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About Gaugemaster

Gaugemaster Controls and the Engine Shed were formed in 1975 and 1974 respectively as two separate businesses, The Engine Shed - a local model shop in Bognor Regis, and Gaugemaster - an electronic sub assembly business in Worthing.

In 1977 the first Gaugemaster Controller was produced, there being a demand for modern electronic controllers for the adult modeller which at that time was not being catered for. Between 1977 and 1982 both businesses became established, and after working together for a period, were joined together in the spring of 1982. During the early 1980's a Mail Order department was started in addition to the shop, and then in 1984 a second shop was purchased in Worthing.

After extensive renovation, the Worthing shop opened in November 1984. Between 1984 and 1987 the two retail shops both grew, together with an increase in mail order business, but most particularly the manufacturing of Gaugemaster controllers/transformers. Their distribution to the retail trade became established, and this made Gaugemaster the largest UK producer of model railway controllers and transformers.

At the same time wholesale lines were added to compliment our range of controllers. This growth made it necessary and desirable to find new larger premises, and so in the spring of 1988 we purchased the Station Goods Yard at Ford Railway Station near Arundel in West Sussex.

After planning and other preparations, site clearance and building commenced in August 1988. Our building was completed in March 1989 with the Grand Opening, which was attended by many of our suppliers, on 21st April 1989. The building is 11,000 square feet. (nearly 1,000 square metres) and consists of a retail showroom, mail order department, packing area, warehousing, workshops and offices. At this time we closed all our other older premises. Building continued at Ford with a further 13 light industrial units being built on the site known as the Gaugemaster Industrial Estate.

Soon after this we expanded our distribution further, firstly with Preiser figures and then the Slot Car range SCX. The business continued to grow and further additions to our model railway wholesale ranges included names as famous as Marklin, Trix, Piko, Faller, Pola, Noch and Viessmann from the continent, as well as established UK ranges such as Ratio, Wills, Kestrel, Parkside Dundas and Springside.

We also continued to add slot car ranges to our portfolio of products including Fly Car Model, Revell, Cartrix, Avant Slot and Racer, but our biggest growth area was in Gaugemaster branded products with scenic products and model railway accessories proving popular, as they are to this day.

In 2005, we launched our digital control system "PRODIGY ADVANCE" at one of our successful biennial Open Weekends, which regularly attract 2,000+ crowds. 2007 saw us carry out significant upgrades to our internal systems while 2008 was the year where we unvelied Bahnhof Europa - our 90 square metre "Model Railway Boutique". This was opened in September by Dr Rene F Wilfer of PIKO and this store has already gained much praise for its elegant design and high quality product presentation, said to be amongst the best in Europe. 2009 saw Atlas, Kato and NSR join the portfolio of ranges that we distribute to the UK trade and we hope to make these brands far more visible in the UK over the coming years.

We hope to welcome you to our store shortly.

We are always looking to make improvements to our website to try and improve the quality of your visit.  We would welcome your feedback and suggestions, so please do not hesitate to e-mail our webmaster with your comments.  Alternatively call us on 01903 884488.

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Gaugemaster.com is a trading name of Gaugemaster Controls Ltd.
Registered in England No. 2714470, Registered office:
Gaugemaster House, Ford Road
Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0BN, United Kingdom

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