Hornby Hobbies Limited is a British-owned

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

manufacturing company which has been focused on

model railways Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are Model building, modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives ...

. Its roots date back to 1901 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, when founder

Frank Hornby Frank Hornby (15 May 1863 – 21 September 1936) was an English inventor, businessman and politician. He was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the inve ...

received a patent for his

Meccano Meccano is a brand of construction set created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nuts and ...

construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to , or 1: ...

train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor,

Tri-ang Railways Tri-ang Railways was a British manufacturer of toy trains, one of the elements of the Lines Bros Ltd company who traded using the brands Tri-ang, Minic, Pedigree, and Frog. The Tri-ang Railways name was dropped a few years after Lines Bros took ...

, and sold when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, but due to financial troubles reported in June 2017, became majority owned by British turnaround specialist Phoenix Asset Management. Hornby Hobbies bought model paint manufacturer

Humbrol Humbrol Limited is a British brand and former manufacturer of paints, solvents, and other accessories for scale model kits and toys. In the past, Humbrol produced under its own brand and the Airfix, Sky Marks, Young Scientist, 1st Gear, High S ...

and their scale model kit subsidiary

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced Injection moulding, injection-moulded plastic model, plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this typ ...

in 2007. The die-cast model car brand

Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small Dog type, type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is thought to be derived from the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

was added in 2008. Hornby's other brands include for model railways

Bassett-Lowke Bassett-Lowke was an English toy manufacturing company based in Northampton. Founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, the company specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a ...

Jouef Jouef is a French brand and former manufacturing company specialized in scale model rail transport modelling, railroads. The brand name is currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby. Apart from model railroads, the company also produced model ca ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Rivarossi and Electrotren, the large scale car model kit Pocher, and the scale car racing

Scalextric Scalextric is a brand of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s. Scalextric was invented by engineer B. Fred Francis, when he added an electric motor to the ''Scalex'' tin cars that were produced by Minimodels Ltd, his ow ...

History

Early history: 1920–1938

Hornby was at first a

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

for the railway productions of

Meccano Ltd Meccano Ltd was a British toy manufacturing company, established in 1908 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England, to manufacture and distribute Meccano and other model toys and kits created by the company. During the 1920s and 1930s it became the ...

and based around

. Until 1907 the company produced under the name of ''Mechanics made easy''. Hornby released its first train, a

clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement (clockwork), movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or wei ...

0 gauge O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad sca ...

(1:48) model, in 1920. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold 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

JLL Childhood Collection- Model Trains- station 2753c

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 Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.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

left, 150px, "Hornby Dublo" logo, 1956–1961 Meccano introduced its

OO scale OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to , or 1: ...

trains in 1938 under the name 'Hornby Dublo'. The locomotives were diecast metal, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. This was a very well planned range of electric and clockwork models, successfully consolidating 12 V DC as the standard for OO scale. This led 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. As for their O gauge locomotives, electric Hornby Dublo locomotives ran on a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

electric system with the track built on a pressed tinplate base. Both OO and HO use the same track gauge, but their scales are different. Beginning as literally "half O gauge", the HO models of continental prototypes at 3.5 mm/foot (1:87) scale were workable but Hornby chose to slightly increase the scale to 4 mm/foot for the smaller British prototypes, to provide more internal space for a motor. This has had the effect, remaining to this day, of making their gauge an apparent rather than the true . The range expanded quickly, but was curtailed from 1940 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 60007 ''Sir Nigel Gresley'' is an LNER Class A4 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built at Doncaster Works in 1937 to a design of Nigel Gresley, Sir Nigel Gresley for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The locomotive ho ...

was produced, in period packaging, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this introduction. City of Liverpool locomotive model

Like its counterparts

and Exley in the UK and Lionel and

American Flyer American Flyer is a brand of toy train and Rail transport modelling, model railroad, originally manufactured in the United States. The Chicago era, 1907–1938 Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a ...

in the US, Hornby thrived in the first half of the 1950s but struggled in the second half of the decade. The company was slow to recognise the threat posed by rival manufacturers (particularly Triang-Rovex) 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. With the benefit of hindsight, the policy of keeping the faith with its existing three-rail users whilst bringing the two-rail system to the market was a mistake that cost the company dearly. Whilst all the newer plastic-wheeled rolling stock was compatible with either system, the locomotives (and track) most definitely were not, requiring the two parallel productions of practically every locomotive* in the range to be offered in both formats. Meanwhile, the company persisted in 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. (* With the exception of the very first two-rail locomotive, a Southern Region R1 0-6-0 tank engine; the later E3002 AL1 Bo-Bo electric locomotive was ordinarily two-rail only but three-rail ones were made to special order.)

