Hello  

Small Business Saturday UK takes place on 3rd December! Depending when you read this, that's probably tomorrow or today.

Model Railway Magic is a very small business (just me!), and this occasion seems to be a good excuse to celebrate everything good about small businesses, so this weekend I'm offering free delivery on orders over £150. Just use the code 'smallbiz22' on checkout.

Even if you don't need anything KATO right now, do think about how else you can support other small businesses this festive season. There has never been a better time to shop small and support all the extraordinary small businesses across the UK! Do you bit to show our incredible smallbiz community some extra love by shopping small either in person or online, and spreading the word far and wide!

Over the last week I've received massive deliveries both directly from Japan and via the UK KATO distributor, so stocks are good across most lines. I've got a large number of the popular N gauge Starter Sets, including Azuma, GWR Class 800 and Industrial locos. Also arrived is the very special  10-1727 58654 + 50 series 700 "SL Hitoyoshi" 4-car set has been described as KATO Japan's best model yet. There is one full set, and a couple of the 10-1728 50 series 700th "SL Hitoyoshi" 3-car set (coaches only) available now due to pre-order mishaps.

This year Royal Mail are suggesting a last order date of Monday 12th December (1pm) to ensure delivery by Christmas for UK orders, early because of strike action and seasonal loadings. I'm now offering a Special Delivery option, for which the last date is Wednesday 21 December (1pm). Contact me for international (non UK) last order dates - it's complicated but I'm happy to work it out for you! Thank you for those waiting patiently whilst the posties catch up with the backlog.

Now the BIG news from KatoUSA: the pricing and availability dates have finally been released for their much anticipated N gauge Union Pacific Big Boy Steam Locomotive #4014. See below to view more information and pre-order links. These are the very best prices I can do - margins are tight on these items and buying from the USA is expensive! There's also a re-release due of the 'N Union Pacific Excursion Train 7-Car Set' which would be ideal to run with your choice of Big Boy

It's been a busy old week (I'm still recovering from the Warley exhibition), so I'll have a look at KATO's Japanese announcements on Monday and let you know about those next week!

Have a great weekend,

Ian