Call Keith on 02476 338641 07747020513
Wanted. We are currently buying all model trains, train sets, ex layouts gages 1, 0, 00, N, locomotives and rolling stock any reasonable collections.
Also live model steam engines. Wilesco, Mamod, Bowman and all other makes in any condition.
all-originals Where you can sell all your collectables with confidence, why not turn them into cash. We offer a free no obligation valuation in the comfort of your own home. A totally free no obligation service.
We also buy stamps, coins, medals, bank notes, diecast models, model trains, postcards, first day covers, presentation packs, and radio controlled model aircraft.
We have cash waiting to buy your collection and offer the best prices. Call Keith today for an initial consultation.
URGENTLY WANTED
We are buying model trains, Steam Locomotives, Train Sets, Accessories, Kits, Track, Buildings, Signals, Signal Boxes, Figures, Rolling Stock. Large Live Steam, Traction Engines, Stationary Engines. All makes wanted any condition. Boxed Or un boxed,
Accurail, AHM/Riverossi, Airfix, Aristo-craft, Arnold, Athern,
Atlas, Bachmann, Bassett-lowke, Bing, Concor, Dapol, Faller, Fleischmann,
Guagemaster, Gem, Graham farish, Heljan, Hornby, Hornby Doublo, IHC,
Intermaoutain, Jouef, Kadee, Koto, Keyser K's, Kibri, Kitmaster, Lenz, LGB,
Life-like, Liliput, Lima, Lionel, Mainline, Mantua, Marklin, Marx, Merten,
Metcalf, Minitrix/trix, Model Power, MTL, Peco, Piko, Playcraft, Ratio, Roco,
Roundhouse, Stewart, Tomix, Tri-ang, Trix, Tyco, USA Trains, Walthers, Wills,
Wren.
0 gauge, gauge 1 , 00 scale, N gauge, and large scale live steam and garden railways.
Complete layouts sets and single items. Original boxed items other than track command a premium if they are in very good condition.
Keith and I have many years experience when dealing with all types of models. Right from an early age we helped our Father and Uncle an train and toy fairs throughout the UK.
Prices have altered in some cases due to internet availability. They are now available 24/7 via ebay. Remember if you do buy from ebay and you are not happy with your item there is a mandatory returns policy with a full money back guarantee offered by sellers and ebay.
Hornby Railways is a British model railway brand. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork
train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor Tri-Ang,[1] and sold on
when Tri-ang went into receivership. In the 1980s Hornby Railways became independent
Early history: 1920–1938 CURTACY OF Wikipedia
Hornby was at first a tradename for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based in Liverpool, which released its first train, a clockwork 0 gauge (1:48) model, in 1920. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold out in France. In 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power. Safety concerns saw low voltage 4V and then 6V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20V AC system, which was developed in the early 1930s. However, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937 and became the only power available in Liverpool-made 0 gauge trains from 1949. Competitors in the UK were Leeds Model Company and Bassett-Lowke
A factory was established in France, which developed its own range of French
outline trains, but Liverpool dominated export activity elsewhere, with large
numbers of Hornby trains exported to Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and
Scandinavia. Even though the export models were often painted in 'foreign'
liveries, Hornby trains looked very British. Hornby attempted to break into the
American market by setting up a factory in 1927 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to make American-style trains.
These were colourful and attractive, but low market and only clockwork. They probably would have failed in the marketplace because several established U.S. firms could undercut
them and Hornby offered no better-class goods or electric models, but the Wall
Street Crash precipitated matters. In late 1929, Meccano Ltd. sold its New Jersey factory to the A. C. Gilbert Company and Hornby trains had vanished from the U.S. market by 1930. The leftover inventory was sold in Canada and in the UK and some of the tooling was reused for products in other markets.