Tri-ang Hornby: 1964–1972

In 1964, Lines Bros Ltd., the parent company of rival

, purchased

., and merged Hornby and Tri-ang into ''Tri-ang Hornby''. 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 G&R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn. Origins G&R Wrenn's first product line was trackwork for 00 gauge model railway equipment, producing a variety of ...

, 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 Model Railways.

Hornby Railways: 1972–1980

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 Palitoy was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man, Action Girl, Action Force, Tiny Tears, Pippa (doll), Pippa, Tressy, Mainli ...

and

, 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.

Zero 1

A ''digital model railway control system'' named ''Zero 1'' was introduced in late 1979. The Zero 1 system enabled the simultaneous control of up to 16 locomotives and up to 99 accessories such as points and signals. Zero 1 was based on digital, not analogue, technology. This really was the first digital system and as such was a forerunner to the

Märklin Digital Märklin Digital was among the earlier digital model railway control systems. It was a comprehensive system including locomotive decoders (based on a Motorola chip), central control (Märklin 6020/6021), a computer interface (Märklin 6050), tur ...

which appeared in the mid-1980s and the

National Model Railroad Association The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is an American non-profit organization for those involved in the hobby or business of model railroading. It was founded in the United States in 1935, and is also active in Canada, Australia, the Unit ...

(NMRA)

Digital Command Control Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system for the digital operation of model railways that permits locomotives on the same electrical section of track to be independently controlled. The DCC protocol is defined by the Digital Comma ...

(DCC) system, which appeared around 1990 and was standardized internationally in the mid-1990s. Although an important milestone, Zero 1 was not a lasting success. The Master Control unit last appeared in the catalog in 1985. The slave controller, the locomotive module, and the accessory module were still available until the late 1980s. The system is still used today by many modellers, highlighted by the demand on such sites like eBay for the items in the secondhand market. The Main Master unit was discontinued in 1986, and finally the last time Loco Modules were listed was in the 1991 catalogue 'Limited supplies of R955 Loco module are available'. Repairs to Zero 1 units were no longer undertaken by Hornby apparently due to 'Lack of available parts required'. Despite being on the market for a short time, Zero 1 had the largest installed base among command control systems in the early 1980s in North America, according to a reader survey done by ''Model Railroader'' magazine.

Rocket

As part of the 1980 Rocket 150 celebrations, Hornby released a

live steam Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam may be used to operate stationary or moving equipment. A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those th ...

-powered gauge locomotive, a model of ''

Stephenson's Rocket Stephenson's ''Rocket'' is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be m ...

'' A major goal was to make real live steam accessible to an indoor domestic environment. The boiler was considerably smaller than the external diameter, surrounded by a thick insulating jacket to prevent burns. It was fuelled by butane gas, from cigarette lighter refills. To provide more torque from the small cylinders, gearing was adeptly hidden between the cranks and the wheels. The track was of asymmetric moulded plastic units, representing the

fishbelly rail The rail profile is the cross-sectional shape of a rail as installed on a railway or railroad, perpendicular to its length. Early rails were made of wood, cast iron or wrought iron. All modern rails are hot rolled steel with a cross sectio ...

s of the period. These could be assembled either way round, to give either curved or straight track. By 1980, the market was extremely tough and Dunbee-Combex-Marx was liquidated, placing Hornby in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

Hornby Hobbies Limited: 1980–2015

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 Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railroad, model railway products in N gaug ...

(established 1983) and established foreign manufacturers, including

and

Bachmann Industries Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda-registered, Chinese-owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headq ...

. Manufacturing was moved to

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

province in China in 1995, completed by 1999, in a cost-cutting exercise. As part of the process Hornby also bought in some of Dapol's products and also some of the old Airfix moulds (which had been bought by Dapol as part of the Mainline range from Palitoy in 1985). Train sets based on

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Brit ...

and

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

(the "

Hogwarts Express The Hogwarts Express is an broad gauge cable railway, people mover, and attraction within the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, United States. The route runs between Hogsmeade station in the Islands of Adventure theme park and Kin ...

") have been particularly profitable ventures. In September 2003 Hornby released its first

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

00 gauge locomotive, a model of the record-breaking ''Mallard''. Several other "

Live Steam Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam may be used to operate stationary or moving equipment. A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those th ...

" locomotives have now been produced. Since then Hornby has bought

, an Italian model railway equipment manufacturer that had previously acquired

, 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

, 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

, and to a much lesser extent from minor and generally niche players such as the Danish model railway company Heljan,

, Vi Trains and Peco, Hornby Railways produced a large range of highly detailed British steam and diesel locomotives, such as the BR 9F,

LNER Class A4 The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive, steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them ins ...

