Bassett-Lowke
Encyclopedia
Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton
, England, founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke
in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items.
and Wintringham's, also of Northampton. While the company is known for model trains, it had a long history of contracting manufacture of model ships. Before and during World War One, the company contracted with a firm referred to in Bassett-Lowke catalogues as "B M C". There is confusion as to what the initials stood for: internet sellers have identified it as "Birmingham Metal Company" or "Brighton Model Company".
The collaboration between Bassett-Lowke and B M C produced a model fleet of every class in the British navy from 1885 through 1916 including tugs, troop ships and the royal yacht. The models were formed using hollowcast lead with the wire masts cast into the hulls. The models were painted and issued in numbered sets, paper flags with each set to be cut out and applied. The scale was described in the catalogue as "one inch equals eighteen hundred inches". While the models were rudimentary by later standards, every class of vessel was easily recognisable by the funnels and guns and masts. The series may have been discontinued during World War One since the last vessels were of ships commissioned about 1916. Possibly the series was abandoned due to rationing of metal.
Later copies appear for sale on the internet. These can be distinguished from the originals, which were hollowcast. Two copies are common, the first cast in solid lead with no wire masts and large numbers inscribed on the bottom. The second are in potmetal and represent three ship classes from the original sets: the King Edward VII, Lord Nelson and Swiftsure. During World War II, wood and wire ship models in the 1:1200 scale were issued under Bassett-Lowke sponsorship for military contracts. Unlike the earlier rudimentary B M C lead models, these models are detailed and command a high price .
Bassett-Lowke produced trains from 15-inch (381 mm) gauge live steam
models to Gauge 2, Gauge 1 and 0 gauge.
The first 15-inch steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway
, in 1905 was Little Giant. Unlike other engines on the line it was a replica of main-line locos, built for a public miniature railway at Blackpool
. It was a quarter scale 4-4-2
Atlantic tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. This engine still exists in private ownership.
In 1909 along with Henry Greenly
W J Bassett Lowke started and edited Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine
.
In 1914, Bassett-Lowke produced the second Pacific 4-6-2
of any size built in Britain (the first was GWR 111 The Great Bear
). This was John Anthony, built for a miniature railway at Staughton Manor. It was never delivered, but after storage at Eaton Hall during World War I
was sold to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
and renamed Colossus. It was scrapped in 1927. Ravenglass and Eskdale had purchased another Bassett Lowke Atlantic, the Sans Pareil.
In the 1920s, Bassett-Lowke introduced 00 gauge products. The company provided custom-built railways; one such layout survives in modified format at Bekonscot
Model Village in England.
In 1939, Bassett-Lowke was tasked with producing a working model of Churchills trench digging tank known as Cultivator No. 6
.
Bassett-Lowke's decline starting in the late 1950s can be blamed on at least two factors: sometimes people would browse the firm's free catalogue and buy similar or nearly identical items elsewhere at lower price; and interest in technical toys declined in the late 1950s and even more in the 1960s. Bassett-Lowke's fall was mirrored by its U.S. counterparts, the A. C. Gilbert Company
and Lionel Corporation. In 1964 the company ceased retail sales and sold its shops, including one at High Holborn in London, to Beatties. Bassett-Lowke went out of business in 1965.
In 1966 the company was acquired by Messrs Riley and Derry, and in the late 1980s by Nigel Turner, a Northampton
businessman, and the company was based next to his business of Turner's Musical Merry-Go-Round, near Wootton, Northampton. In 1993 the name was revived with short-run white-metal models. These included a Burrell-type traction engine, Clayton Undertype steam wagon, Burrell-type steam roller, and a London B-type bus. The name was acquired in 1996 by Corgi, which linked it with live steam 0-gauge locomotives.
Key competitors to Bassett-Lowke were Hornby
and Exley
.
Hornby
acquired Corgi in 2008 so consequently now manufacture Bassett-Lowke models.
in 1912. NGR's first railway opened in 1912 at Luna Park in the Parc des Eaux-Vives, Geneva
, Switzerland. In Britain, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
was taken over, converted to 15 inches (381 mm) gauge and re-opened in 1915. The Fairbourne Railway
followed in 1916.
who was a contributor to Model Engineer magazine
.
The Class 10 and Class 20 had narrow fireboxes. The Class 30 and Class 60 had wide fireboxes.
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, England, founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke
Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke
Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke was the son of Joseph Tom Lowke, a Northampton boilermaker and his wife, Eliza, and is noted for having founded the firm of Bassett-Lowke which specialised in producing construction sets, and model railways, boats and ships...
in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items.