Hornby
Dublo era: 1938–1963
Hornby Dublo model of an LMS Stanier Class 8F locomotive. Meccano introduced its 00 scale trains in 1938 under the name 'Hornby Dublo'. The locomotives were diecast, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. This was a very well planned range of electric (the original electric Hornby Dublo Locomotives ran on a third rail electric system) and clockwork models, successfully consolidating 12 V DC as the standard for OO scale and leading to the adoption of OO as a broadly accepted modelling standard in the UK, whereas
much of the rest of the world adopted HO scale. Both OO and HO use the same track gauge, but the proportions are different. The range expanded quickly, but was curtailed from 1940 due to World War II, production being completely suspended in 1942. Production resumed after the war but did not reach full capacity until 1948. Clockwork models were not produced in 00 scale after the war. In 2008, a special commemorative model of LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley was produced, in period packaging, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this introduction. Like its counterparts Bassett-Lowke and Exley in the UK and Lionel and American Flyer in the US, Hornby thrived in the first half of the decade but struggled in the late 1950s. The company was slow to recognise the threat posed by rival manufacturers (particularly Triang-Rovex)[1] and to realise the potential of plastic. In 1959, far too late, Hornby introduced two-rail track and moulded plastic rolling stock (the Super Detail series), but even then the system was complicated and difficult to use in comparison to its
rivals. Meanwhile the company plugged on producing a range of very old-fashioned
0 gauge models, in 1957 completely retooling much of the range instead of taking
the opportunity to discontinue it, indicative of major failings at management
level.
Gauges
While Lionel thrived in the O Gauge market, American Flyer in the S gauge, and Bachmann in the HO gauge, Hornby thrived in the OO gauge since Lionels' OO gauge demand dropped in the 1940s and 1950s.
Tri-ang Hornby: 1964–1972
In 1964, Lines Bros Ltd., the parent company of rival Tri-ang Railways, purchased Meccano Ltd., and merged Hornby and Tri-ang into Tri-ang Hornby.[1] The former
Hornby line was discontinued in favour of Tri-ang's less costly plastic designs.
The Hornby Dublo tooling was sold to G & R Wrenn, which continued to make most of
the loco range and 'superdetail' rolling stock. Remaining stocks of 0 gauge were
either scrapped or sold to the local retailer Hattons.
Hornby
Railways: 1972–1980[edit]
The Tri-ang group was disbanded in 1971 when Meccano Ltd's owner Lines Bros.
filed for bankruptcy. The former Tri-ang Hornby was sold to Dunbee-Combex-Marx,
becoming Hornby Railways in 1972. By 1976 Hornby was facing challenges
from Palitoy and Airfix, both of which were producing high quality
detailed models. Detail on the models was upgraded to make the product line more
attractive to adult hobbyists.
In 1970s Hornby released steam-powered 3½" gauge locomotive, a model of the
Stephenson's Rocket[2][3]
Hornby Hobbies: 1980–2008[edit]
A Hornby model of a BR standard class 9Fin 2006 a Cotswold Rail Class 43 HST power car carried a livery advertising Hornby. It has since been repainted. In 1980 Hornby became Hornby Hobbies and in 1981 a management buyout saw the company back on a sound footing. It went public in 1986.
By the early 1990s Hornby again faced competition from newcomers such as Dapol and established foreign manufacturers, including Lima and Bachmann Industries. Manufacturing was moved to Guangdong province in China in 1995, completed by 1999, cutting costs and improving quality. As part of the process Hornby also bought in some of Dapol's products and also some of the old Airfix moulds (by then owned by Dapol). Train sets based on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Harry Potter (the "Hogwarts Express") have been particularly profitable ventures. In September 2003 Hornby released its first steam-powered 00 gauge locomotive, a model of the record-breaking Mallard. Several other "Live Steam" locomotives have now been produced.
Since then Hornby has bought Lima, an Italian model railway equipment
manufacturer that had previously acquired Jouef, a French manufacturer. Some of the ex-Lima models appear in the main Hornby products list. This range is known as Hornby
International. This acquisition also included the Rivarossi line of HO-scale products, also
originally from Italy, and the Arnold brand of N-scale products. They also took
over the Spanish model railway company Electrotren. Electrotren had been the
Spanish importer for Scalextric, sold in Spain as Superslot. The takeover was at
the request of the Spanish company and was not due to obvious financial
problems. They have remained independent outside of the Hornby International
umbrella.
With competition mainly from Bachmann Industries, and to a much lesser extent
from minor and generally niche players such as the Danish model railway company
Heljan, Dapol, Vi Trains and Peco, Hornby Railways now (in 2008) produce a large range of highly detailed British steam and diesel locomotives, such as the BR 9F, LNER Class A4, SR Merchant Navy, Class 60, Class 50, Class 31 and Class 08.
In November 2006, Hornby Hobbies acquired Airfix and Humbrol paints for the sum of £2.6
million.[6] The parent company, Humbrol, had gone into administration earlier
that year after cashflow problems. Airfix fans had been concerned that it could
be the end of the brand, but just as the name Hornby was once a tradename of
Meccano, Airfix is now a successful tradename of Hornby.
