Hornby Railways Catalogue and Box Art - An Advent Calendar Lookback

[Nearholmer]

One of the few model railway accessories that can safely be chewed to relieve the discomfort of a bad tooth?

[Hroth]

3 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

One of the few model railway accessories that can safely be chewed to relieve the discomfort of a bad tooth?

I wouldn't take the safety of the paints used to colour the buildings for granted...

 

Our Labrador seemed to ignore the ones I had, she found the 3F tender loco more to her taste!

 

[sandwich station]

8 hours ago, Legend said:

Another page of the 73 catalogue , this time from the back .  Pictures of a Country Station , the Flying Scotsman must have got lost , the Motive Power Depot and a Hump Marshalling yard . 
 

lovely stuff , again stared at for hours . My current mpd certainly owes much to this one . And finally I have all the models pictured .A pipe dream for me back in 1973 . 

 

I thought that's a B12 not the Flying Scotsman but then in the top right hand corner you can just see Flying Scotsman disappearing on a goods train.  

[Ruffnut Thorston]

5 hours ago, Coppercap said:

I never knew their origin years ago when I was small (my dad bought me solid, dependable but secondhand Dublo 3-rail. Tri-ang, even the catalogues, was off my radar), and only found out in relatively recent years.

 

>Snipped...

 

These rubber buildings, etc. were made by Young and Fogg, another Lines Bros. Group (Tri-ang) company.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Young_and_Fogg_Rubber_Company

 

 

I think that only one batch was made...

 

http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/rubberintro.html

 

 

They also made larger scale buildings to go with the Tri-ang Spot-On road vehicle range.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Cotswold_Village_Series

 

 

http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/spotonvillage.html

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Ruffnut Thorston
More added

[Nearholmer]

Aha - rubber buildings occasionally crop-up on tinplate 0 gauge displays, and even the people who own them aren’t sure who made them! Thank you.

[Steamport Southport]

Rubber toys?

Novelties?

 

YOUNG AND FOGG RUBBER COMPANY?

 

RUBBADIP WIMBLE?

 

 

Sounds like something from a Carry On film or Round The Horne.   

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Rubber toys?

Novelties?

 

Little jiggly things?

 

[Nearholmer]

"The range of rubber toys (which made "noises") was extended ......."

 

The mind boggles.

[Butler Henderson]

1 hour ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

These rubber buildings, etc. were made by Young and Fogg, another Lines Bros. Group (Tri-ang) company.

 

I think that only one batch was made...

Pat Hammond in "The Story of Rovex Vol 1" confirms only one batch as "Mr Fogg, who ran the company, left and the factory was closed in 1962." The Countryside range had been launched in 1960 with 16 items of which 5000 of each were ordered; R360 Windmill, R361 Church, R362 Oast House, R363 Forge, R364 Gas Holder, R365 Barn, R366 Haystacks (2), R367 Thatched Cottage, R368 Inn, R369 Village Store, R370 Farm Cottage,  R371 Factory, R372 Oil Tank, R373 Coal Dump, R374 Vicarage and R375 Terraced House. In 1961 came R377 Large Fir Tree, R378 Small Fir Trees (2), R379 Large Conker Tree and R380 Small Conker Trees (2). There was also R376 Accessories which were plastic and made at Margate  and included signs, a weather vane,  and a ladder.

The R181 Embankment, R182 Cuttings (2) and the R183-R185 Incline sections formed a Landscape range along with the 1959 introduced R176 Tunnel 

Intriguingly the stock held in store at the start of 1962 is listed with those over 2000 being

9893 tunnels 

4074 pairs of small fir trees

3786 pairs of haystacks

3411 large firs trees

3387 pairs of small conker trees

3276 churches

2917 windmills

2782 thatched cottages

2362 large conker trees 

Demand for the incline sections seems a bit odd with more of the lower part in store and the fewest were the middle section  The terraced house was obviously the most demanded item as their were only 3 in store; no other item had less than 667 (that incidentally being the embankment)

Edited December 21, 2020 by Butler Henderson

[LNWR18901910]

Day 21

Bit of a foreshadow to the next day, but then again, this is what to expect.

