eDiecast
from Hattons Model Railways
Est. 1946. Online since 1999

A page such as this would not feel quite right without the introduction of this man. This is Norman Hatton, who founded the business way back in 1946 and who passed away in late August 2005 at the grand age of 87. Norman worked nearly full time in the shop right up until his 86th year, sharing his experiences with younger members of staff and regular customers

Norman had a razor sharp brain and business-sense unfaltering since his younger days! Our picture shows him packing orders in the old shop a few years ago. Whilst modelling the very same shop coat,he bought brand new, with his coupons for opening day.

This is Mr Keith Hatton himself. Keith runs the business single-handedly while also keeping one eye on the staff to make sure they do their various jobs properly.

Aside from his great business success Keith is a keen athlete and a long standing member of Liverpool Harriers AC. But his heart is still with his previous club South Liverpool AC. That unfortunately withered away to virtual extinction after (some would say as a result of!) his resignation

Another member of the Hattons family. This is Keith's sister Christine and joint owner of the business with Keith. Christine's main job is to answer the telephones and process the orders...as well as making up a couple of light hearted limericks about members of the staff. "There was a young man called .............who thought he would take out a fat -un,he met Sandra in a pub,she was fond of her grub,......................................................"

This is Peter Walsh. He previously worked for Hattons when he was a student, and now he has graduated he has come back to us. He is also a member of the Liverpool Harriers and currently hold the track record for the naked 400m sprint at Wavertree stadium , timed at 60.2 seconds (but he was handicapped by about 10 pints and bare feet that don't offer much grip!!). He was also on TV in 2003, when he came last in the 800M in the national championships.

Phil has got all sorts of high level qualifications in law, and is currently training up a successor on the weekends as he will soon be working in the law department of a software company.

Meet the friendly Steven Moran. Steven is a hard-working, keen & pleasant (arent we all?) member of staff who works Picking orders. He is currently taking a part time DJ course in the hope of becoming Liverpool's next big DJ and he has recently started performing sets at one of Liverpool's clubs. Steve is in charge of the DJ box on a nite called Fusion which takes place every thursday night in the City Centre, and also Generate in the Masque. Steven is also a keen traveller and goes out camping most weekends. Steve hopes to be promoted to weekend relief manager.
Hopefully he is now at last happy that this 3rd photographic attempt has captured the very essence of his personality and good looks!
Steve has been featured in the 11th of November 2004 issue of "More!" magazine on page 70, they recently interviewed him about his extensive trainspotting interests. In case you don't know. "More" magazine is marketed to young women but is bought mainly by primary school girls.

Richards primary task is to organise the business to accomodate our ongoing expansion and find additional premises that has so far proved very difficult. Richard also oversees the IT division, which includes 5 different online stores, and the internal order, stock & customer management info. In normal language, this means that he's the one who gets the blame when the computers break!

This is Ulsterman Graeme Hogg who takes charge of producing many of our comprehensive magazine advertisements, and also maintenance of our growing network of computers and associated hardware, plus answering emails and producing product images for the websites. He used to study software engineering at John Moores university, and is nowadays a font of knowledge on cinema and anything remotely connected with IT.

Julie Jones is our Export Manager. This lady can deduct 17.5% from anything, 'so' good are her mathematical skills! Julie is a lovely women who is always full of conversation, and is one of Hattons most experienced campaigners, having seen hundreds of thousands of orders despatched to customers all over the world

Introducing Peter Warburton. Peter is the post-room supervisor. This is who we all come to when we need some questions answered and Keith is too busy (always). Peter seems to thrive on hard work and always appears to be doing more than one job at one time usually everyone elses. Bearing this in mind there is never a sign of a grumble when we ask him for help. Peter too is a keen athlete but with a gammy leg. Finally a tip for all you fans of the sport of kings. Always back any other Gee Gee than Peters tips.

Matthew started off packing orders whilst studying Computer Science at the University of Liverpool. After a stint working for Guinness he is back, working in the IT dept. He works full time taking pictures of new products for the website, answering e-mails and taking charge of other administrative back-office tasks. He is a keen cyclist with a daily 14 mile commute, and is looking forward to his first child later this year!

Alan used to pick orders in our large warehouse, and quickly got the nickname "The Machine" due to his speed & accuracy. He can now be found checking off your orders.

Neil is our general handyman, and when not busy in the shop he will be found cruising up and down Penny Lane in the van listening to 80's classics. He put on his application form that he had worked at Hattons before. But no one remembers!