In May 2008, Hornby announced the acquisition of Corgi Classics Limited, one of the world's oldest makers of collectable die-cast models of trucks, buses, cars and aeroplanes, from Corgi International Limited for £7.5million.
Hornby Hobbies Limited
2009–present
In 2009, the Hornby Shop and Visitor Centre was in development. Christmas
2009 saw the launch of the new Hornby Shop at Margate in Kent, with the visitor centre still in production. July 2010 saw the opening of the Hornby Shop And Visitor Centre,
which has proved increasingly popular since the opening day.
LIMA
Lima S.p.A (Lima Models) was a brand of railway models made in Vicenza, Italy,
for almost 50 years, from the early 1950s until the company ceased trading in
2004. Lima was a popular, affordable brand of 00 gauge and N gauge model railway material in the UK, more detailed H0 and N gauge models in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States as well as South Africa, Scandinavia and Australia. Lima also produced a small range of 0 gauge models. Lima partnered with various distributors and manufacturers, selling under brands such as A.H.M., Model Power, and Minitrain.
Market pressures from superior Far Eastern produce in the mid-1990s led to Lima merging with Rivarossi, Arnold, and Jouef. Ultimately, these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004.
Hornby Railways offered €8 million to acquire Lima's assets (including tooling, inventory, and the various brand names) in March of the same year, the Italian bankruptcy court of Brescia (town near Milan, last headquarters of Lima) approving the offer later that year. In December 2004, Hornby Railways formally announced the acquisition along with the Rivarossi (H0 North American and Italian prototypes), Arnold (N scale European prototypes), Jouef (H0 scale French prototypes), and Pocher (die-cast metal automobile kits) ranges.
As of mid-2006, a range of these products has been made available under the Hornby International brand, refitted with NEM couplings and sprung buffers and sockets for
DCC (Digital Command Control) decoders.
BASSETT LOWKE
Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton, England, founded by Wenman
Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items.
Bassett-Lowke was a sales organization, contracting manufacturers such as Twining Models and Winteringham Ltd, also of Northampton. Until World War One, the company also carried models made by Bing and Marklin.
Ship models
Today the name Bassett-Lowke is mostly associated with detailed model trains
but it also had a long history of contracting skilled craftsmen to make scale
military and civilian waterline ship models out of wood and wire. *Derik Head in
his "Bassett-Lowke Waterline Ship Models", states that before and during World
War One, there was such a demand for these hand-made waterline wooden ship
models that the company had to contract with a "small metal casting company" to
supply more waterline ship models to meet the demand. The name of the metal
casting company referred to in Mr. Head's book was Brighten Manufacturing
Company.,LTD 32, Great St. Helens, London, England. This metal casting company
was within walking distance from the prominent glass display windows of the
Bassett-Lowke shop located on High Holborn St. in London. The metal ship models
supplied by this small company were referred to in the Bassett-Lowke sales
literature simply as "B.M.C.". The collaboration between Bassett-Lowke and
B.M.C. produced the first metal ship models in a uniform scale to each other
ever made. These B.M.C. models were the forerunners of all the scale metal
recognition models made by companies in later years such as Tremo, Viking and
Authenticast. The resulting model fleet in metal carried in the Bassett-Lowke
catalogue was of every class of ship in the British navy then in commission as of
1914. The models found in the collection range from the early 1882 Royal
Sovereign class Pre-Dreadnoughts, some of which had been retained by the navy as
bombardment ships, through the newest Revenge class Super-Dreadnoughts which had
just come into service. The 1917 Bassett-Lowke catalogue makes the claim that
"Practically every ship in the Navy has been modelled, including
Super-Dreadnoughts, Battleships, Battle Cruisers, Armoured Cruisers, Light
Cruisers, Destroyers, Torpedo Boats, Submarines, Mine Layers, Mine Sweepers,
Troopships, Transports, Armed Liners and all Auxiliary Craft". The models were
formed in lead with the wire masts cast into the hulls in a scale of one inch
equals 150 feet or 1/1800. They were painted and issued in numbered boxed sets,
paper flags supplied with each set to be cut out and applied to the masts and
sternposts. Every class of vessel was easily recognizable by the funnels, guns
and masts. While rudimentary by later standards, the B.M.C. production of over
95 different castings were the first scale metal ship model fleet ever produced
and established the precedent for scale metal recognition ship models. In
addition to the ship models, B.M.C. produced a fort with movable guns, two
lighthouses and a game featuring a large fold-out map of the Dardanelles channel
showing forts and minefields. The game was supplied with fifteen metal ship
models including two mine sweepers and two submarines.