 

Hornby's Flying Scotsman on the table with some random locomotive drawings (no prizes for guessing what locomotive class it could be). And what's this? "The legend is alive". Like Thomas the Tank Engine or Ivor the Engine or something? Oh, wait, the sole-surviving A3 is the legend...didn't see that one coming! Surprise, surprise!

 

This is probably when they used the Top Link brand kind of like when NSPCC started their Full Stop Campaign or Hasbro with The Vinatge Collection for their Star Wars line. The models from the 80s and 90s did get detailing already at the sacrifice of the loco-drive moved from chassis to tender so why stop there? Hornby was getting pretty desperate for new toolings, no wonder they resorted to buying Dapol and Airfix toolings. (Not the ones that didn't go up in smoke three years earlier, where was Fireman Sam when you needed him?)

 

Well, sorry it this was rushed but hopefully it'll be here continuing on into Day 22 and you'll probably wonder why.

 

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and commented on my last post, you guys really do love my stuff! Sorry if this isn't as funny as the last one, but it's nearly midnight. Thanks for sharing memories and facts, so stay tuned for the next one coming shortly! We're nearly there to Christmas already!

Edited December 22, 2020 by LNWR18901910

[Butler Henderson]

8 hours ago, LNWR18901910 said:

Hornby was getting pretty desperate for new toolings, no wonder they resorted to buying Dapol and Airfix toolings. (Not the ones that didn't go up in smoke three years earlier, where was Fireman Sam when you needed him?)

Bit of a double negative there that implies they did buy the burnt toolings, IIRC it was HD/Wrenn ones that were destroyed.

[BernardTPM]

Here's one of the sets from that year, R1006 The Main Freight. The contents aren't bad and the track, with two sidings, offers potential, but the catalogue presentation is worthy but dull.

 

[Hroth]

30 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

Here's one of the sets from that year, R1006 The Main Freight. The contents aren't bad and the track, with two sidings, offers potential, but the catalogue presentation is worthy but dull.

 

 

Without counting the track bits I see that as an oval with a passing loop, not one with two oddly proportioned sidings...

[Butler Henderson]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Without counting the track bits I see that as an oval with a passing loop, not one with two oddly proportioned sidings...

Seems to only one non double length curve so  an extra R606 (if thats what supplied) would be needed to form a loop.

[Legend]

I saw this posting on Facebook . It’s obviously an extract from Hornby Dublo catalogue , so hope it’s ok to post on here . Many of these items , lots of unsold stock, were absorbed into the Tri-ang Hornby range . I’d really love these Mainline stations . Actually incorporating them onto the layout would be tricky though . And the temptation would be to have a large station , but for a terminus thst would probably be impractical . How could you ensure the arriving loco was uncoupled for instance . Also although I really like the idea of the station , that overall roof effectively obscures the trains . Still nice to dream . 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Legend

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

Seems to only one non double length curve so  an extra R606 (if thats what supplied) would be needed to form a loop.

 

There's an R606 on the point leaving the oval, and another at the end of the lefthand siding, at least thats how it looks to me. The one or more things missing are uncoupling ramps!

 

 

2 hours ago, Legend said:

I saw this posting on Facebook . It’s obviously an extract from Hornby Dublo catalogue , so hope it’s ok to post on here . Many of these items , lots of unsold stock, were absorbed into the Tri-ang Hornby range . I’d really love these Mainline stations . Actually incorporating them onto the layout would be tricky though . And the temptation would be to have a large station , but for a terminus thst would probably be impractical . How could you ensure the arriving loco was uncoupled for instance . Also although I really like the idea of the station , that overall roof effectively obscures the trains . Still nice to dream . 

