Just a question

[Trains trains trains]

Hello, I renctly bought a Hornby R192 Hornby goods depo to find that on the underside it said Made in Western Germany. Did Hornby have a factory in Western Germany?

[The Doc]

I think it was made by a company based in West German (probably someone like Faller), pre 1989 and the Berlin Wall coming down.  It was nearer to HO scale (1:87) than OO (1:76) and had a lower platform height, typical of continental railways.  I imagine Hornby only provided the box, instructions and artwork. 

[Rana Temporia]

I think a lot of the HO kits sold by many brands, not just Hornby were made by Piko. They were sold in various boxes with the different names on them. You can get the same kit with Hornby, Jouef, Faller, HelJan etc. On it. The crane on your goods kit was also a part of some other kits, notably a loco coal stage which again was available under several brand names And very continental looking. I suppose it gave Hornby a cheap and ready to go range of plastic kits that although a bit small could be seen as representing UK buildings in a dark room if you looked the other way. The houses were probably a bit more suitable than some of the other offerings. 

The Hornby lifting bridge kit even had a German loco on the box picture. 

[HornbyinNC]

That particular shed was supplied by Pola; a company that supplied most of the Hornby plastic building kits in the mid 1970's through late 1990's.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Yes, Pola supplied many kits to Playcraft Railways, some were British designs made especially for Playcraft, and later issued in Hornby branded packaging.

I believe that the whole kit, including instructions and packaging, was made by Pola, and just shipped in bulk boxes.

 

Faller has taken over Pola, and some of the former Pola for Hornby Railways kits are now marketed by Gaugemaster under the Fordhampton banner.

[Buz]

Hi all

The Fordhampton post office / pub and  coach cleaning platforms certainly have the old Triang / Hornby look to them as does Fordhampton station.

regards John

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Fordhampton station is the old Pola/ Hornby model based on Dunster station on the West Somerset Railway, once part of the GWR.

 

The original kit had "stone" printed label overlays. This system was a way of avoiding the need to paint the model, and quite popular in the European market at the time.

 

/media/tinymce_upload/3c39bcb9c39d906711b21dc078164792.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/8aa968f0a37f9331d7742e068d8772d0.JPG

 

 

/media/tinymce_upload/b5b8455a3faecd2d589e66f2e26976a2.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/9ba4a12adbf238670be90744e0c5b2a0.JPG

 

The Gaugemaster Fordhampton issue has "brick" as well as "stone" overlay labels.

 

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/gaugemaster-gm401.html

 

/media/tinymce_upload/02861cf36cc91f0159351c1b1a6a9a43.JPG

 

Dunster station building is made from stone.

 

/media/tinymce_upload/5366b8e0fc5eb04891ffe756f9144cfe.JPG

 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunster_railway_station

 

The "wooden" GWR signal box, sold by Hornby complete with the level crossing now offered separately by Gaugemaster, was based on the Signal box and crossing at Dunster. The actual signal box was later moved to Minehead.

 

/media/tinymce_upload/167b800d2059afecc4ace7118ac665ff.JPG

 

 

/media/tinymce_upload/d19a4525a25c7ed1b493420eb4a68ab5.JPG https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/gaugemaster-gm402.html

 

/media/tinymce_upload/658215f2c60bbb9108a62204ce3d7a4b.JPG

http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/snap.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=1972/1972_35_njo

 

/media/tinymce_upload/04465971d18dfdd5bd00e3d581c000ea.JPG

 

https://tillyweb.biz/gallery/dd/dunster.htm

 

 

[RDS]

@Sarahagain

Great information (as usual).  Thanks.

[Rana Temporia]

Here is the same goods shed as yours for sale in a Playcraft box. It's probably also available in the parent company's Jouef box. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233714704817