Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 26

Thread: Hornby Trains and Meccano

  1. #1
    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Under The Stairs >> Under The Mud.
    Posts
    7,488
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Hornby Trains and Meccano

    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 produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908.

    Hornby was born on 15 May 1863 in Liverpool.

    In September 1907, Hornby registered his famous "Meccano" trade mark and used this name on all new sets. In order to raise more capital to invest in a larger factory and plant, a company had to be created. This lead to the formation of Meccano Ltd on 30 May 1908. Elliot had decided not to join the new company, leaving Hornby as the sole proprietor. The Meccano factory was relocated to West Derby Road in Liverpool, and in 1910 the famous "MECCANO" logo was commissioned. Meccano Ltd's turnover for the 1910 financial year was 12,000 pounds.

    Meccano was exported to many countries and in 1912, Hornby and his son, Roland, formed Meccano (France) Ltd in Paris to manufacture Meccano. An office was also opened in Berlin, Germany and Märklin began to manufacture Meccano under licence. Hornby also started importing clockwork motors from Märklin.

    In order to keep pace with demand, a new factory was built in Binns Road, Liverpool. By September 1914 the Binns Road Factory was in full production and became the company headquarters for over 60 years.

    By the 1930s, Hornby had become a millionaire. He owned a mansion and was chauffeured to Binns Road every day by limousine. Hornby died of a chronic heart condition complicated by diabetes in Liverpool on 21 September 1936. His elder son Roland took over as Chairman of Meccano Ltd.

    Hornby's legacy lives on today with thousands of enthusiasts all over the world still building Meccano models and running Hornby Train sets.

    Source: Wikipedia

    Images courtesy of Liverpool City Library and the Records Office and show production of Hornby train sets. The workers are almost entirely women with men seeming to be in supervisory/overseeing roles.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2LAW037.jpg 
Views:	2668 
Size:	569.5 KB 
ID:	2335   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2LAW038.jpg 
Views:	1178 
Size:	384.3 KB 
ID:	2336  
    Become A Supporter 👇


    Donate Via PayPal


    Donate


  2. #2

    Default

    And to think that some shoddy 'health superstore' thing stands on the site of the factory. Meccano was brilliant, as were the toy trains, and far better than modern toys.

    Lines Bros (owners of Tri-ang Railways) bought out Hornby Railways, although the Hornby name was kept. Tri-ang already had the factory at Margate, which is where the Hornby trainsets were produced after the takeover, but now it's all gone to China. I think the Margate factory has been retained for warehousing/admin/etc.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Paul D's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    1,099

    Default

    Meccano was used to develop icons such as the Bletchley Park Enigma Machine,the London Eye,Issigonis's Mini and Nobel Chemist Sir harry Kroto used meccano to work out the shape of the Carbon 60 Molecule and says that the decline in popularity of Meccano has been "a disaster for the education of our young engineers and scientists.

  4. #4

    Default

    Quite true. As a kid my dad bought me a massive box of old green and red Meccano at an autojumble - £6, a complete bargain! I had hours of fun! And he photocopied me some of his old instruction books. Some of the models on the front covers were fantastic, like the big crane. I remember trying to build a three-speed gearbox as a small child - surely that's more educational than some stupid games console?

  5. #5

  6. #6
    Senior Member Norm NZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Age
    91
    Posts
    608

    Default Hornby Trains!

    I still have a 4-6-2 Hornby loco ("Barnstable") that I bought for my 'one year old son' way back in 1957!! Yes! he's 50 this year!! but I still keep the loco!! as a fond memory of times gone bye!


  7. #7

    Default

    They're worth upwards of £100 - nice little nest egg! I've got boxes of later Tri-ang and Hornby stuff at my parents' house - hopefully one day I'll have a kid and then I'll have a good excuse to dig it all out!

  8. #8

    Default

    Both my Mum and Dad worked at Mecanno.I had all the Thunderbirds toys.Wish I still did to be honest.

  9. #9
    theninesisters
    Guest theninesisters's Avatar

    Default

    My late pop used to work at Meccano and we've still got loads of stuff associated with the place. Wouldn't sell any of it for a big clock though, sentimental reasons and the like. Us kids got some amazing pre production toys and just went about smashing them up as you do - they'd be worth a mint on e-bay now

  10. #10

    Default

    Aye,I wish I still had me Tonka trucks as well.

  11. #11
    theninesisters
    Guest theninesisters's Avatar

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by stan View Post
    Aye,I wish I still had me Tonka trucks as well.
    Painted yellow I seem to remember ;o) I'll dig out a picture of one!!

  12. #12
    Senior Member lindylou's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    3,677

    Default

    My mum worked in the Meccano.

  13. #13

    Default

    sad story

    an old guy i know, used to work for oldham brothers demolition in crown street, they demolished meccanno, and he had to smash up all the tools and jigs and everything,

    he took a load of railway stuff that was going to be thrown out, and went and sold them to norman hatton of hattons


    mike

  14. #14
    MariaC
    Guest MariaC's Avatar

    Default

    Ive got an original meccanno set still in the box an hasent even been opened. My uncle give it to me years ago but Ive been told to hang onto it, 'cos it might be an antique some day.

  15. #15

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mike delamar View Post
    an old guy i know, used to work for oldham brothers demolition in crown street, they demolished meccanno, and he had to smash up all the tools and jigs and everything
    It's a shame when that happens. So often lots of interesting and historical stuff is binned.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Hornby Model Trains
    By Bob Edwards in forum Bob Edwards' Liverpool Picture Book
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 03-26-2013, 10:19 PM
  2. Dinky/Meccano
    By John(Zappa) in forum Work and Industry in Liverpool
    Replies: 66
    Last Post: 04-30-2010, 07:51 PM
  3. Meccano
    By Kev in forum Kev's Liverpool History and Pictures
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-30-2010, 03:29 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •