Hornby Model Railways celebrated on Feb. 19 Royal Mail issue

By David Hartwig

Great Britain’s Royal Mail celebrates Hornby Model Railways with 12 stamps in a Feb. 19 issue.

Eight first-class (currently £1.70) stamps issued in four vertical se-tenant (side-by-side) pairs feature signature Hornby model trains in exclusive photographs commissioned by Royal Mail.

A souvenir sheet offers four additional first-class stamps, each showcasing the packaging, catalogs and promotional artwork from four different eras of the company.

Hornby Model Railways is the creation of Frank Hornby, who patented the Meccano construction toy 125 years ago in 1901. Hornby produced the first clockwork Hornby Series trains in 1920. One of the stamps shows the No.1 locomotive, a clockwork train from this time.

The stamp paired with the No.1 locomotive stamp shows the Princess Elizabeth from 1937. Hornby began building models representing real British locomotives in 1929, and the model pictured here reflects a steam locomotive built by London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1933. On the souvenir sheet, one of the stamps shows the Hornby Book of Trains, an early catalog from the company.

Hornby stopped the production of model trains during World War II, and after the war the company’s Dublo line, a smaller system than the original Hornby trains, surpassed the latter in popularity. Among the early postwar Dublo locomotives was the British Railways 4MT tank engine, pictured on one of the stamps. A Hornby catalog for the Dublo line can be seen on a stamp from the souvenir sheet.

In 1964, Lines Bros Ltd., owner of Tri-ang Railways, purchased Hornby’s company and created the Tri-ang Hornby line. The British Railways AL1 electric locomotive, shown on one of the stamps, was the last new model introduced before the sale. A third souvenir sheet stamp shows a catalog from the Tri-ang Railways era.

In the 1970s, a fluctuating market demographic brought about changes for Hornby, according to Pat Hammond, who provided text for a presentation pack included with the issue. “Children’s interest in model railways had been waning for some time but was being replaced by a growing nostalgic interest among adults,” Hammond said.

Hornby responded with greater emphasis on accuracy, exemplified by the 1977 British Railways InterCity 125 High Speed Train shown on one of the stamps. The InterCity branding appears again on the final stamp of the souvenir sheet.

Authenticity became a focus in the 1990s, according to Hammond, and a public poll chose the Merchant Navy class locomotives to be the first of these new models. “Released in 2000, the Merchant Navy locomotive model marked the start of a new era in Hornby’s history,” Hammond said.

In 2003 Hornby increased its development of coaches and wagons with new highly detailed Pullman cars, with one named after the Bournemouth Belle passenger train shown on a stamp. Hornby continues to introduce distinctive new subjects, represented by a 2021 model of the 1920s experimental high-pressure steam locomotive nicknamed Hush-Hush because of the secrecy surrounding its development.

Hornby’s presence on British stamps extends beyond the current issue. The company’s model trains were also featured in toy-themed sets in 2003 (Scott 2155) and 2017 (3647).

The stamps and souvenir sheet in the Feb. 19 Royal Mail issue were designed by the Chase creative consultants and printed by Cartor Security Printers by lithography. Each of the se-tenant pairs in the set of eight was printed in sheets of 60 stamps (sold in panes of 30 at most postal outlets).