Overview
Bassett-Lowke was a sales organisation, contracting manufacturers such as Twining ModelsTwining Models
Twining Models of Northampton, England, was founded in 1920 by Ernest W. Twining. The firm had its origins in work Twining was doing as a sub-contractor to Bassett-Lowke's. It undertook, mostly for Bassett-Lowke's, , the manufacture of high quality glass-case models, which were often marketed under...
and Wintringham's, also of Northampton. While the company is known for model trains, it had a long history of contracting manufacture of model ships. Before and during World War One, the company contracted with a firm referred to in Bassett-Lowke catalogues as "B M C". There is confusion as to what the initials stood for: internet sellers have identified it as "Birmingham Metal Company" or "Brighton Model Company".
The collaboration between Bassett-Lowke and B M C produced a model fleet of every class in the British navy from 1885 through 1916 including tugs, troop ships and the royal yacht. The models were formed using hollowcast lead with the wire masts cast into the hulls. The models were painted and issued in numbered sets, paper flags with each set to be cut out and applied. The scale was described in the catalogue as "one inch equals eighteen hundred inches". While the models were rudimentary by later standards, every class of vessel was easily recognisable by the funnels and guns and masts. The series may have been discontinued during World War One since the last vessels were of ships commissioned about 1916. Possibly the series was abandoned due to rationing of metal.
Later copies appear for sale on the internet. These can be distinguished from the originals, which were hollowcast. Two copies are common, the first cast in solid lead with no wire masts and large numbers inscribed on the bottom. The second are in potmetal and represent three ship classes from the original sets: the King Edward VII, Lord Nelson and Swiftsure. During World War II, wood and wire ship models in the 1:1200 scale were issued under Bassett-Lowke sponsorship for military contracts. Unlike the earlier rudimentary B M C lead models, these models are detailed and command a high price .
Bassett-Lowke produced trains from 15-inch (381 mm) gauge live steam
Live steam
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that are replicas, scale models, toys, or otherwise used for...
models to Gauge 2, Gauge 1 and 0 gauge.
The first 15-inch steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway
Eaton Hall Railway
The Eaton Hall Railway was an early gauge narrow gauge estate railway built in 1896 at Eaton Hall in Cheshire.It was built for the Duke of Westminster by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood, who had pioneered the fifteen inch gauge with his Duffield Bank Railway, and connected the hall to the GWR...
, in 1905 was Little Giant. Unlike other engines on the line it was a replica of main-line locos, built for a public miniature railway at Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
. It was a quarter scale 4-4-2
4-4-2 (locomotive)
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
Atlantic tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. This engine still exists in private ownership.
In 1909 along with Henry Greenly
Henry Greenly
Henry Greenly was amongst the foremost miniature railway engineers of the 20th century, remembered as a master of engineering design.-Miniature railways:...
W J Bassett Lowke started and edited Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine
Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine
Model Railways and Locomotive Magazine was an early British magazine devoted to railway modelling.The first volume was published in January 1909. It was edited by Henry Greenly and W J Bassett-Lowke who are well known in the history of Model Railways...
.
In 1914, Bassett-Lowke produced the second Pacific 4-6-2
4-6-2
4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
of any size built in Britain (the first was GWR 111 The Great Bear
GWR 111 The Great Bear
The Great Bear, number 111, was a locomotive of the Great Western Railway. It was the first 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive used on a railway in Great Britain, and the only one of that type ever built by the GWR.- History and operation :...
). This was John Anthony, built for a miniature railway at Staughton Manor. It was never delivered, but after storage at Eaton Hall during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
was sold to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District...
and renamed Colossus. It was scrapped in 1927. Ravenglass and Eskdale had purchased another Bassett Lowke Atlantic, the Sans Pareil.
In the 1920s, Bassett-Lowke introduced 00 gauge products. The company provided custom-built railways; one such layout survives in modified format at Bekonscot
Bekonscot
Bekonscot in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is the oldest original model village in the world.It portrays aspects of England mostly dating from the 1930s. Bekonscot has been run by the Church Army since 1978 and donates large amounts of money to charity...
Model Village in England.
In 1939, Bassett-Lowke was tasked with producing a working model of Churchills trench digging tank known as Cultivator No. 6
Cultivator No. 6
Cultivator No. 6 was the code name of a military trench-digging machine developed by the British Royal Navy at the beginning of World War II. The machine was originally known as White Rabbit Number Six; this code name was never officially recognised, but it was said to be derived from Churchill’s...
.
