11/06/2026
This is a child's toy train set which is held at the Museum. Picture shows 1 Hornby train locomotive, 1 Pullman Aurelia carriage, 1 Pullman Marjorie carriage, 1 coal car, tender 3435, track and track connectors and key.
Hornby Hobbies Limited is a British-owned scale model manufacturing company whose focus is on model railways. Its roots date back to early 1900 when Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy and the first clockwork train was produced in 1920. Hornby was a trade name for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd. After the success of its first train in 1920, an electric train followed but was under-designed and fell flat. In 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power.
Safety concerns saw low voltage 4V and then 6V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20V AC system, which was developed in the early 1930s. However, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937.
