Rivarossi is an Italian manufacturers of

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 modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

s. In 2004 it was acquired by

Hornby Railways Hornby Railways is a British rail transport modelling, model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was pr ...

History

Rivarossi was founded in 1945 by Alessandro Rossi and Antonio Riva. In the 1990s Rivarossi acquired

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

(1992),

Jouef Jouef is a French brand and former manufacturing company specialized in scale model railroads. The brand name is currently owned by Hornby. Apart from model railroads, the company also produced model cars and slot cars. History Manufacturer G ...

and

Arnold Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia Uni ...

(1997). In 2003 Rivarossi went into receivership. In 2004

plc acquired assets from Rivarossi, in particular the brands Arnold, Jouef, Rivarossi and Lima. Since 2006 products are sold again under these brand names. The production has been moved to China.

United States

From 1957 Rivarossi HO models were licensed and sold by Lionel as Lionel HO. The cooperation with Lionel broke down over financial issues after only a year. From 1958 Rivarossi products were sold through

Athearn Athearn is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, produced and distributed by American hobby manufacturer Horizon Hobby, Inc. of Champaign, Illinois. History In 1938 Irvin Athearn built a detailed O scale model railroad layout ...

. After Athearn, just about all Rivarossi products, and its sister company Pocher, were distributed through AHM (Associated Hobby Manufacturers).

References

External links

Rivarossi history
Italian companies established in 1945 Toy companies established in 1945 2004 mergers and acquisitions Model manufacturers of Italy Model railroad manufacturers Toy train manufacturers Toy companies of Italy Toy brands Hornby Railways Italian brands {{model-rail-stub