…Hornby Dublo 00

Hornby Dublo was a model railway system introduced to the British market in 1938 by Meccano Limited. It was about half the size of the Gauge 0 trains that had been such a success for nearly twenty years. The name was derived from Gauge 00, or double 0 – Dublo.

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The pre-war range consisted of an LNER passenger set and a tank goods set in each of the ‘Big Four’ railway liveries. They were available in either clockwork or electric versions and ran on 16.5mm gauge track. After a successful launch, production soon ground to a halt due to the outbreak of WWII.

Post war LNER A4 Pacific ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ named after that railway’s
Chief Engineer who designed this locomotive class.

After the war, production of non-essential goods was slow to commence. Raw materials were scarce and yet again, toys were not high on the list of priorities. Thus, it was not until 1948, that the first Hornby Dublo train sets re-appeared in the shops. A newly designed coupler and the omission of the clockwork versions from the range are among the most notable changes.

LMS Coronation class 4-6-2 ‘Duchess of Atholl’ dating from about 1949. There is evidence to suggest
this model existed some ten years earlier, but had to be mothballed due to the war.

The first truly new item was the ‘Duchess of Atholl’ 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive in LMS maroon livery. Together with a pair of matching Stanier coaches and some track, these were sold as starter sets.

Before, during and after restoration, this battered LMS brake/3rd combine coach
shines up like a new penny!

Hornby Dublo demands quite well laid trak and moderate speeds, or else derailments and/or decoupled wagons will surely ensue. To get a feel for slow traffic, watch the video below. It is a mere oval set up on the floor. The engine was an eBay snippet.. right place, right time, though it did need a bit of help to get gong again.

‘Sunday traffic on a branch line’ by dolfmeister.

‘Trains and opera 2.0’ by dolfmeister.

Anyone interested in detailed information about the Hornby Dublo range is well advised to consult Michael Foster’s excellent tome HORNBY DUBLO TRAINS in The Hornby Companion Series.

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