toy train lovers, packed with replica locomotives from the dawn of rail travel to the modern era. It is today a hugely successful business, employing more than 40 staff and boasting a turnover in excess of £10 million. But it wasn’t always that way.

The family firm, which last year expanded into a 10,000 sqft warehouse in Dronfield and is set to open a ‘very special’ extension to its already sprawling shop, grew from humble beginnings. Store manager Matthew Moore explained how it all started in 1970, when Hedley Barber began selling model railways from the back of his grocery store in Dronfield.

It went so well that Hedley quit the grocery trade and opened his first model railway store at 35 Chesterfield Road, which is today home to an art supplies shop and cafe called Art Scene.

The name ‘Rails of Sheffield’ was a thrifty choice to make best use of the existing metal letters which had spelled out Sheffield Photographic Centre, which it replaced, and were rearranged to form the new name, with just a few additions required.

Matthew explained how the business didn’t really ‘kick on’ until Hedley’s son, John, left school at 16 and said he wanted to open the shop, which initially only traded three days a week, full time. In the early 80s the firm bought 29 Chesterfield Road and it has since gradually expanded north along Chesterfield Road. John’s nephews Adam and Oliver Davies later joined the business, becoming the third generation of the family firm.

In 2018, it opened what it calls its ‘emporium’ at 21 Chesterfield Road, where the seating is built from old train buffers and a railway sleeper, and a huge model railway track runs above the heads of shoppers, delighting customers young and old.

It is perhaps as close as you can get in Sheffield today – albeit on a smaller scale – to the thrill of shopping at the much-missed Redgates toy shop at the top of The Moor.

Rails of Sheffield has already bought 19 Chesterfield Road, a former window store which closed following a fire, where it plans to open what Matthew says will be a ‘very special’ addition this autum.

Celebrity customers include the musician Jools Holland, who visits whenever he’s in Sheffield for a show at City Hall, TV presenter James May, and celebrated Sheffield artist Joe Scarborough. It ships train tracks and other materials across the world and in recent weeks has welcomed visitors from as far afield as Australia and Dallas.

Perhaps the world’s most famous model railway enthusiast is the rock star Rod Stewart, who has spent more than 20 years working on a huge model of a US city, modelled on New York and Chicago from around 1945. He was just down the road from Rails of Sheffield when he played at the Blades’ Bramall Lane Stadium in 2019 but sadly missed the chance to visit the shop then.

Rails of Sheffield does not make its own trains but teams up with manufacturers to produce exclusive models and has a partnership with the National Railway Museum in York. Throughout its expansion, explains Matthew, it has stuck to what made it a success in the first place, buying and selling second-hand trains as well as new models.

Some of its scaled-down locomotives sell for hundreds of pounds, with a metre-plus long, 3.5-inch gauge model of the Duchess of Hamilton recently fetching £8,000. But the shop prides itself on having something for every budget, which has helped it thrive during the cost of living crisis, and its ‘rummage trays’ are loaded with second hand treasures priced from as little as £2.

Matthew explains how the industry is built on nostalgia, with many collectors keen to recreate the glamour of steam travel and famous locomotives like the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman, which this year turned 100. Other enthusiasts try to recreate the trains, stations and landscapes they remember travelling on and through in their youth.

Browsing the shop’s shelves is like taking a trip down memory lane, with local memorabilia including an old blue and cream tram advertising The Star, a number 31 Sheffield Transport bus to Walkley, and a replica of the old Master Cutler train, which used to run from Sheffield’s old Victoria station to London Marylebone.

“A lot of people like to hark back to what they remember as a child and create a snapshot of what they experienced, in model railway form,” says Matthew. “We get customers trying to recreate certain areas of Sheffield, especially the industrial areas. Some have been building their model railway set-ups for 30 years or more, and if you speak to anybody who’s building one, they’ll tell you you’re never finished.”

Beyond Sheffield, among the most popular models the shop stocks are those of the Deltic diesel trains from the 70s and 80s, of which Matthew says only 22 were ever built and they were among the most powerful locomotives of their day.

Rails of Sheffield is open every day, from 9am-5pm, except Wednesdays and Sundays.