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.

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.

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.

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?

http://www.dalefield.com/mwes/histor...ry%201916,.jpg

http://www.dalefield.com/mwes/history/Binns-Road.jpg
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http://www.20thcenturyimages.co.uk/t...oducts/222.JPG
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http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mr.productio...odels/SM04.jpg
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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! :Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13

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!

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

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 :PDT_Xtremez_42:

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

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Originally Posted by stan

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

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Painted yellow I seem to remember ;o) I'll dig out a picture of one!!

My mum worked in the Meccano. :)

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

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.

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Originally Posted by mike delamar

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

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It's a shame when that happens. So often lots of interesting and historical stuff is binned.

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Originally Posted by MariaC

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.

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And I had everything.Am not kidding.I sold it all when I was 18 and didn't know any better.
I had stuff that never even came out.
My mum was a good grafter!!!!

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Originally Posted by John(Zappa)

And I had everything.Am not kidding.I sold it all when I was 18 and didn't know any better.
I had stuff that never even came out.
My mum was a good grafter!!!!

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Most of my pre production meccano stuff was buried in our old house - no wonder I'm trying to find the funds to buy it back - family member worked at Meccano and we got to try em all out!

I worked there from 73to 76 first in the train room then in the machine shop
The place was like a time warp going back to the 30's. No modernisation on the way the toys and the Meccano sets where made.I t was only time before
it shut down,which it did do in 79. :snf (41):

This is all wonderful stuff about Meccano and Hornby! I can remeber turning
up at Binns Road sometime in the early 30's and asking for a conducted tour
of the premises - which was given me!! I think this must have been a regular
feature because I only made the visit because a fellow pupil of Alsop HS had
told me about his visit a little while before. I think I was recommended to turn
up with at least my AHS cap on (which I did) but I wasn't too sure about the
venture because I knew my friend had worn his school blazer as well - some
thing I was never to possess!! But from what I remember I was perfectly well
received and at the end of the visit rewarded with a selection of Meccano/
Hornby sales catalogues and a copy of Meccano magazine. I thought it all too
wonderful to believe. Such were our childish pleasures in the grim 30's in
Liverpool. The Binns Road picture says it all!

The factories in Liverpool give us kids from childrens homes some fantastic christmas parties. Mechano was one and Lucas by the Rocket but the biggest and best was always Ogdens, God Bless.:handclap:

Attachments: Frank Hornby photo. Quarry Brook, Hornby's home in Maghull, and the auctioneers sale poster

There used to be a Hornby/Triang/Meccano factory of some sort on Speke Hall Road. Anyone remember what that was?

On this site Meccano Magazine are .pdf copies of a few hundred of the old Meccano Magazines.
They make an interesting read as they are not just about Meccano. The adverts are a good read also.

Hornby Trains are the subject of James May TV show, this coming week (Tuesday). Meccano was covered by him a couple of weeks ago. The shows appear:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ories_Meccano/

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/...168633b1_o.jpg
Mr Hornby`s grave in St Andrew`s church, Maghull

theninesisters and others,

It would be interesting to list all this stuff associated with the place while they are still in first hand. After that they can not be certified as been original. What sort of things do you have ? If you wish you can answer by private message.