This toy railway turntable, made between 1949 and 1969, is one of the line side accessories built by Meccano Ltd for their 0-gauge range of Hornby toy trains. The Hornby toy trains and accessories are a microcosm of railway social and technological history in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century.

Trains were the first form of modern transport to be reproduced as toys. Wooden pull-along trains were available in Britain from the 1840s, not long after the commercial introduction of full-size railways. By the 1870s the wooden toy train was replaced with tin-plate locomotives, hauling carriages, which were often powered by clockwork or steam. The German toy manufacturers dominated the world market at this time. The First World War broke this monopoly and the rise of patriotism in Britain saw an emphasis on local toy production there.

The scene was set for the English inventor of Meccano, Frank Hornby, to market his 0-gauge trains in 1920. Hornby trains became the most comprehensive ever produced. The series developed into finely-detailed locomotives, as well as commercial vans, wagons and tankers together with a range of accessories including stations, goods sheds, signals, crossings, water tanks and signal boxes. They were exported from the Liverpool factory to many countries including Australia, Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, Rhodesia and South Africa. In Australia, Hornby trains of the four major British railway companies became as familiar to boys as Australian rolling stock.

Two years after Frank Hornby's death in 1936 Meccano Ltd introduced the smaller Hornby Dublo (00-gauge) table top trains which were more affordable and convenient than the 0-gauge. This gauge became the most popular type of toy trains for the next 50 years. From the late 1950s no further effort was devoted to 0-gauge trains and by the 1960s their popularity had diminished. Today model railway production is aimed at adult collectors and is increasingly removed from the traditional children's toy trains. Many of the original collectors have kept and added to their interwar childhood 0-gauge toy train layouts with stations, tunnels, landscapes and rolling stock forming a historical diorama of twentieth century land transport.

Marsh, Hugo, "Miller's Toys & Games Antiques Checklist", Reed International Books Limited, London, 1995

Margaret Simpson,
Curator, Science & Industry
January 2008

Meccano first introduced toy railway turntables in 1923. They were made of tin plate with a pressed-steel pivoting rail section. A locking lever secured the section into slots in the four positions. The turntables were finished in olive green with red lining. From 1924 the turntables were varnished and the following year the rail section was made of aluminium. In 1927 a brighter green was used, still with the red line, and a smaller version was introduced with two positions. The following year the large turntable was known as the No.2 and the small one, the No.1. In about 1929 the cental rail section began to be pivoted on eyelets instead of a nut and bolt.

In 1930 the No.2 Electric Turntable was introduced and all versions were finished in dark blue with red lining. A number of colour variations occurred in 1933, red with green lining, light green with red lining, and light blue with red lining. After the Second World War when production resumed at Meccano, only the No.2 turntable was available. It continued from 1949 until 1969 and was finished in black with green speckles around the outside edge.

Graebe, Chris and Julie, "The Hornby Gauge 0 System", New Cavendish Books, London, 2002

This toy railway turntable is part of a large collection purchased by the Museum in 1985 from the tin toy collector, Ken Finlayson. As a boy, Finlayson admired steam trains but never owned a train set. As an adult he began collecting Hornby model trains, and his interest spread to other toy trains and tin toys. He increased his collection at auctions, swap meets and market stalls, and through his connections with toy dealers and other serious collectors. Some toys were simply found sitting neglected on the shelves of remote country newsagencies, brand new and never opened.

Finlayson's knowledge and love of toys brought him a collection of nearly 2000 items, including highly collectable tin-plate toys manufactured by respected names such as Carette, Bing, Marklin and Lehmann, as well as a variety of other German, English and Japanese makers. The Finlayson collection contains every type of transport toy - cars, trucks, tractors, fire engines, buses, motorcycles, aeroplanes, ships and trains, as well as novelty toys, robots, kitchen toys and Meccano sets. It represents the type of toys that were available in Australia throughout most of the twentieth century, including ones made here by Boomaroo, Wyn-toy, Cyclops, Ferris and Robilt. These Australian toys were usually built from heavy-gauge pressed steel rather than thin tin plate, making them sturdy enough for rough treatment in Australian backyards and sandpits.

Toy railway turntable, Hornby No.2 turntable, 0-gauge, metal, made by Meccano Ltd, Liverpool, England, 1949-1969

This toy turntable is an accessory used to add realism to toy train layouts. In full size railways a turntable is a revolving table fitted with a section of line. It was used to turn a locomotive around or to move it from one line to another. This toy turntable comprises a circular piece of tin plate bisected by an aluminium rail section which pivots in the centre. This is secured with an eyelet. The rail section can be rotated into four separate positions providing eight different directions. It is finished in black and the outer edge is decorated in green speckles.

The No.2 turntable differs from the No.1 turntable in that the former is larger and has four positions and the latter is smaller and has two positions.

Made: 1949 - 1969

85/2586-191

1949 - 1969

355 mm

355 mm