Lima (model railway)
The Lima company was an Italian manufacturer of model trains based in Vicenza, founded in 1946 , and is now one of several brands of the internationally operating British model manufacturer Hornby .
Company history
Lima originally manufactured aluminum castings as a supplier for the Italian State Railways ( Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane ). After the company began producing such parts itself from 1948 onwards, Lima switched to the production of boat models, model railway accessories and model cars made of aluminum, and finally from 1953 onwards, mainly model trains. These fairway models, which were not very true to the original, were designed simply and were offered at low prices. Towards the end of the 1950s, more and more sophisticated and detailed models came into the program and Lima was able to establish itself on the market as an inexpensive alternative to the market leaders from Germany. The inexpensive models for the undemanding model railroader were technically simple, but based on the original.
From 1982 onwards, there was a gradual change from the cheap segment to higher-quality model railways, which were sold under the Lima-Nova label from 1989 . Mid-motor with cardan drive, kinematic close couplings and scale cars as well as niche models became its trademark, but the company could never shed its image as a manufacturer of cheap products. With the takeover by the ailing manufacturer Rivarossi , to which Jouef and Arnold also belonged, Lima for its part got into financial difficulties and had to file for bankruptcy in 2004 . Since 2006 the trademark rights as well as the manufacturing forms from the corresponding bankruptcy estate belong to the Hornby company . This transported the production facilities to the People's Republic of China , where it is restoring an ever-increasing selection of former Lima models.
Assortment and sales
In the 1980s, well over 350 H0 model railroad vehicles were built based on international models. It was difficult to get an overview because the ranges for different countries were sold through the respective agencies with the corresponding catalogs.
With this, Lima produced one of the most extensive H0 model train ranges in the world with up to 1200 employees. There were also model programs in sizes 0, 00 and N. The vehicles in all sizes were designed for the international two-wire direct current system. The program was supplemented with a track system with rails made of nickel silver and extensive accessories. In the nominal size H0, this included, for example, transformers , battery regulators, form and light signals (partly with train control ), mechanical level crossings, transfer platforms , turntables , loading stations , train stations, platforms , houses, bridges, tunnels, road vehicles, containers and much more. The couplings corresponded to the usual ones Execution for the respective export market and, if necessary, could usually be exchanged without great effort, provided that they were not firmly connected to the chassis / bogie.
The Lima range used to be sold mainly through department stores and mail order houses. In Germany, for example, a Lima product was hidden behind almost all Goodplay model railways from the Fürth mail order company Quelle . The starter sets at Lima often contained large locomotives and four-axle passenger cars , while the competition usually only offered a small shunting locomotive with two freight cars . In 1979, for example, a Lima starter set for 79.90 DM contained a Class 103 Trans-Europ-Express locomotive with four Rheingold cars, oval rails, siding , light signal bridge with train control and mechanical level crossing, while at Fleischmann at that time this locomotive alone was around 200 DM cost. The Gotthardbahn locomotive Ae 6/6 as the parade locomotive of the SBB was particularly often found in Lima starter sets in Switzerland and is therefore one of the most popular locomotive models there. The low price also made Lima models an ideal basis for conversions, for example for the central ladder system, which the large empty interior of the H0 locomotives also invited. Lima also offered factory-retrofitted versions of some locomotives and railcars for the Märklin AC track .
Picture gallery
Re 4/4 I of the SBB
FS D.445 of the FS
BB 10004 of the SNCF
Diesel locomotive of the SNCF
