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rustonhornsby

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Posts posted by rustonhornsby

  1. How many of you remember the layouts that larger shops often had to demonstrate Hornby products? I would guess they would have been about 8'x4', and usually covered with perspex (or at least on the sides).  Typically double track ovals, sometimes on multiple levels.  

    My memory is hazy, but they were very well presented.  I may be totally wrong, but I seem to recall some being coin operated (maybe for a worthwhile charity)?

    Does anyone know, were these provided by or commissioned by Hornby, or did individual shops just build their own?  I know our local Fenwick had one for years, but I've seen them in many large department stores over the years.  I guess with model railways being less popular (despite a recent resurgence), and shop space being at a premium, they have all but disappeared.

    So, does anyone know what happened to them, or indeed, can they still be seen today?

    I can remember back in the late 1960s,as part of the run up to christmas,mum and dad used to take me to Hamleys toy store in Regent street,in London to purchase some Tri Ang/Hornby goodies for santa to deliver on christmas day(happy days).I remember,i think,that there was a large layout that went around the top of the staircase(which was enclosed in a perspex frame).That year,for christmas,i received a Tri/Ang Hornby Winston churchill and three southern coaches.I think,correct me if im wrong,but wasnt Hamleys part of the Tri/Ang empire?

     I think there boast was "the largest toy shop in the world".

      Also,Clements department store in Watford used to have a very large layout in the 1960s and well into the 1970s,it must have been at least 20 feet long and at least 10 foot wide,it was multi level,with tunnels and the grand victorian suspension bridge as well,although i never actually saw anything running on it.I guess that this layout was built by the store and not tri/ang,as it was then.

  2. How many of you remember the layouts that larger shops often had to demonstrate Hornby products? I would guess they would have been about 8'x4', and usually covered with perspex (or at least on the sides).  Typically double track ovals, sometimes on multiple levels.  

    My memory is hazy, but they were very well presented.  I may be totally wrong, but I seem to recall some being coin operated (maybe for a worthwhile charity)?

    Does anyone know, were these provided by or commissioned by Hornby, or did individual shops just build their own?  I know our local Fenwick had one for years, but I've seen them in many large department stores over the years.  I guess with model railways being less popular (despite a recent resurgence), and shop space being at a premium, they have all but disappeared.

    So, does anyone know what happened to them, or indeed, can they still be seen today?

     

     Hello and good evening,Beales store in Bournemouth has one,its not coin operated but operated by a push button which times itself out,the layout is exactly as you describe them.I allways have a go on it whenever im there.

     

  3. How many of you remember the layouts that larger shops often had to demonstrate Hornby products? I would guess they would have been about 8'x4', and usually covered with perspex (or at least on the sides).  Typically double track ovals, sometimes on multiple levels.  

    My memory is hazy, but they were very well presented.  I may be totally wrong, but I seem to recall some being coin operated (maybe for a worthwhile charity)?

    Does anyone know, were these provided by or commissioned by Hornby, or did individual shops just build their own?  I know our local Fenwick had one for years, but I've seen them in many large department stores over the years.  I guess with model railways being less popular (despite a recent resurgence), and shop space being at a premium, they have all but disappeared.

    So, does anyone know what happened to them, or indeed, can they still be seen today?

     

     

     

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