, SR Merchant Navy, Class 60, Class 50, Class 31 and Class 08. In November 2006, Hornby Hobbies acquired

and

paints for the sum of £2.6 million. The parent company,

, 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 Corgi Classics Limited was a British die-cast scale model manufacturer established as an independent company in 1995, which has its origins in the Corgi Toys brand introduced by Mettoy in 1956. It is known for its British and North American v ...

, 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. In 2009, the Hornby Shop and Visitor Centre was in development. Christmas 2009 saw the launch of the new Hornby Shop at

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, with the visitor centre still under construction. July 2010 saw the opening of the Hornby Shop And Visitor Centre.

Financial troubles, PAM takeover

From 2015, Hornby plc began to announce a series of declining financial results. The major reason behind the decline Hornby declared was twofold, with the decline in the number of collecting customers, (older customers dying and not being replaced by younger ones), and a general lack of interest in modelling as a hobby in light of the digitization and advancement of the internet games industry. After the PLC shares dropped by more than 50% in a year, at the 2016 results, Hornby declared that it planned to cut more than half of the toys it made, after discovering that it generated 90% of its profits from only 50% of its range. In the year to 31 March 2017, revenues fell further to £47.4m from £55.8m, while underlying losses widened to £6.3m from a £5.7m deficit in 2016. The financial declines culminated in July 2017, when the largest shareholder Phoenix Asset Management (PAM) agreed to buy 17.6 million Hornby shares for 32.375p from the second largest – and activist/protagonist shareholder – New Pistoia Income (NPI), which gave PAM a 55.2% holding in the company. Under stock exchange rules, this triggered a mandatory takeover offer of Hornby by PAM, at the NPI strike price of 32.375p, valuing Hornby at £27.4million. As a result of the takeover, the chairman of Hornby resigned from the company in August 2017, followed by the Chief Executive in September 2017. In October 2017, PAM announced their new management team who would join the company and steer through the turnaround. They were Lyndon Davies, former Mettoy employee and owner of Oxford Diecast. Simon Kohler, ex Hornby marketing manager and Tim Mulhall, also from Oxford Diecast and credited with knowledge of the International market, having been the former importer for Hornby International brands in the UK. The trio proposed a turnaround plan to reengage with the market, make products which were more appealing to customers, clamp down on rising overheads and recover first sales and then move the company back into profitability. The outcomes were not expected to bear fruit for 3–5 years. The end of year Annual Report for March 2018 revealed how serious the position was for the company, showing further slumps in revenue (down to £35.7m) and a widening pre-tax loss (up to £7.6m). The March 2019 end of year report showed progress, having stabilised the business, closed unnecessary offices and returned to their historic home in Margate. Sales grew to £37.8m, losses narrowed to £2.8m The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020 was one element credited in a sales growth of 30%, which was announced in the 2019/20 half year results which covered a period to March 2020. Half year sales of £21m (up from £15.9m) and the first profit in 8 years. In August 2021, it was announced that Hornby had acquired the remaining 51% of LCD Enterprises (who owned Oxford Diecast) for £1.3 million. This followed Hornby's 49% stake in the company, for which they had acquired in 2017. In October 2022 Hornby released a range of TT:120 items. Two train sets are being offered, with four series of locomotives and rolling stock available.

Collector and enthusiasts' groups

Pre-1964 Hornby trains have enjoyed a level of adult collector interest since the 1940s. In 1969 the Hornby Railway Collector's Association was founded to cater for this and currently enjoys a membership approaching 3000, producing 10 journals a year, as well as other literature. Publications on older Hornby and Meccano products are dominated by those published by New Cavendish Books as "The Hornby Companion Series", in particular Chris & Julie Graebe's "The Hornby Gauge 0 System" and Michael Foster's sister volume on Hornby Dublo. Triang-Hornby and later Hornby products are catered for by the '' Train Collectors' Society''.

Brands

Hornby owns

and, through that acquisition,

, and

Corgi Toys Corgi Toys (trademark) is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby,Rivarossi, Arnold, and

. When these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004, Hornby Railways acquired Lima's assets. 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 DCC may refer to: Biology * Netrin receptor DCC, human receptor protein, and the gene encoding it * Dosage compensation complex Business * Day Chocolate Company * DCC plc, an Irish holding company * Doppelmayr Cable Car, cable car company * D ...

decoders. Lima also had a popular OO gauge range much like Hornby, which strengthened the case for acquisition.