Here is Simon Rigert-Harden. Simon has been with us since Christmas 2002 when he started part time as a 15 year old schoolboy and showed sufficient maturity to take overall charge of the till and order entry point at weekends and occasional weekdays when still only 17. Known as Rigger to his friends. In 2005 he moved into part of our old shop which had been converted into a flat, but the all night parties and works of art were left behind as he has now moved up the housing ladder. He has left us with somewhere unfit for human habitation, but JP is looking for digs.

Steve came into the store last Christmas, and loved it so much he asked if we needed any staff and was hired on the spot! He started off picking your orders, but with his experience of railway modelling he was quickly moved into the shop area to help serve customers. Steve worked on the actual railways for many years, latterly as an "Incident Manager" with "Northern Rail". He has recently had the great news that his son has gotten through a life-threatening illness, which we are all thrilled to hear.

Karen, better known as Candy, always occupies the front primary desk and is the first friendly face anyone will see as they enter the shop. She is waiting to take your order, and has been rubbing shoulders with the stars, helping to serve a famous 'English pianist, bandleader and television presenter'

John Houghton has been with us since Christmas 2002. He came on work experience and never left. John is a keen Liverpool supporter and can often be seen at Anfield cheering on his team. John is currently working part time in our warehouse and customer service departments, making sure all your parcels are put together correctly while studying an IT course in college.

"Mr Versatile", Phil Field has been with Hattons for quite some time, despite his youthful looks. His hobbies include playing football, badminton, swimming and snooker. Phil is also a fan of Liverpool F.C. and gets to as many of their matches as he can (when Keith lets him have the time off. So he won't be seeing many this year!). He originally joined Hattons as a part time despatch clerk, but now helps out in nearly all departments.

Model railway enthusiast by day, lycra wearing, crime fighting super hero by night Joanne spends her time dyeing her hair, serving customers and looking upwards to the right. Joanne is Minister for disability in Liverpools young parliament, and is currently vice-chairperson of her schools board. She is currently in competition for the position of "Happiest person in Hattons" running against Hayley Houston and John Van. She loves chocolate and shopping...

Paul joined our team in the run up to Christmas 2006, and now spends time on our front desk, serving shop and telephone customers, or helping out checking deliveries or picking orders. He has just finished a degree at Liverpool University and is considering travelling the world before embarking on a career

Liam has joined us to help with the ever increasing amount of orders which we receive. But is also now being trained on office and website tasks.
Liam plays the drums in his amazing band "Major Major". He has had a recurring role on TV in "Brookside", as well as making an appearance in "Life on Mars". He also went to the same school as the boss and a number of celebrity have beens. As well as acting Liam also enjoys being the other side of the camera, making his own short film which won him the bi-annual Student Film Maker award 2 years ago.

Globetrotting singer, guitarist, pianist, magician & actor Conor Clarke joined the Hattons team in the run up to Christmas. Conor used to work for an accident compensation company, so if any boxes fall on anyone’s head during the working day Conor will be the first on the scene handing out phone numbers. He went to Calderstones School, formerly known as Quarry Bank, that attempted to teach such legends as John Lennon, Jimmy Tarbuck, Les Dennis, Derek Nimmo, Peter Sissons, William Rodgers, Peter Shore, Brian Barwick, Joe Royle, Steve Coppell and Keith Hatton!

"Shade" is studying Aviation, which led to Keith asking the question during the Interview "So your going to be an Air Hostess?"! However, this isn't the case she expects to have her pilots license soon! We are expecting her to be a high flyer at Hattons.

Jamie is the nephew of Peter Warburton, and after a spell of working elsewhere has returned to help us pack the parcels. His horse racing tips are well sought after!

Krzysztof has an M.A. in marketing, and therefore Keith hopes to get some good advice from him as soon as he has settled in!

Magda is a graduate of the University of Warsaw where she studied a Marketing & Management degree, and plans to eventually become a psychologist. Her hobbies including painting, music and walking in the mountains

Chris helps keep our warehouse tidy, and gives us a hand shifting stock between premises in the van. He enjoys football, and outdoor pursuits. Alledgedly he has the attention span of a goldfish.

The ever cheerful Hayley helps around the shop and is always smiling. She now works on the tills waiting to take you order in the shop or over the phone.

If you need a job doing, you can always rely on Robbie. He was working so fast today he had to be chased around the stock room in order to grab this rare picture opportunity! Robbies mum had to dig out his birth certificate in order to get him into secondary school, after his Mach 3 went blunt.

John has come to Liverpool from China to study at Liverpool university. He's now volunteered to move down to the UK packing department from picking as hard graft packing parcels is rewarded with higher pay. Here he works part time when he is not busy studying.

