This was a very well planned range of electric and clockwork models, successfully consolidating 12 V DC as the standard for OO scale. The locomotives were diecast metal, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. Meccano introduced its OO scale trains in 1938 under the name 'Hornby Dublo'. Hornby Dublo model of an LMS Coronation locomotive City of Liverpool The leftover inventory was sold in Canada and in the UK and some of the tooling was reused for products in other markets. Gilbert Company and Hornby trains had vanished from the U.S. firms could undercut them and Hornby offered no better-class goods or electric models, but the Wall Street Crash precipitated matters. They probably would have failed in the marketplace because several established U.S. These were colourful and attractive, but low-market and only clockwork. Hornby attempted to break into the American market by setting up a factory in 1927 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to make American-style trains. Even though the export models were often painted in 'foreign' liveries, Hornby trains looked very British. Competitors in the UK were Leeds Model Company and Bassett-Lowke.Ī factory was established in France, which developed its own range of French outline trains, but Liverpool dominated export activity elsewhere, with large numbers of Hornby trains exported to Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Scandinavia. However, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937 and became the only power available in Liverpool-made 0 gauge trains from 1949. 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. In 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold in France. Hornby was at first a tradename for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based around Liverpool, which released its first train, a clockwork 0 gauge (1:48) model, in 1920.

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