Celebrating 100 Years.
Royal Mail is releasing a special set of 12 stamps celebrating 100 years of Hornby Model Railways, with an official release date of Thursday, February 19, 2026. The collection commemorates the legacy of Frank Hornby, who introduced the first clockwork Hornby Series trains in 1920.
Hornby have teamed up with Royal Mail to create a new collection of stamps and souvenirs featuring some of the most iconic model locomotives from their history.
There are eight designs due for release on the 19th February, providing a nostalgic look back at our heritage brand. The stamps feature classic model locomotives from different periods of Hornby history, each photographed in a railway scene created exclusively for the set, including:
- No.1 Locomotive GNR, 1920
- 4MT Tank Locomotive BR, 1954
- InterCity 125 High Speed Train BR, 1977
- Bournemouth Belle Pullman Car BR, 2009
- Princess Elizabeth LMS, 1937
- AL1 Electric Locomotive BR, 1963
- Merchant Navy Class Locomotive BR, 2000
- Experimental ‘Hush Hush’ Locomotive LNER, 2021
These timeless images are sure to take railway fans on a journey down memory lane, with some designs featuring model trains that are over 100 years old!
Maghull & Frank Hornby.
Frank Hornby lived in Maghull most of his life and has two blue plaques on each of his houses where he lived, close to the 2024 UK award winning Maghull train station which he modelled his train sets on. The blue commemorative plaques were the first ones to be used in the UK.
Hornby created the world-renowned model train sets, Dinky toys and Meccano. Frank Hornby is buried at St Andrews Church Cemetery and the Frank Hornby heritage centre/museum is based at the Maghull leisure centre. Please checkout their website for the absolutely fascinating accessible background details https://www.frankhornby.co.uk/
We learnt that BBC Radio Merseyside (Kevin Duala Show after 9 am 12.2.26 available in the link below were interviewing model train enthusiasts Peter Waterman about the commemorative stamp release to celebrate 100-year of Hornby so we instantly contacted the lovely Maghull resident Les French who is a renowned Hornby expert and Hornby charity trustee who established the fascinating Hornby heritage centre at Maghull Leisure Centre, to be included in the news article.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002qqft?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile)
Thank you to Les and his brilliant team at the Hornby Heritage Centre for their incredible dedication and for keeping the unprecedented, prestigious, fascinating proud Frank Hornby history alive for the benefit of so many.
With Immense Gratitude,
Friends of Maghull & District (FOMD)
Together Making Maghull a Better Place to Live.
More information at www.fomd.co.uk including: (1) Events tab for volunteering (2) Projects tab (3) FOMD News tab (4) Donations tab and much more.
Contact: admin@fomd.co.uk
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