Joe joined the Hattons team in the run up to Christmas 2006, and can be found working the tills.His interests include "outdoor persuits" and getting drunk then turning up for work hungover. He recently came 3rd in the British Crossword Championships, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.

Joyce got her job here through Letrice. Who in turn was recommended by her friend Abigail. Who left to go to Nottingham University. Abigail came to work for us after her Brother Marcus impressed us during his short time here a few years ago. Joyce is studying for a pharmacology degree at university and finds some time to help despatch parcels at the weekend, in the UK packing department.

If this face scares you, it may be because Robert also works some evenings on the “Shiverpool” ghost tour! He is also a budding actor/comedian and can often be found cracking a joke and raising smiles upstairs in the picking department. In his interview Robert said he had recently quit his job working at a "Smoothie Bar" as it was too stressfull. Watch this space.

Mwai has come to Liverpool from Malawi to study Human Resource Management at Liverpool University. She studied A Levels in South Africa, and, in her spare time plays snooker and badminton.

As you might guess from his photograph, he is studying mens hair dressing in college. When Andrew is in Hattons he can be found helping out in our warehouse or the tills in the shop.

Laura studies Marketing at university, and is looking forward to a career as a high-powered executive. She currently works part time in our UK despatch department making sure all of your orders are well packed. Lauras best friend Sticky Vicky used to rent a room off Keith, but she has now emigrated to Dubai to dress the hair of Sultans and Sheiks.

Currently in his second year at Liverpool University, Terry studies Urban Regeneration and Human Geography. Terrys main passion is music, both playing and listening, and has been in several bands, winning a local battle-of-the-bands competition and having one of their songs played on our local radio stations - Radio City 96.7 and Radio Merseyside.

Letrice works in the UK packing department and is a pretender to the throne of "Fastest Hattons packer ever".

Jessie is one of our fastest packers, but is currently on Maternity leave awaiting the birth of her 1st child.

Chris is a student at Liverpool University who originates from Wakefield in Yorkshire. A keen footballer and swimmer, Chris has won prizes for contributions to football, and also the "Lloyds TSB prize for English".

When Michael turned 16 recently. His father sent him looking for his first weekend job. He found us round the corner from his local school. The Liverpool Blue Coat, where he is a high achiever amongst many. The only other old boy we currently employ from there is "Simon Rigert Harndon" who was expelled!

Gareth lists his hobbies as including walking, therefore he will gets lots of practise whilst collecting all the items for your orders!

Jason is originally from Quorn near Loughborough, and has studied a BSc Combined Honours in Geography & Computing at Liverpool University. He has travelled around Australia, and helped with charity work constructing housing in Romania. In his spare time he enjoys playing snooker, socialising and music.

Tom studies medicine at Liverpool University and works with us part-time, helping pick mail orders for despatch within the UK and across the world. Originally from Huddersfield he is a keen footballer and likes visiting the gym and running.His favourite past time however is, ofcourse, working in Hattons!!!

Peter has recently joined us to help serve customers in the shop. He is a keen model railwayer and has been since 1961! Prior to working here at Hattons he was a signalman for the East Lancs Railway.

Jonathan studies Sociology and Criminology at the University of Liverpool. When not busy failing at that he enjoys listening to pop-punk, going to gigs, films and playing xbox. He fulfilled a life long ambition afew years back when he met the Chuckle brothers and subsequently appeared in a photo with Barry Chuckle in Nuts magazine.

Lee worked with us back in 2002, and has spent the past few years working as a Personal Trainer and massous (No not that kind! A sports massous). He's working with us helping to put your orders together ready for dispatch. He can regularly be found at Anfield and enjoys going to gigs and going out with his mates in general.

Rhys is currently studying history at Liverpool University. He is a keen blues fan, not the musical kind, Everton! He enjoys playing football and rugby.

We are proud to announce that J.P. "The Dancer" has asked to do voluntary work for us. We are honoured to have a B list celebrity here and have had two mentions already this week on local radio as a result.He is the first to enter DJ Glen Hunts "Hall Of Shame" as a result of his Pop knowledge and although made redundant as a table dancer at "Chilli's" on the High St is always in demand for public appearances. Please enclose an SAE with Autograph requests.

J.P. is into models in a big way. he hopes to get more than one free double decker off the boss for his scale model of Edge Lane bus sheds made out of cereal boxes and sticky back plastic.

J.P. is seeking any tapes or memorabilia from The "Paradox nightclub" in Aintree, Liverpool. Opposite the racecourse.Please let us know and we can get them passed on to him.

The "Paradox" was open for over a full year in the Art Deco Style former Vernons pools building and during this time the local schools reported a marked drop in homework standards and a rise in Monday morning blues.