Model Trains:
Bassett-Lowke produced trains from 15-inch (381 mm) gauge live steam models to Gauge 2, Gauge 1 and 0 gauge.
The first 15-inch steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway, in 1905 was Little
Giant. Unlike other engines on the line it was a replica of main-line locos, built for a public miniature railway at Blackpool. It was a quarter scale 4-4-2 Atlantic tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. This engine still exists in private ownership.
In 1909 along with Henry Greenly W J Bassett Lowke started and edited Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine.
In 1914, Bassett-Lowke produced the second Pacific 4-6-2 of any size built in Britain (the first was GWR 111 The Great Bear). This was John Anthony, built for a miniature railway at Staughton Manor. It was never delivered, but after storage at Eaton Hall during World War I was sold to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and renamed Colossus. It was scrapped in 1927. Ravenglass and Eskdale had purchased another Bassett Lowke Atlantic, the Sans Pareil.
In the 1920s, Bassett-Lowke introduced 00 gauge products. The company provided custom-built railways; one such gauge 1 layout survives in modified format at Bekonscot Model Village in England.
In 1939, Bassett-Lowke was tasked with producing a working model of =Churchill's trench digging tank known as Cultivator No. 6.[1]
Bassett-Lowke's decline starting in the late 1950s can be blamed on at least two factors: sometimes people would browse the firm's free catalogue and buy similar or nearly identical items elsewhere at lower price; and interest in technical toys declined in the late 1950s and even more in the 1960s.
Bassett-Lowke's fall was mirrored by its U.S. counterparts, the A. C. Gilbert Company and Lionel Corporation. In 1964 the company ceased retail sales and sold its shops, including one at High Holborn in London, to Beatties. Bassett-Lowke went out of business in
1965.
In 1966 the company was acquired by Messrs Riley and Derry. An effort was apparently made to revive the model railway business around 1969 by Ivan Rutherford Scott, Allen L. Levy and Roland H. Fuller.[2] In the late 1980s Nigel Turner, a Northampton businessman, bought the business and the company was based next to his business of Turner's Musical Merry-Go-Round, near Wootton, Northampton. In 1993 the name was revived with short-run
white-metal models. These included a Burrell-type traction engine, Clayton Under type steam wagon, Burrell-type steam roller, and a London B-type bus. The name was acquired in 1996 by Corgi, which linked it with live steam 0-gauge locomotives.
Key competitors to Bassett-Lowke were Hornby and Exley.
LIONEL TRAINS
Lionel Corporation is an American toy manufacturer and retailer that has done business since 1900. Founded as an electrical novelties company, Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence, but toy trains and model railroads were its main claim to fame.[1] Lionel trains, produced from 1900 to 1969, drew admiration from model railroaders
around the world for the solidity of their construction and the authenticity of their detail. During its peak years, in the 1950s, the company sold $25 million worth of trains per year.[2] In 2006, Lionel's electric train, along with the Easy Bake Oven, became the first two electric toys to be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. They published a television advertisement in the mid-1980s with a very well known and remembered jingle, "Lionel Kiddy City, turn that frown [clap, clap] upside down."
Lionel remains the most enduring brand name associated with model trains in the United States, its products prized by collectors. Lionel, LLC now owns all of the trademarks and
most of the product rights associated with Lionel Corporation; there is, however, no direct connection between the two companies.
Hornby acquired Corgi in 2008 so consequently now manufacture Bassett-Lowke models.
The original Lionel Corporation was founded in 1900 by Joshua Lionel Cowen and Harry C. Grant in New York City.[3] The company's devotees disagree over the date of incorporation, as the official paperwork gives a date of September 5, but the paperwork was not filed until
September 22, more than two weeks later. Initially, the company specialized in electrical novelties, such as fans and lighting devices.[4]
In 1929, Lionel opened a factory in Hillside, New Jersey where it produced trains
until 1974
BACHMANN
Bachmann Branchline is an English 00 gauge model railway manufacturer. It is a brand name of Bachmann Industries used for British outline 00 scale model railways.
U.K. prototype model of a 00 scale (1:76) British Rail Class 25 shown with an 18mm-five pence coin for scaleBachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for Palitoy under the 'Mainline' brand. Palitoy required its manufacturers to produce and retain ownership of the toolings and Kader had used the toolings and added new ones for models commissioned by Replica Railways following the demise of Mainline.
Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for Mainline and Replica. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models competing in particular with Hornby.
In 2000 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
Click below for a list of fairs run by the country's leading venue organiser
Train fairs and venues Great Britain.
Contact Form
Contact Details for
All-originals
Keith Ridley
Tel 02476 338641
Mobile 07747020513
email. ridley_keith@yahoo.co.uk
URGENTLY WANTED
We are buying model trains, Steam Locomotives, Train Sets, Accessories, Kits, Track, Buildings, Signals, Signal Boxes, Figures, Rolling Stock. Large Live Steam, Traction Engines, Stationary Engines. All makes wanted any condition. Boxed Or un boxed,
Accurail, AHM/Riverossi, Airfix, Aristo-craft, Arnold, Athern,
Atlas, Bachmann, Bassett-lowke, Bing, Concor, Dapol, Faller, Fleischmann,
Guagemaster, Gem, Graham farish, Heljan, Hornby, Hornby Doublo, IHC,
Intermaoutain, Jouef, Kadee, Koto, Keyser K's, Kibri, Kitmaster, Lenz, LGB,
Life-like, Liliput, Lima, Lionel, Mainline, Mantua, Marklin, Marx, Merten,
Metcalf, Minitrix/trix, Model Power, MTL, Peco, Piko, Playcraft, Ratio, Roco,
Roundhouse, Stewart, Tomix, Tri-ang, Trix, Tyco, USA Trains, Walthers, Wills,
Wren.
0 gauge, gauge 1 , 00 scale, N gauge, and large scale live steam and garden railways.
Complete layouts sets and single items. Original boxed items other than track command a premium if they are in very good condition.
Keith and I have many years experience when dealing with all types of models. Right from an early age we helped our Father and Uncle an train and toy fairs throughout the UK.
Prices have altered in some cases due to internet availability. They are now available 24/7 via ebay. Remember if you do buy from ebay and you are not happy with your item there is a mandatory returns policy with a full money back guarantee offered by sellers and ebay.
Hornby Railways is a British model railway brand. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork
train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor Tri-Ang,[1] and sold on
when Tri-ang went into receivership. In the 1980s Hornby Railways became independent
Early history: 1920–1938 CURTACY OF Wikipedia
Hornby was at first a tradename for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based in Liverpool, which released its first train, a clockwork 0 gauge (1:48) model, in 1920. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold out in France. In 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power. Safety concerns saw low voltage 4V and then 6V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20V AC system, which was developed in the early 1930s. However, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937 and became the only power available in Liverpool-made 0 gauge trains from 1949. Competitors in the UK were Leeds Model Company and Bassett-Lowke
A factory was established in France, which developed its own range of French
outline trains, but Liverpool dominated export activity elsewhere, with large
numbers of Hornby trains exported to Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and
Scandinavia. Even though the export models were often painted in 'foreign'
liveries, Hornby trains looked very British. Hornby attempted to break into the
American market by setting up a factory in 1927 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to make American-style trains.
These were colourful and attractive, but low market and only clockwork. They probably would have failed in the marketplace because several established U.S. firms could undercut
them and Hornby offered no better-class goods or electric models, but the Wall
Street Crash precipitated matters. In late 1929, Meccano Ltd. sold its New Jersey factory to the A. C. Gilbert Company and Hornby trains had vanished from the U.S. market by 1930. The leftover inventory was sold in Canada and in the UK and some of the tooling was reused for products in other markets.
Hornby
Dublo era: 1938–1963
Hornby Dublo model of an LMS Stanier Class 8F locomotive. Meccano introduced its 00 scale trains in 1938 under the name 'Hornby Dublo'. The locomotives were diecast, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. This was a very well planned range of electric (the original electric Hornby Dublo Locomotives ran on a third rail electric system) and clockwork models, successfully consolidating 12 V DC as the standard for OO scale and leading to the adoption of OO as a broadly accepted modelling standard in the UK, whereas
much of the rest of the world adopted HO scale. Both OO and HO use the same track gauge, but the proportions are different. The range expanded quickly, but was curtailed from 1940 due to World War II, production being completely suspended in 1942. Production resumed after the war but did not reach full capacity until 1948. Clockwork models were not produced in 00 scale after the war. In 2008, a special commemorative model of LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley was produced, in period packaging, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this introduction. Like its counterparts Bassett-Lowke and Exley in the UK and Lionel and American Flyer in the US, Hornby thrived in the first half of the decade but struggled in the late 1950s. The company was slow to recognise the threat posed by rival manufacturers (particularly Triang-Rovex)[1] and to realise the potential of plastic. In 1959, far too late, Hornby introduced two-rail track and moulded plastic rolling stock (the Super Detail series), but even then the system was complicated and difficult to use in comparison to its
rivals. Meanwhile the company plugged on producing a range of very old-fashioned
0 gauge models, in 1957 completely retooling much of the range instead of taking
the opportunity to discontinue it, indicative of major failings at management
level.
