GOMM badges and souvenirs

Whenever I go to a preserved railway for the first time, I tend to buy a GOMM badge as a souvenir.
It needs to have a link to the railway though, and preferably (though not always) feature the engine that pulled me, so I started off with Hagley Hall on my first visit to the SVR as a nipper and went from there.

Some railways seem to maximise their GOMM sales opportunities - I made my first visit to the GCR last year, mostly to see (and ride behind) Lord Nelson and they'd bought in a fair few 'Nelson' badges, of which I bought one, naturally.

Some other railways seem to drop the ball a bit - I made my first visit to the Bluebell (a real pilgrimage as it's normally out of my range) and was looking to get a Stepney badge as, for me, it's the symbol of the line but they didn't sell them. Not sure if they'd ran out or if the design isn't available, but it seem to be a missed opportunity.
Even if it's not available and they have to contribute to making the mould (badge fabrication is a closed book to me but I imagine there's some sort of mould involved) I'd have thought it would still pay its way. In any case, I still bought a 1638 badge.

So, finally getting to the point, do any of you have similar traditions you follow when visiting railways for the first time? If not GOMM badges, what do you tend to buy?

And, from the railway's point of view, what are your big sellers when it comes to souvenirs? A lot of gift shops seem to give over half the space to Thomas toys so it would be heartening if some railways make money selling products that are more unique to them. In addition to metal badges.

 

I used to buy pencils are every tourist attraction, I don't anymore but I have 40-50

 

When I was a kid, I remember often being bought a Gomm badge, if there was one available, of the loco that I'd just travelled behind - I think my dad also felt there was a good excuse as they were made in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, where his father had worked. They still seem to be very popular souvenirs, and I'm sure it helps when railways work together with the manufacturers to have current locos (including appeal subjects) and liveries in stock.

Incidentally it's "Gomm" rather than "GOMM" - surname of the family that used to run the firm (R.E.V. Gomm Ltd) rather than a set of initials.

 

Tom Gomm of badge fame was the person who privately preserved the Duke Dog and brought it to the Bluebell. There have been long standing connections between the Gomm family and the BB since.