Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom, and its company roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy.
Hornby, then known as Meccano Ltd., released its first train, a clockwork O gauge model, in 1920. An electric train followed in 1925, operating on AC power, and Hornby switched to DC in 1929.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Hornby sold trains in the United States as well as in the UK. It withdrew from the US market during the Great Depression.
Hornby introduced its OO gauge trains in 1938, under the trade name Hornby DublO, only to discontinue all train production the next year due to World War II. Production resumed after the war but did not reach full capacity until 1948. The locomotives were die-cast, and the cars were generally made of tinplate.
Like its counterparts Bassett-Lowke 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. In 1959, Hornby abandoned 3-rail track in favor of more realistic two-rail track.
In 1964, 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 favor of Tri-ang's less costly plastic designs.
The Tri-ang group was disbanded in 1971 and the former Tri-ang Hornby became Hornby Railways in 1972. Detail on the models was upgraded to make the product line more attractive to adult hobbyists.
In 1980 Hornby became an independent company and went public in 1986. Manufacturing moved to China in 1995, and Hornby released its first steam-powered OO gauge locomotive in September 2003.