Gauges
While Lionel thrived in the O Gauge market, American Flyer in the S gauge, and Bachmann in the HO gauge, Hornby thrived in the OO gauge since Lionels' OO gauge demand dropped in the 1940s and 1950s.
Tri-ang Hornby: 1964–1972
In 1964, Lines Bros Ltd., the parent company of rival Tri-ang Railways, purchased Meccano Ltd., and merged Hornby and Tri-ang into Tri-ang Hornby.[1] The former
Hornby line was discontinued in favour of Tri-ang's less costly plastic designs.
The Hornby Dublo tooling was sold to G & R Wrenn, which continued to make most of
the loco range and 'superdetail' rolling stock. Remaining stocks of 0 gauge were
either scrapped or sold to the local retailer Hattons.
Hornby
Railways: 1972–1980[edit]
The Tri-ang group was disbanded in 1971 when Meccano Ltd's owner Lines Bros.
filed for bankruptcy. The former Tri-ang Hornby was sold to Dunbee-Combex-Marx,
becoming Hornby Railways in 1972. By 1976 Hornby was facing challenges
from Palitoy and Airfix, both of which were producing high quality
detailed models. Detail on the models was upgraded to make the product line more
attractive to adult hobbyists.
In 1970s Hornby released steam-powered 3½" gauge locomotive, a model of the
Stephenson's Rocket[2][3]
Hornby Hobbies: 1980–2008[edit]
A Hornby model of a BR standard class 9Fin 2006 a Cotswold Rail Class 43 HST power car carried a livery advertising Hornby. It has since been repainted. In 1980 Hornby became Hornby Hobbies and in 1981 a management buyout saw the company back on a sound footing. It went public in 1986.
By the early 1990s Hornby again faced competition from newcomers such as Dapol and established foreign manufacturers, including Lima and Bachmann Industries. Manufacturing was moved to Guangdong province in China in 1995, completed by 1999, cutting costs and improving quality. As part of the process Hornby also bought in some of Dapol's products and also some of the old Airfix moulds (by then owned by Dapol). Train sets based on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Harry Potter (the "Hogwarts Express") have been particularly profitable ventures. In September 2003 Hornby released its first steam-powered 00 gauge locomotive, a model of the record-breaking Mallard. Several other "Live Steam" locomotives have now been produced.
Since then Hornby has bought Lima, an Italian model railway equipment
manufacturer that had previously acquired Jouef, a French manufacturer. Some of the ex-Lima models appear in the main Hornby products list. This range is known as Hornby
International. This acquisition also included the Rivarossi line of HO-scale products, also
originally from Italy, and the Arnold brand of N-scale products. They also took
over the Spanish model railway company Electrotren. Electrotren had been the
Spanish importer for Scalextric, sold in Spain as Superslot. The takeover was at
the request of the Spanish company and was not due to obvious financial
problems. They have remained independent outside of the Hornby International
umbrella.
With competition mainly from Bachmann Industries, and to a much lesser extent
from minor and generally niche players such as the Danish model railway company
Heljan, Dapol, Vi Trains and Peco, Hornby Railways now (in 2008) produce a large range of highly detailed British steam and diesel locomotives, such as the BR 9F, LNER Class A4, SR Merchant Navy, Class 60, Class 50, Class 31 and Class 08.
In November 2006, Hornby Hobbies acquired Airfix and Humbrol paints for the sum of £2.6
million.[6] The parent company, Humbrol, had gone into administration earlier
that year after cashflow problems. Airfix fans had been concerned that it could
be the end of the brand, but just as the name Hornby was once a tradename of
Meccano, Airfix is now a successful tradename of Hornby.
In May 2008, Hornby announced the acquisition of Corgi Classics Limited, one of the world's oldest makers of collectable die-cast models of trucks, buses, cars and aeroplanes, from Corgi International Limited for £7.5million.
