Wonderful World of Trains & Planes

The Wonderful World of Trains & Plans occupies a space in an old photography studio. One of those ones where they had a call centre dedicated to calling teenage girls, insisting that they have the potential be a model, then charging them through the roof for prints. The rather dodgy photographers have since scarpered leaving unpaid bills in their wake.
This is where our current occupiers come in; after looking at the old Science Museum and deciding that the renovation works were out of their budget, they settled on this location in Mary Anne Street. From the rather unimposing signage outside, one would be led to believe that they only occupy a small section of this large building. However they seem to have the lease on all of it, over three floors.
On the ground floor is a model shop stocked with familiar names like Hornby, Corby and Airfix. To the rear of the shop is a small but immaculately presented café. The café doesn’t have windows to look out, but then the location is just off from St Paul’s Square, so one wouldn’t get a view of the square anyway.
Upstairs is where the Wonderful World really comes into its own. There are displays of models in glass cabinets, a throne (?), scalextric, flight simulators and some large scale and rather intricately designed & painted train sets. Spotting the details of what’s going on inside the little buildings is rather fun.
It doesn’t however feel finished yet, but it is a large space to fill. Quite a few of the train sets are in the build process, this in itself is rather interesting. Although, possibly not as exciting for the little ones. I look forward to returning at a later date when every inch of space is full of scale models whizzing around after one another.

I turned up to The Wonderful World of Trains and Planes with an open mind, also mostly excited for the wine tasting that was going to be taking place.
I ended up being pleasantly surprised, downstairs there is a well stocked model shop and café. On the upper floors there are flight simulators, model planes, a scalextric track and a huge variety of model trains.
After wondering around the thing that struck me was that this isn’t really about the trains at all but the intricate detail of the sets. Tiny bears in the mountains, buses with working indicators and flickering fires. The models that were finished really took my breath away and I can really see the appeal of this as a hobby.
There are still many sets that are a work in progress, and promise a really great day out once complete. Unfortunately this left me feeling a little underwhelmed, I wanted to see more and know that if I were to return in a few months there would be a lot more to behold.
So all in all, if you’re a modeller this is definitely for you, if you’re just a little curious or looking for a day out I would wait until a few more of the sets have been completed.

I’m a geek. And I’m not afraid to admit it. There I said it.
I love model trains and the effort that goes into creating model villages and landscapes is so commendable that i can’t help but feel noting but admiration for those who make these miniatures.
This is a three floor venue with a well stocked model shop and coffee shop on the ground floor.
The 2^nd and third floors are taken up with model displays from around the world.
Plus a electronic model car race track AND a set of flight simulators.
Great for kids even better without them!

The Wonderful World of Trains & Planes certainly lives up to its name — this place is a charming new museum and hobby mecca just off St. Paul’s Square in the Jewellery Quarter.
Before visiting I wasn’t quite sure what to expect — my dim and distant memories of standing transfixed at the model railway at Bewdley train station as a kid stirred. I found myself similarly transfixed by the array of impossibly intricate model railways, some fully formed, others fascinating works in progress, at this place. But the Wonderful World has a lot more to offer than model railways. There are cabinets full of model trains and planes, scalextric tracks and even flight simulators to have a go at. The enthusiasm of the staff is obvious, and they are only too happy to explain the exhibits and show visitors how it all works.
Wonderful World is much bigger than I was expecting. On the ground floor there’s a large hobby shop, full of everything you could want, from miniature scenery and houses, to trains, tracks and even tiny post boxes. There’s also a nice café where you can grab a drink or a bite to eat.
Wonderful World must be a dream for train and plane hobbyists, but it would also be great for a family day out.

What a little gem of the Jewellery Quarter! This little transport museum is located conveniently off St Paul’s Square, right in the heart of the JQ. It can be a bit tricky to spot, but just look for the signage outside of the venue and step into a world of models and magic.
Firstly, models. There is a large model shop attached to the museum which stocks all of the kits and sets a budding enthusiast or a beginner could want. You don’t have to pay entry to just go to the model shop — so it’s worth a look around if you are searching for a special present for the builder in your life.
The venue also has a little café and coffee shop, so if you don’t feel like running around and exploring — you can take a minute and sit and enjoy a nice relaxing cuppa and a slice of cake whilst the transport fans go and have a gander at the exhibits.
The venue is split over three floors. Floor one is the café and the model shop, floor two is heavily plane based (with flight simulators, a little cinema area and and model planes), but does have some lovely train layouts as well as a bit of a kids activity zone where they can colour and build. There will be some extra special charity exhibits in this space in the future.
The third floor is mostly train based. There is large Scaletrix track to play on and lots of models to examine. There is no problem with photographs in this venue, so feel free to take your camera down and snap away!
A visit here will take more time than you think, so allow at least a couple of hours if you’re going with kids or enthusiasts. It’s also changing all the time (as the owners add more layouts and bits and pieces to the floors), so even if you visit tomorrow — it is worth another look in a few months time. There are hands on activities in the form of colouring sets and building blocks for the children, but the adults will enjoy the race track and the flight simulators (which aren’t as easy as they may seem).
This is a great place to take the family. Big children and little children alike will enjoy marvelling at the train layouts.

Such an amazing venue-​it was huge! I’m not really into trains or planes but was intrigued to see how a wine tasting would go here, with Unilocal!
We were split into two groups and I happened to be in the wine tasting group first (yay!). This had got to be the first wine tasting done by Skye but it was really effective! We tried 4 wines and not surprising to some, I loved the Riesling the most. Everyone was chatty and there was no feeling that you had to know anything much about wine. Infact, we were following a wine tube map-​such as ingenious idea! It helped to map your tastes visually and show people what wine they might like if they liked something else along the tube line. Great fun!
We also ofcourse got to tour round the shop. I never realised how much time effort and detail went into making these train tracks and their surroundings.
There was also a flight simulator which some people went on at the end. It seems there is much more being built and more to see if we went back again too!