 

I've five of the items..    Wouldn't mind the terminus set but I'm not fussed with the girder bridge or the goods depot. As the engine shed kit IS plastic, I'd bet that the rest (apart from the turntable and the signal box) are too. The island and through platforms are considerably simplified compared to the cast aluminium ones I have.

[Butler Henderson]

5 hours ago, Legend said:

I saw this posting on Facebook . It’s obviously an extract from Hornby Dublo catalogue , so hope it’s ok to post on here . Many of these items , lots of unsold stock, were absorbed into the Tri-ang Hornby range . I’d really love these Mainline stations

More quoting from the Rovex Bible that Pat Hammond drafted - in Vol 2 it is noted some were made at Margate;

Two Road Engine Shed became R5005 with 2,000 inherited by Rovex in 1965 but  4,500 were distributed between 1966 and 1969

Engine Shed Extension became R5006 with c 1,250 issued from Margate in 1966, 1968 and 1969

Girder Bridge became R5015 but there were just 78 recorded in store in 1966

Goods Depot became R5020 - 2,200 passed through the stores in 1966-1968

Terminus/Through station became R5083 with 2,360 released 1966-1968 and then coloured maroon to match the Triang buildings as R5083A with c 3000 made 1969-1970. The associated canopy extension as R5084 had just short of 1,000 made in 1968 and then as R5084A in maroon 1,000 in 1969.

Platform extension became R5086 and 1,600 were made in 1966.

Platform fence became R5087 - c.1,500 sold 1966/67

Side Platform extension became R5089, described as being half the width of R5086, with c. 2,800 released 1966-1968

Double track tunnel became R5092 with 2,400 avaialble in 1966 and a further 500 in 1967.

 

There could have been an interesting twist as it planned in 1970 to use the station roof and building as a hanger and airfield headquarters building in the Frog model aircraft range (refs F24 and F26). A control tower was to be based on the Triang TT signal box  (ref F25)

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Butler Henderson

[New Haven Neil]

The rubber buildings have twanged a memory, somewhere....up in the deepest recesses of the loft....there is the gasholder, oast house, vicarage, the tunnel and one, but not both sides of the cutting!  Them were't days!

 

 

[Nearholmer]

This 1997 catalogue, which does indeed seem to have plumbed depths of blandness when it came to presenting the product on the page, makes me wonder if this was another 'watershed' period. We saw earlier how 1976 and beyond was when the market began to seriously shift from children to adults; was the late-1990s when it went from 'detailed' to 'utterly obsessed with every detail and individual locomotive variant'? 

 

I was well-out of 00 at this stage, getting into 'garden' scales, so most of this whizzed past me, but was it when manufacture began to transfer to China?

[LNWR18901910]

Day 22

Yes, you all saw what was coming - the one model I have avoided getting for so long (not because I have nothing against the LNER, but because of my devotion to Pre-Grouping stuff, but I have considered saving up for a GNR condition A1 in the near-future).

 

What can I say about Flying Scotsman? This is the most popular steam locomotive we are talking about (next to Thomas the Tank Engine). The improved tender-drive version was released in 1981 and has been continuously released over the last thirty years but nearly approaching forty come next year (as old as Postman Pat, no doubt).

Just like with the Duchess set I talked about, this box art looks totally epic! The model itself rushes along the countryside behind orange Gresley coaching stock, it's supposed to be teak but it looks orange like in the Railway Series books. The motion blur on the valve gear and wheels looks totally dynamic in comparison to Photoshopped box art, this is what we need more often!

 

But I should point out which version of the famous preserved steam locomotive to get - the now-rare Thomas & Friends version with the same face as Gordon, the LNER green version, the twin-tender version, the NE black version, the BR blue version, the BR green version, the NRM version, the USA Tour version, all kinds of them, the list goes on! It's like there's so much to choose from it's hard to say or tell which either one you like best! Maybe I should've started the New Year wearing a mask of the one thing I put off adding to my collection for so long...this bad boy (or girl, whichever)!

