Hornby celebrates 70th anniversary with special Margate model
Instead of tea and scones, the celebration saw members of the public scanned, shrunk down and placed on a model recreation of Margate, complete with railway, beaches and rollercoaster.
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00:00Margate is well known for its beaches, music scene and iconic Lido, but it's also home
00:04to one of the oldest model train companies in the country.
00:07Hornby, who have been making trains in miniature since the 1920s, have celebrated their 70th
00:12anniversary of being in Margate, with competitors Triang Railways having built a factory there
00:17in 1954, which would later become Hornby's HQ.
00:20To honour the event, they created their mini Margate train set, to be opened and kept in
00:25Margate station for a number of weeks.
00:27So we've had a relationship with South Easton for a long, long time, because we've produced
00:32models of their trains, along with many other trains across the global network, but when
00:37we started thinking about what could we do, how could we make something special about
00:43this anniversary, it was the first people we called, because we're railways, they're
00:48the local station, and they were brilliant.
00:50They were very welcoming to ideas, and also gave ideas of inspiration, and for us to be
00:55able to put this layout, this model actually, in such a prominent position in one of the
01:01busiest stations is absolutely amazing.
01:04In order to involve people travelling through Margate who use the trains, the model boasts
01:08the feature where commuters can get 3D scanned and placed somewhere on the train set, thanks
01:12to a 3D rig set up by Model U, so I just had to give it a go.
01:17And here's the result I think my good looks translated well into miniature form, though
01:21I probably should have tucked my shirt in.
01:23Well despite the heat, many have come to see the unveiling of Margate's miniature station,
01:27a miniature railway, featuring Margate's most iconic landmarks, such as Dreamland,
01:32the oldest roller coaster in the UK, and Margate's only, but ultimately iconic beach.
01:37The aim of the project isn't just to promote Hornby, but to promote Margate as well.
01:43Yeah, the atmosphere in the station is electrifying, everyone's happy to have a layout, especially
01:51the passengers, we'll have thousands of people coming through throughout the summer and just
01:55seeing children smile just makes it worthwhile, but it also helps promote the railway in general
02:01and there might be someone who leaves Margate with a really positive vibe and think actually
02:08I might want to visit again, so it will also help our local economy with that.
02:12With Margate's place in the far east of Kent, it can be overlooked, but the beach town has
02:16so much rich history that is often forgotten or not known about outside of Margate.
02:21So hopefully locals and visitors will enjoy being part of Margate's history to come.
02:26Finn McDermid for KMTV