About Us
Ron
Ron is the original starter of the business & director, hence the name (a fun fact, it's not his real name). He started the business with one crate of railway stock but also manufacturing lights & signals under the name of Patronics in 1996.
As time moved on he realised manufacturing wasn’t an option, due to age & health. So in 2006 he pushed forward with doing more retailing & focused on building the shop presence upon the show circuit.
He spent many weekends on a trade stand at shows as well as the shop, which then was a basement unit in a storage facility.
He is a keen modeller, mainly in N gauge, he models the Southern London Area but is a keen enthusiast of architecture to do his own scratch building.
He is the senior partner in Ron Lines and is always there to help or chat to.
Annmarie
Annmarie has been a member of the team since 2009, Ron’s first employee but is now a director of the business.
She has modelled in N & OO Gauge of mainly the Western region, thanks to her Grandfathers love of GWR. She grew up with her grandfather close by with many days out to local railway events, which is how she met Ron.
Annmarie learnt wood work at a very young age with her Grandad but was guided a lot more by Ron when building baseboards for a short time in the early days of the shop.
Her main focus is steam or scenics with a knowledge of DCC fitting but don’t ask about other electrics she’ll hit factory reset.
Today you’ll generally find her squirrelled away working on the website which she has grown from the start, she’s the brains behind the online presence.
If you do happen to find her in the shop or a show then she’ll be more than happy help with queries or questions that you may have.
Tony
This is Tony (not Ron)
He once was a customer who came in & made Ron a cup of tea, he's been here ever since. Although he still makes the tea (quite a lot) but that keeps us fuelled up for the day.
He tends to be the one you'll see in the shop area. He models in narrow gauge, colonial and channel islands.
Having been working here since 2011, he has a vast amount of knowledge, but please don't ask him about DCC he'll melt!
Mark
Mark joined in 2022 & is the face behind our eBay store.
He has been a keen railway enthusiast since an ankle biter with a keen attitude to learn about all the newest releases to the market, especially DCC systems.
As well as the eBay store, he helps Annmarie with the website & social media presence. Although if a new collection arrives he’s off! He’ll be the first to jump in for a sneak peek, mainly to alert customers of the new items & help sort them out.
He’s a member of a local club so you’ll see him around at a lot of shows representing us both.
He has an eye for various gauges, so will help in any way he can.
Max
Max has been here since 2023 & he is our Saturday guy, although you do find him in the shop without uniform quite often too.
He has a very good imagination & is keen to modify locomotives to suit what he needs. He is always keen on keeping older locomotives running for future generations & doesn’t often let things beat him.
He’s very knowledgeable on local lines of the region & will help with any harder questions about rolling stock for specific locomotives.
He loves to chat & is such a friendly character with a smile to greet you upon entering.