New Zealand Hornby Railway Collectors' Association  

Welcome to the New Zealand Hornby Railway Collectors' Association (NZHRCA) website.

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We are a group interested in vintage Hornby trains manufactured by Meccano Ltd in Britain and other factories around the world:

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  • Hornby O-gauge clockwork and electric (1920 to 1965)

  • Hornby Dublo 3-rail clockwork and electric (1938 to 1965)

  • Hornby Dublo 2-rail electric (1959 to 1965)

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Last year we celebrated 100 years since the first Hornby Trains were made by the Meccano factory. The first sets produced were Gauge O and contained an 0-4-0 locomotive with clockwork mechanism, tender, a single wagon and small oval of track. Other than the track, the items were all well made of constructional parts like a pre-built Meccano kit, with the locomotive boiler, cab and tender nicely enamelled in either green, red or black. The wagons had railway company initials clipped on and were available initially with GN, LNWR or MR lettering.

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​The NZHRCA is affiliated with the Hornby Railway Collectors' Association (HRCA) in the UK. We started in 1994 with the goal of helping like-minded enthusiasts throughout New Zealand to connect and share their knowledge, collections and love of Hornby with each other and with the public. We do this by:

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  • Publishing a bi-monthly newsletter to members. In 2019 we celebrated our 25th year and have published over 150 magazines to members!

  • Holding area meetings in the main centres throughout the year

  • Helping each other to preserve and maintain locomotives and accessories, some of which are now 100 years old

  • Getting together to exhibit Hornby to the public. See below for a list of upcoming events

 

Many of our members also collect and run vintage trains from other manufacturers, including the 'big' names such as Wrenn, Bassett Lowke, Bing, Carette and Lionel; more local makes such as Ferris and Cranko and 'modern' coarse scale O gauge from ACE, Darstaed, ETS, MTH and others. See the Gallery page for some photographs.

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We welcome new members. If you would like to find out more then please get in touch using the Contact form below.

 

Photography by John Clarkson

 

   Information   

Newsletters

 

The NZHRCA publishes a bi-monthly newsletter to members with articles about layouts, restorations, the history of Hornby products and information on meetings and events.

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Contact us below if you are interested in becoming a member.

Public Events

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  • New Zealand Federation of Meccano Modellers Convention featuring NZHRCA O Gauge
    Waikanae Memorial Hall, Pehi Kupa Street Friday – Sunday 19th to 21st March 2021.

  • The Model Train Show at the Morrinsville Events Centre featuring NZHRCA O Gauge
    17th and 18th April 2021, 10am to 4pm, 19 Ron Ladd Place, Morrinsville.

  • RAIL X Palmerston North, Barber Hall, Arena Manawatu 17th and 18th July 2021

  • Taupo Hobby Expo 2021 17th and 18th July 2021 featuring NZHRCA layouts 

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Members' Events (see latest newsletter for details)

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  • Auckland Area Meeting - due to the current lockdown this has been postponed until 28th March

  • Wellington Area Meeting - Saturday 1st May at 1:30pm

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    Contact    

 

Please contact us if you would like to join the NZHRCA,

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We are sorry, but we are not able to offer advice on valuations or buying & selling Hornby trains.

© 2020 by NZHRCA