Timeline for Bassett-Lowke Ltd

This page gives an overview of the timeline of the history of W.J. Bassett-Lowke Ltd. up until the end of World War Two.

1899

• Bassett-Lowke & Co. established in Kingswell Street, a premises owned by WJ's parents' company.
• Catalogue produced (with photographs pasted in by hand!) and advertised in "The Model Engineer magazine

1900

• A gauge 1 steam loco
• WJ visits the Paris Exhibition and meets Stefan Bing.

1901

• W.J. designs the Black Prince loco model
• Henry Greenly becomes consulting engineer and designer.

1902

• George Winteringham's model railway track joins the catalogue.
• Winteringham joins the company, in charge of a new B-L works.

1903

• B-L get the contract to build a 1:16-scale "simulator" table for the GWR, for teaching railway signalling. This alerts them to the possibility of producing other large custom "exhibition" and "architectural" models.

1904

• "Miniature Railways of Great Britain" company formed for producing garden railways and exhibition/fairground railways.

1905

• WJ produces "Model Railway Handbook" first edition, Catalogue divided into three sections, A (railways), B (engineering) and S (ships).
• Company shows at the Model Engineer Exhibition in London.

1906

• Maharajah's Sterling Silver table railway
• B-L's first electric railway set produced

1907

• B-L shows three-rail system.
• LOWKO brand appears for new electric motors

1908

• Winteringham Ltd. set up, with larger manufacturing facilities.
• Retail outlet at 257 High Holborn, London, managed by E.W. Hobbs.

1909

• B-L becomes a "Limited" company, at a new location.

1910

• London showroom moves to 112 High Holborn.
• 30,000 Cardean locos ordered from Georges Carette.

1914-18

• Shutdown due to war work (manufacturing screw gauges)

1919

• factory enlarged, and new equipment added.

1922

• 00-gauge production in bulk, Edinburgh retail store, US agency established.

1923

• Works extended to cope with larger models.

1927

• Manchester showroom opened.

1929

• Mass-produced "Royal Scot" loco.

1935

• Introduction of Trix Twin Trains.

1940-45

• B-L model production continued through the war, but now for military purposes. Models are built for military identification of friendly and enemy vehicles, and B-L also build planning models and models of hardware to be used in the D-Day landings, such as the Mulberry harbours.

1945

• Towards the close of the war (and for some years afterwards) B-L are involved in making models of the planned post-war town and city-centre reconstruction projects.