Hornby Hobbies Limited is a British scale model manufacturing company; the name is particularly associated with its model railways. 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 produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first OO gauge train.
In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were in financial difficulties and were bought by a competitor Lines Brothers (Tri-ang Railways), the railway brand becoming "Tri-ang Hornby". Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the London Stock Exchange, 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 and their scale model kit subsidiary Airfix in 2007. The die-cast model car brand Corgi was added in 2008.
Hornby's other brands include for model railways Bassett-Lowke, Jouef, Lima, Rivarossi and Electrotren, the large scale car model kit Pocher. Formerly, it also owned the scale car racing company Scalextric.
History
Early history: 1920–1938
Hornby was at first a trade name for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based around Liverpool. Until 1907 the company produced under the name of Mechanics made easy. Hornby 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 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 4 V and then 6 V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20 V 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
Meccano introduced its OO scale 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 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, 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 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.
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. 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 Model Railways; it took Hattons about 30 years to sell off the stock.
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 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.
Zero 1
A digital model railway control system named Zero 1 was introduced in late 1979.Hornby Railways catalog 1979 in Conrad Antiquario, Retrieved 2024-04-03. 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 systemDigital system Zero 1 by Hornby Hobbies and Hammant & Morgan on the website of Model Electronic Railway Group (MERG). Retrieved 8 April 2024. and as such was a forerunner to the Märklin Digital which appeared in the mid-1980s and the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Digital Command Control (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. 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-powered gauge locomotive, a model of Stephenson's Rocket 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 rails 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.
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 (established 1983) and established foreign manufacturers, including Lima and Bachmann Industries. Manufacturing was moved to Guangdong 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 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.
Hornby 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 which was 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.
Hornby's competition includes Bachmann Industries and, to a lesser extent, niche companies such as the Danish model railway company Heljan, Dapol, Vi Trains and Peco. In response to this competition, from 2008, Hornby Railways produced a 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. 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.