Thanks for that, Dave.
My brother collected the magazine from about 1932 up until after the outbreak of war. After he had disappeared to North Africa and Italy I used to pile them up by the side of my bed and gradually work through them in daye order, tracking especially the development of Hornby "0" Gauge as new models were introduced. They reached their pinnacle with the breathtaking "Princess Elizabeth" 4-6-2 Pacific of 1938/9 at the equally breathtaking price of, I think, five guineas. And at the same time the appearance of Hornby Dublo with its little 0-6-2 tankers, "Sir Nigel Gresley" and its teak coaches and them, in glorious LMS maroon, "Duchess of Atholl", all being operated in the adverts by a smug looking little boy with his dad sucking a pipe and looking on approvingly. This system had hardly got into its stride by the outbreak of war and was something which one could only drool over on paper and wonder whether one would ever see an example of, let alone own one.
And all sorts of other delights of course. Incredible constructions of Meccano. Boat and aeroplane kits. Frog model aircraft. The latest Dinkies. A sort of building kit, with rubber bricks rather like an early Lego. Information on the branches of the Hornby Railway Club. Wonderful layouts. And, as you say, all sorts of articles on engineering and so on. By the time I had worked through everything and got just about up to date, the magazine was a shadow of its normal self and contained regular advertisements along the lines of: sorry, boys and girls, we can't produce the things you want at the moment because we are involved in more important duties but.... be patient....eventually........ We were, and they did.
Chris
