Mabar Trenes closed down.

[CPW]

Trying to access the Mabar website returns a 404 error.

 

Investigation on Forotrenes reveals that the company closed down on 30 Nov 23. It seems the company’s systems were hacked approx the middle of last year and, amongst other problems,  payments to suppliers/manfacturers were intercepted and diverted to the hackers. The company has been unable to recover from this situation. 

 

This is sad news for modellers of Spanish railways, especially as they were about the only manufacturer trying to support both HO and N modellers. (Hornby have Electrotren and Arnold but I get the impression the two divisions do not talk to each other. )

 

There was an indication in the Forotrenes posting that the owners are hoping to return with a new venture.

 

 

[Geep7]

I read about this sad news last week.

 

I only own 3 items of Mabar HO stock, a 319, 308 and a Class 432 Bishop EMU, but they are all great quality models, and it's a shame that they may never be available again, as I was hoping that the 308 might get re-released in the Grey/Red scheme at some point.

 

I'm not sure who would own the moulds (possibly the factory in China?), so perhaps they could get bought by another company? It would just be a shame for the range to just disappear.

[ellocoloco]

Not a good year for the hobby in Spain.

 

In June 22 it was posted on Forotrenes that Mabar was for sale with the owners looking to retire. It appears that the closure announcement that came in Nov 23 along with the news of the hacking meant that no buyer was found. It was also  reported on Forotrenes in September 23 that Ktrain has ceased trading. 

 

I have the 308 and three sets of the 4pk hoppers from Mabar. Lovely models. From Ktrain I have a small number of wagons. They are good, but not outstanding, but represent uniquely Spanish models. I will miss both manufacturers. I hope the tooling will not be lost. 

 

In January we will see future plans from Electrotren and Roco - if they remember Spain exists and that they have some decent tooling in the back of the warehouse! Hopefully there will be enough to keeping the Spanish outline from slipping into a coma. There is Sudexpress offering a few RENFE offerings and PT Trains with models that operate across the Iberian Penninsular. Mehano's 333 and 252 are also still out there if anyone asks.

 

Lets hope for a brighter New Year. 

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I have often wondered why there isn't any great interest in Spanish railway modelling, it's such an opposite to the UK. It can't be a "Johnny foreigner" type thing as it is a popular hobby in France, Germany etc, so maybe it's the psychological mindset of the Spaniards?

 

Mike.

[CPW]

I hadn’t realised Ktrain had closed as well. I, too, hope the tooling from both these marques can be saved.

 

There are a couple of retailers who have taken to commissioning limited run n scale models. El Imperio del Hobby, (IH ),  Madrid, has produced UT450 and TRD sets amongst other things. Todomodelismo in Valencia has had special livery runs from Arnold. IH would not comment on future plans when I saw them at their stand in the Chamartin mercadillo in October.

 

As for why there isn’t as great an interest in railway modelling in Spain, I suspect history has a lot to do with it. In very general terms, model railways in the UK and Germany really took off between the wars. Spain was preoccupied with a civil war and emerged a very impoverished country. I guess disposable incomes did not start to rise until the mass holiday industry got under way, by which time the aspiration was for car ownership, and railways were in decline -seen as slow and old-fashioned -, leading to different focus on models:  Scalextric seems to be very popular in Spain. 
By the time interest in model railways in Spain was able to develop, other countries manufacturers were established and could muscle in on the market: Marklin always seem to take up more metres of shelf space in the Spanish model shops etc I have visited than any other manufacturer, maybe more than all the others put together!

 

I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons as well.

 

[TTDB]

Ive just seen the proposed 2024 electrotren range and not sure if one of the new EMUs was part of the Mabar range , 

[ellocoloco]

Mabar offered the 432 EMU which was built nearly a decade earlier than the 444 that has just been announced by Electrotren. They do look fairly similar though. 

 

I do like the 'Washing machine' version - 444.5XX - but think I'll wait until the model gets released as a 448 (the 500 subseries were reclassified Type 448), hopefully in the Danone livery.