2002 Edition The Hornby companion series Vol. 5. London : New Cavendish, 1984. Before the outbreak of the Great War, Frank Hornbys inventions had already made his Liverpool Meccano factories famous, and himself a wealthy man. It had previously been thought impossible to compete with continental manufacturers in the model railway market, but Hornby, realising the antipathy towards German goods after the 1914-18 war, thought that conditions were opportune for a large investment in toy train production. In 1920 he took the gamble and initiated a massive expansion of his legendary Binns Road works for this purpose. The first 0-Gauge Hornby Trainswere the pioneers of an unrivalled series of toy train products, which enabled Hornby to offereverything for the complete model railway1. Station buildings, lineside accessories, and even scenery such as the Countryside Although not accurate scale models, they captured all the atmosphere of real railways. These first Hornby Train Sets inspired a fierce brand loyalty among their youthful and not so youthful customers, and although safety regulations would prevent their sale today, the pre-war generation of Hornby Train users survived happily, and grew up to see their own children playing with the 0-Gauge Hornby Trains. This volume by Chris and Julie Graebe tells the story of this most famous and successful British make, the Hornby 0-Gauge Train, from the first constructional train sets of 1920 right through to the final 0-Gauge production in the 1960s. Various landmarks in the development of the system, such as the creation of the true-to-type No. 2 Special Locomotives representing famous engines of the major railway companies, the Princess Elizabeth and Eton Locomotives, and the cheaper M Series trains are also covered, as are Meccano train products sold The evolution of the Hornby Series is followed in a series of colour photographs, some items being illustrated here for the first time.

Size: 1.25" H x 8.45" L x 11.20" W (4.27 lbs) 436 pages