Jouef

Arnold

Rivarossi

Skaledale

'Skaledale' is a range of resin buildings and track accessories produced for 00 gauge railways by Hornby Hobbies Ltd. Production began in 2003 when an initial range of only 6 items were distributed into the market place. The interest and demand proved so positive that the range increased the following year to include new domestic style buildings plus the introduction of station and trackside buildings. Many of the models are similar to those of 'Lyddle End' (a range which followed 'Skaledale'), but these "N" Gauge buildings are produced to a smaller scale of 1:148. The Skaledale range comprises station buildings, platforms, trackside accessories, shops, houses, churches, monuments and street furniture. Forbes Outfitters and St. Andrews Church for example, provided the inspiration for their scaled down models, although others are adapted to suit a particular price point or subject. The station and trackside buildings are inspired by actual structures but again in some cases adapted to suit manufacturing constraints. Some of the station pieces were inspired by Goathland railway station.

Lyddle End

Lyddle End is the range of

N scale N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. Effectively the scale is 1:159, 9 mm to , which is the width of standard gauge railway. However the scale may ...

model railway Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are Model building, modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives ...

buildings for Hornby Railways. The buildings are created from high quality die cast

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

and are made to represent the fictional village of Lyddle End, somewhere in England. Most of the buildings are models of GWR style buildings made out of red sandstone. Hornby created these buildings thanks to the success of their 00 gauge buildings, which they call ''Skaledale''. Many of the buildings are the same as their Skaledale equivalent, except in different scales, to save the cost of designing a new model. They are generally released about 6 months to a year behind their 00 counterparts. When Hornby announced their 2010 range, Lyddle End was not mentioned, presumably ended.

Warlord Games Limited

In July 2023 Hornby acquired a 25% share in Warlord Games, a company that produces historical tabletop wargames.

In media

An attempt to build the world's longest model railway formed the final episode of ''

James May's Toy Stories ''James May's Toy Stories'' is a UK documentary television series created and presented by James May, and produced by Plum Pictures for the BBC. The programme focused on bringing some of the most notable toys conceived in the past into the mode ...

''. May, who had previously identified the train set as his "absolute favourite", hoped that a train would run successfully along the length of the

Tarka Trail The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths (rail trails) around north Devon, England, that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of in a figure-of-eight route, centred ...

, which is a disused long railway line in

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

. Hornby was heavily involved, providing the track and the prototype of their OO gauge British Rail Class 395 ''Javelin'' train. Simon Kohler, marketing manager of Hornby model railways, said that the train which travels at just failed two miles short of Bideford station; but he also told BBC News "Even though the last locomotive gave up the ghost at Instow, we did link the track. In April 2011 on the TV series ''James May's Toy Stories: Revisited'', James tried again, this time against the Germans. All the trains reached their destinations and the British team won. In 2019 the mini-series ''James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain'' was broadcast on BBC Four, which the channel described as, 'A year inside Hornby Hobbies – an iconic British toymaker on the brink of collapse.' In 2021, a ten-episode series was produced by Rare TV for the Yesterday TV channel called ''Hornby: A Model World'', which went behind the scenes at Hornby and also featured models from Airfix, Scalextric and Corgi within various episodes. A second season of 11 episodes was broadcast in 2023.

One:One Collection

In 2019 the One:One Collection of real historic engines and rolling stock opened at Hornby's former Margate factory. It had been purchased by

Jeremy Hosking Jeremy John Hosking (born 20 July 1958) is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace and a noted railway enthus ...

, with some Hosking-owned rolling stock placed on display.Haptic wins competition to design Margate train museum
''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is a professional architecture magazine, published monthly in London by Metropolis International. Each issue includes in-depth features on relevant current affairs, alongside profiles of recently completed buildings. Ten t ...

'' 25 February 2020

Notes

References

* Foster, Michael (1980) ''Hornby Dublo Trains: 1938–1964: The story of the perfect table railway'', Hornby Companion Series, vol. 3, New Cavendish Books, * * * Hornby PLC (2004) ''Hornby OO Scale Model Railways: Fiftieth Edition'', Product catalogue: R8108, Limited anniversary edition,

EAN Ean may refer to: People * Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Scottish Anglican cleric, bishop of Glasgow and Galloway * Ean Elliot Clevenger, American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter * Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyr ...

501-0-9634810-8-7 * Schneider, Lewis (May 2000) Hornby's made-in-USA trains, ''Classic Toy Trains'', vol. 13, p. 84 * Kohler, Simon (April 2011) – Marketing Manager – Hornby Hobbies Limited

External links

*
Online database of Hornby Railways models 1955–2011

Resource of model railway history and references

DCC Wiki: More info on Hornby's Zero 1 system

{{Authority control Design companies established in 1901 1901 establishments in England Toy companies established in 1901 British companies established in 1901 1964 mergers and acquisitions Model railroad manufacturers Toy train manufacturers Die-cast toys Toy companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1901 Companies based in Kent Toy cars and trucks Slot car manufacturers British brands Articles containing video clips Model manufacturers of the United Kingdom