From The Brighton Toy and Model Index
Jump to navigationJump to search
|
|
| (8 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| Frank Hornby (1863-1936) has the distinction of being responsible for originating not just one, but ''three'' of the biggest British toy brands.
| | #REDIRECT:[[:Category:Frank Hornby]] |
| | |
| ===Meccano===
| |
| First came [[Meccano]], a construction toy that started out as "Mechanics Made Simple", and which evolved into a smoother more stylised form that we now recognise as the classic Meccano shapes.
| |
| | |
| ===Hornby Trains/ Hornby Railways / Hornby Dublo===
| |
| Next came [[Hornby Trains]] / [[Hornby railways]]. Since Hornby was already making toys that used all-metal wheels and parts, metal locomotives and carriages were an obvious development that, due to their small parts, couldn't easily be made at small scales using Meccano. Hornby used Meccano to prototype methods of making track points, and specifically, ways of constructing two-rail track with points systems that that kept the two rails electrically isolated. After [[Bing]] and [[Bassett-Lowke]] had brought out their "[[table railway]]" [[00-gauge]] format trains, Hornby recognised that the smaller size and reduced material costs opened up the model railway format to a range of potential customers who couldn't afford the price or the space needed for a [[gauge 0]] layout, and produced [[Hornby Dublo]].
| |
| | |
| ===Dinky Toys===
| |
| To supplement their [[gauge 0]] railways, Hornby started producing a range of matching [[1:43|1/43]]-scale trackside accessories such as signal boxes and stations, and if a customer had a model railway layout with level crossings and bridges and houses and roads, what they needed to complete the set was a matching range of 1/43-scale cars, which Hornby then obligingly produced. Since these could also be sold to people who didn't actually own a train set, Hornby gave them a separate brandname: "[[Dinky Toys]]".
| |
| | |
| [[Category:Hornby]]
| |
| {{Toymaker}}
| |
Latest revision as of 22:03, 3 August 2013