Hornby Hobbies Limited
2009–present
In 2009, the Hornby Shop and Visitor Centre was in development. Christmas
2009 saw the launch of the new Hornby Shop at Margate in Kent, with the visitor centre still in production. July 2010 saw the opening of the Hornby Shop And Visitor Centre,
which has proved increasingly popular since the opening day.
LIMA
Lima S.p.A (Lima Models) was a brand of railway models made in Vicenza, Italy,
for almost 50 years, from the early 1950s until the company ceased trading in
2004. Lima was a popular, affordable brand of 00 gauge and N gauge model railway material in the UK, more detailed H0 and N gauge models in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States as well as South Africa, Scandinavia and Australia. Lima also produced a small range of 0 gauge models. Lima partnered with various distributors and manufacturers, selling under brands such as A.H.M., Model Power, and Minitrain.
Market pressures from superior Far Eastern produce in the mid-1990s led to Lima merging with Rivarossi, Arnold, and Jouef. Ultimately, these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004.
Hornby Railways offered €8 million to acquire Lima's assets (including tooling, inventory, and the various brand names) in March of the same year, the Italian bankruptcy court of Brescia (town near Milan, last headquarters of Lima) approving the offer later that year. In December 2004, Hornby Railways formally announced the acquisition along with the Rivarossi (H0 North American and Italian prototypes), Arnold (N scale European prototypes), Jouef (H0 scale French prototypes), and Pocher (die-cast metal automobile kits) ranges.
As of mid-2006, a range of these products has been made available under the Hornby International brand, refitted with NEM couplings and sprung buffers and sockets for
DCC (Digital Command Control) decoders.
BASSETT LOWKE
Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton, England, founded by Wenman
Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items.
Bassett-Lowke was a sales organization, contracting manufacturers such as Twining Models and Winteringham Ltd, also of Northampton. Until World War One, the company also carried models made by Bing and Marklin.
Ship models
Today the name Bassett-Lowke is mostly associated with detailed model trains
but it also had a long history of contracting skilled craftsmen to make scale
military and civilian waterline ship models out of wood and wire. *Derik Head in
his "Bassett-Lowke Waterline Ship Models", states that before and during World
War One, there was such a demand for these hand-made waterline wooden ship
models that the company had to contract with a "small metal casting company" to
supply more waterline ship models to meet the demand. The name of the metal
casting company referred to in Mr. Head's book was Brighten Manufacturing
Company.,LTD 32, Great St. Helens, London, England. This metal casting company
was within walking distance from the prominent glass display windows of the
Bassett-Lowke shop located on High Holborn St. in London. The metal ship models
supplied by this small company were referred to in the Bassett-Lowke sales
literature simply as "B.M.C.". The collaboration between Bassett-Lowke and
B.M.C. produced the first metal ship models in a uniform scale to each other
ever made. These B.M.C. models were the forerunners of all the scale metal
recognition models made by companies in later years such as Tremo, Viking and
Authenticast. The resulting model fleet in metal carried in the Bassett-Lowke
catalogue was of every class of ship in the British navy then in commission as of
1914. The models found in the collection range from the early 1882 Royal
Sovereign class Pre-Dreadnoughts, some of which had been retained by the navy as
bombardment ships, through the newest Revenge class Super-Dreadnoughts which had
just come into service. The 1917 Bassett-Lowke catalogue makes the claim that
"Practically every ship in the Navy has been modelled, including
Super-Dreadnoughts, Battleships, Battle Cruisers, Armoured Cruisers, Light
Cruisers, Destroyers, Torpedo Boats, Submarines, Mine Layers, Mine Sweepers,
Troopships, Transports, Armed Liners and all Auxiliary Craft". The models were
formed in lead with the wire masts cast into the hulls in a scale of one inch
equals 150 feet or 1/1800. They were painted and issued in numbered boxed sets,
paper flags supplied with each set to be cut out and applied to the masts and
sternposts. Every class of vessel was easily recognizable by the funnels, guns
and masts. While rudimentary by later standards, the B.M.C. production of over
95 different castings were the first scale metal ship model fleet ever produced
and established the precedent for scale metal recognition ship models. In
addition to the ship models, B.M.C. produced a fort with movable guns, two
lighthouses and a game featuring a large fold-out map of the Dardanelles channel
showing forts and minefields. The game was supplied with fifteen metal ship
models including two mine sweepers and two submarines.
