Café introduces model trains to deliver food and drinks

By Isobel Williams

The owner of a village café says he has seen bookings soar after introducing model trains to deliver food and drink.

Dave Wheeler, 59, had to leave his job as a cabinetmaker at a joinery company after type one diabetes caused him to lose most of his eyesight.

The dad-of-two then decided to help his wife, Lindsey Wheeler, 55, at Nibbles in Newenden, Kent.

But he still longed to build things and wondered how he could combine that with the business.

After packing away his grown-up sons’ toy trains from childhood, he says the idea just came to him, and he decided to go for it.

The trains were officially operational by February this year, and have since gone viral online, causing the café to be completely booked up for the next few weeks.

Dave said: “I went blind completely, and now I only have around 60 per cent of my eyesight, so I was no longer allowed in the workshop. I miss doing it, but life goes on.

“The café has been open for four years and I just needed something different. My train had been one of these types of trains since he was a kid and it was just sat there doing nothing.

“My son came and helped me install it because he is the one who can see. In the first instance, I did quite a bad job of it but together we fixed it.

“Now we are fully booked on a Monday, and completely booked for the next two weeks. Our post on it went viral on Instagram, and that really exacerbated how busy we are.

“We have so many more customers now. We could fill the space up every day now.”

The couple, who live on top of the café, say the introduction of the trains has been a great business decision and the customers love them.

The café has one line that goes directly from the kitchen through the two dining rooms, which delivers food and drink, while there are two more lines just for display, to entertain the kids.

Dave now owns around 15 locomotives, which were mostly bought through Facebook Marketplace, each for around $100 to $200.

The café has also brought in ski gondolas which go overhead in the restaurant, and some massive life-sized gondolas which will be converted outside.

Dave added: “It has been really good. We get such nice customers. It is all good fun. There is always something going on here.

“My wife was really skeptical. Even now she says that it is the best stupid idea I have ever had.

“I keep buying more trains and my Mrs keeps saying ‘no more.’ They are really expensive so when I see one on a deal I go for it. Just the part to put drinks on is around £50.

“Sometimes parents say to us that is the first time they have been able to sit down and have a meal in peace and quiet without the kids running around. We get a lot of kids in with ADHD and the trains really calm them down.

“Everyone always wants to come in the back to see where the trains come from, and when I have time, I always show the kids and let them press the buttons.”

Dave says that they have had no problems with the trains so far, but there have been some incidents of user error where drinks went flying.

He said: “We have had three big crashes where tea, coffee, and hot chocolate went flying. But luckily, nobody was injured or covered in tea. They were my fault; I was driving the train too fast.”

Now, a once small village café has achieved over 14,000 followers on Instagram with several viral videos of their trains.

The couple, who have been married for 30 years, are not intending to expand the business, but Dave says that he has many more ideas, including a ride on a train for the future.