Hornby Dublo Model Railway

Frank Hornby founded Meccano Ltd in 1907 and the company started making clockwork O gauge trains in 1920. The first mains powered trains were produced in 1925, which were replaced by low voltage DC trains in 1929. The Hornby Dublo range was introduced in 1938. This had a 16.5mm gauge and a scale of 5/32 inches (almost 4mm) to 1 foot, or 1 to 76.8 and ran on a three rail 12v DC track or clockwork power. The locomotives were die cast metal and the rolling stock was tin-plate. Production stopped during the Second World War and restarted after the war without the clockwork option. In 1959 the three rail system was replaced by the two rail 12v DC system. Pressure from competitors meant that production of Hornby Dublo stopped in 1964. The parent company Meccano was taken over by rival company Lines who owed Triang in 1964 and in 1965 the products were re-branded as Triang-Hornby.