Model Trains:
Bassett-Lowke produced trains from 15-inch (381 mm) gauge live steam models to Gauge 2, Gauge 1 and 0 gauge.
The first 15-inch steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway, in 1905 was Little
Giant. Unlike other engines on the line it was a replica of main-line locos, built for a public miniature railway at Blackpool. It was a quarter scale 4-4-2 Atlantic tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. This engine still exists in private ownership.
In 1909 along with Henry Greenly W J Bassett Lowke started and edited Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine.
In 1914, Bassett-Lowke produced the second Pacific 4-6-2 of any size built in Britain (the first was GWR 111 The Great Bear). This was John Anthony, built for a miniature railway at Staughton Manor. It was never delivered, but after storage at Eaton Hall during World War I was sold to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and renamed Colossus. It was scrapped in 1927. Ravenglass and Eskdale had purchased another Bassett Lowke Atlantic, the Sans Pareil.
In the 1920s, Bassett-Lowke introduced 00 gauge products. The company provided custom-built railways; one such gauge 1 layout survives in modified format at Bekonscot Model Village in England.
In 1939, Bassett-Lowke was tasked with producing a working model of =Churchill's trench digging tank known as Cultivator No. 6.[1]
Bassett-Lowke's decline starting in the late 1950s can be blamed on at least two factors: sometimes people would browse the firm's free catalogue and buy similar or nearly identical items elsewhere at lower price; and interest in technical toys declined in the late 1950s and even more in the 1960s.
Bassett-Lowke's fall was mirrored by its U.S. counterparts, the A. C. Gilbert Company and Lionel Corporation. In 1964 the company ceased retail sales and sold its shops, including one at High Holborn in London, to Beatties. Bassett-Lowke went out of business in
1965.
In 1966 the company was acquired by Messrs Riley and Derry. An effort was apparently made to revive the model railway business around 1969 by Ivan Rutherford Scott, Allen L. Levy and Roland H. Fuller.[2] In the late 1980s Nigel Turner, a Northampton businessman, bought the business and the company was based next to his business of Turner's Musical Merry-Go-Round, near Wootton, Northampton. In 1993 the name was revived with short-run
white-metal models. These included a Burrell-type traction engine, Clayton Under type steam wagon, Burrell-type steam roller, and a London B-type bus. The name was acquired in 1996 by Corgi, which linked it with live steam 0-gauge locomotives.
Key competitors to Bassett-Lowke were Hornby and Exley.
LIONEL TRAINS
Lionel Corporation is an American toy manufacturer and retailer that has done business since 1900. Founded as an electrical novelties company, Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence, but toy trains and model railroads were its main claim to fame.[1] Lionel trains, produced from 1900 to 1969, drew admiration from model railroaders
around the world for the solidity of their construction and the authenticity of their detail. During its peak years, in the 1950s, the company sold $25 million worth of trains per year.[2] In 2006, Lionel's electric train, along with the Easy Bake Oven, became the first two electric toys to be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. They published a television advertisement in the mid-1980s with a very well known and remembered jingle, "Lionel Kiddy City, turn that frown [clap, clap] upside down."
Lionel remains the most enduring brand name associated with model trains in the United States, its products prized by collectors. Lionel, LLC now owns all of the trademarks and
most of the product rights associated with Lionel Corporation; there is, however, no direct connection between the two companies.
Hornby acquired Corgi in 2008 so consequently now manufacture Bassett-Lowke models.
The original Lionel Corporation was founded in 1900 by Joshua Lionel Cowen and Harry C. Grant in New York City.[3] The company's devotees disagree over the date of incorporation, as the official paperwork gives a date of September 5, but the paperwork was not filed until
September 22, more than two weeks later. Initially, the company specialized in electrical novelties, such as fans and lighting devices.[4]
In 1929, Lionel opened a factory in Hillside, New Jersey where it produced trains
until 1974
BACHMANN
Bachmann Branchline is an English 00 gauge model railway manufacturer. It is a brand name of Bachmann Industries used for British outline 00 scale model railways.
U.K. prototype model of a 00 scale (1:76) British Rail Class 25 shown with an 18mm-five pence coin for scaleBachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for Palitoy under the 'Mainline' brand. Palitoy required its manufacturers to produce and retain ownership of the toolings and Kader had used the toolings and added new ones for models commissioned by Replica Railways following the demise of Mainline.
Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for Mainline and Replica. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models competing in particular with Hornby.
In 2000 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
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