Why My Layout Builder Gets My Business Again & Again

I've waxed lyrical before about the talents of Steve Hornsey  (hornseysteve to those of you in the eBay know), and as you know I respect his talents and ability to 'ride the vibe' of my ideas and ravings about this and that project.

You recall I'd asked him to reproduce the Hook Basin layout which was so skilfully built by Richard Williams in 1:25  scale.

You can see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeikBvBxdTg

I looked at it and thought it would be a nice plan to reimagine in the North East U.S in 009 scale, stretched out to 12 feet rather than the 8 feet of the original. Steve said 'Can do' and we had the plan on the drawing board.

Then, as I am inclined to do to poor old Steve, I said 'Hey, what about upping the scale to On30, Steve?' (7mm to the foot or 1/43 scale)

'No problem' said Steve... 'Same price, as the track costs the same'

So, I sat at my desk this morning and saw a mail from Steve, telling me that he could not fit it into the width I had asked for, based on the maximum size I know Steve can ship without causing himself undue stress of the type my last layout caused.

Oh...

'No problem' wrote he... He could fit it it into 12 feet by 23 inches and still use his normal courier. What's more he also knew that my maximum width available was 26 inches. You see? Steve not only thinks out problems from his point of view, he listens to the client, flinches not at their waffling and gets to the heart of the matter to the satisfaction of all.

Anyway, here is the plan of the Hook Basin layout, now on order:




I emailed Steve to tell him that I wanted my version (at the bottom) extended to 12 feet rather than 8. 'I know' he replied... Look at the scale on the bottom plan. It IS 12 feet...

And there you have it folks... Steve Hornsey is the 'go to' guy for your model railway custom builds.

Now, I am off to plan my purchases for 3 layouts at the Festival Of British Railway Modelling in a couple of weeks. It's a BIG list.


TTFN