Imagine anybody who asks Santa for this set and then at school these kids would brag about it, it's like this:

"Hands up who owns the Flying Scotsman set?"

"I do!"
"I do, too!"
"I have, like, six of 'em!"

"What about you, mack?"
"Me?"
"Do you...or do you not...ask Santa for a Flying Scotsman set?"

"Uh, um...no, I didn't. Why do you ask?"
"LOSER!"

And then everybody laughs at you, especially the school bully and including your teacher. Oh, how hard school can be...how did we survive childhood?

Anyway, apart from that, the iconic steam locomotive has come a very long way even with DCC compatibility and in the Railroad range which is still equally aimed towards kids like the former Thomas range was.

 

"What's that, Johnny? Your trains don't have faces on them? Don't worry, you can make your own and stick them on the smokebox door and pass them off as characters! Happy, now?"

 

When I mentioned about masks earlier on, there are some Flying Scotsman face masks on Redbubble I saw while Googling 'Flying Scotsman mask' (some nice and some kinda weird, they even have A4 Class No. 4468 Mallard on them, I'm not making this up) so they're worth checking out.

 

N.B: Special thanks to those who liked and agreed with my last post, I appreciate hearing your thoughts and agreeing with them as well as mine. Also, thanks to BernardTPM for providing me a high-resolution image of Hornby's 1997 catalogue, I will be updating Day 21 with a much better image. Butler Henderson, I agree with you and thanks for sharing trivia. I can't believe we are nearly there to Christmas! A couple more days to go and this Advent thing is done! But one thing bothers me - should I leave it up after Christmas? After all, we all have fun memories and great rare images to share. See you tomorrow with another one, I will be back with something which I will save as a big surprise for Christmas Eve, bye for now!

Edited December 23, 2020 by LNWR18901910

[railroadbill]

33 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

The rubber buildings have twanged a memory, somewhere....up in the deepest recesses of the loft....there is the gasholder, oast house, vicarage, the tunnel and one, but not both sides of the cutting!  Them were't days!

 

 

I had the R.363  forge, which I found in a bag in the loft several years ago. It had warped badly and was crumbling away.  So unless you were modelling the War of the Worlds and wanted a building hit by a martian death ray, it wasn't any use any more. 

[Ben B]

8 minutes ago, LNWR18901910 said:

 

 

 

 

Ah, there's the sweet, sweet nostalgia hit

 

Scotsman was visiting the SVR at a point that coincided with a childhood birthday, they let me go up into the cab when we arrived at Kidderminster. Naturally I had to have that set the following Christmas! I still love that box art, the typeface... wonderful. Still have the set up in the attic too.

[New Haven Neil]

12 minutes ago, railroadbill said:

I had the R.363  forge, which I found in a bag in the loft several years ago. It had warped badly and was crumbling away.  So unless you were modelling the War of the Worlds and wanted a building hit by a martian death ray, it wasn't any use any more. 

 

I suspect if I ever get far enough up there to find the box, the same will have happened.  The tunnel was going when I last saw it..err......25 years ago!

[Ruffnut Thorston]

10 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

Seems to only one non double length curve so  an extra R606 (if thats what supplied) would be needed to form a loop.

There are two 2nd Radius Curves. R.606.
 

On the plan, there is one between the two points, and one at the end of one of the sidings...and a closer look at the photo reveals two very closely stacked curves too...

 

 

The set name isn’t very good...”Main Freight”?

 

Maybe “Mainline Freight “ would be better...or did someone think that might sound like another brand name?

 

(I posted this before spotting the earlier reply...)

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Ruffnut Thorston
Photo added ...more added

[BernardTPM]

"Bulk Freight" might have been a better name. Assuming they didn't want to re-use 'Freightmaster'.