Bassett-Lowke's decline starting in the late 1950s can be blamed on at least two factors: sometimes people would browse the firm's free catalogue and buy similar or nearly identical items elsewhere at lower price; and interest in technical toys declined in the late 1950s and even more in the 1960s. Bassett-Lowke's fall was mirrored by its U.S. counterparts, the A. C. Gilbert Company
A. C. Gilbert Company
The A. C. Gilbert Company was an American toy company, once one of the largest toy companies in the world. It is best known for introducing the Erector Set to the marketplace....
and Lionel Corporation. In 1964 the company ceased retail sales and sold its shops, including one at High Holborn in London, to Beatties. Bassett-Lowke went out of business in 1965.
In 1966 the company was acquired by Messrs Riley and Derry, and in the late 1980s by Nigel Turner, a Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
businessman, and the company was based next to his business of Turner's Musical Merry-Go-Round, near Wootton, Northampton. In 1993 the name was revived with short-run white-metal models. These included a Burrell-type traction engine, Clayton Undertype steam wagon, Burrell-type steam roller, and a London B-type bus. The name was acquired in 1996 by Corgi, which linked it with live steam 0-gauge locomotives.
Key competitors to Bassett-Lowke were Hornby
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train...
and Exley
Exley
Edward Exley Limited is a manufacturer of model railway equipment, particularly ready-to-run coaches in 0 gauge and 00 gauge and a one-time major competitor to Hornby and Bassett-Lowke...
.
Hornby
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train...
acquired Corgi in 2008 so consequently now manufacture Bassett-Lowke models.
Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd
In 1912 W. J. Bassett-Lowke, Robert Proctor-Mitchell and John Wills set up Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd (NGR) to promote and run 15 inches (381 mm) railways. An earlier company, Miniature Railways of Great Britain Ltd, went into voluntary liquidationLiquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
in 1912. NGR's first railway opened in 1912 at Luna Park in the Parc des Eaux-Vives, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland. In Britain, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District...
was taken over, converted to 15 inches (381 mm) gauge and re-opened in 1915. The Fairbourne Railway
Fairbourne Railway
The Fairbourne Railway is a gauge miniature railway running for from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the end of a peninsula at Barmouth Ferry, where there is a connection with a pedestrian ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of...
followed in 1916.
Locomotives
Bassett-Lowke locomotives were often re-named when moved and it is uncertain whether a locomotive is new or an old one with a new name. The list (probably incomplete) is not definitive. Most of Bassett-Lowke's locomotives were designed by Henry GreenlyHenry Greenly
Henry Greenly was amongst the foremost miniature railway engineers of the 20th century, remembered as a master of engineering design.-Miniature railways:...
who was a contributor to Model Engineer magazine
Model Engineer magazine
Model Engineer Magazine was first published to support the hobby of model engineering in 1898 by Percival Marshall, who was to remain its editor for over 50 years. It has been published by My Hobby Store since 2008. The magazine addressed the emergence of a new hobby — the construction of models ...
.
Class 10 Atlantic
- Little Giant for BlackpoolBlackpoolBlackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
- Mighty Atom for Sutton ColdfieldSutton ColdfieldSutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
- Entente Cordiale for the 1909 Exposition Internationale de l'Est de France at Nancy
- Red Dragon for the Imperial International Exhibition of 1909 at White City, LondonWhite City, LondonWhite City is a district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to the north of Shepherd's Bush. Today, White City is home to the BBC Television Centre and BBC White City, and Loftus Road stadium, the home of football club Queens Park Rangers FC....
- Green Dragon same as Red Dragon
- King Edward for the 1910 International and Universal Exhibition at BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium - King Albert same as King Edward
- King Leopold same as King Edward
- George the Fifth for SouthportSouthportSouthport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
Class 30 Atlantic
- Synolda for Sand Hutton Miniature Railway, then to Belle Vue, Manchester, later Southend-on-SeaSouthend-on-SeaSouthend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
, currently Ravenglass and Eskdale RailwayRavenglass and Eskdale RailwayThe Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District...
. - Sans Pareil for Luna Park, GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland, then to Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. - Count Louis for Count Louis ZborowskiLouis ZborowskiCount Louis Zborowski was a racing driver and automobile engineer.-Biography:His father, Count William Eliot Morris Zborowski was also a racing driver, and died in a racing crash, in 1903 at La Turbie Hillclimb in France near Nice...
, then to Fairbourne RailwayFairbourne RailwayThe Fairbourne Railway is a gauge miniature railway running for from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the end of a peninsula at Barmouth Ferry, where there is a connection with a pedestrian ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of...
. Now (2011) at Evesham Vale Light RailwayEvesham Vale Light RailwayThe Evesham Vale Light Railway operates in Evesham Country Park in Worcestershire, England, where it opened in August 2002.Constructed at gauge, the line runs for over a mile through the park, including a lengthy section through the fruit orchards...
.
Class 60 Pacific
- John Anthony for J.E.P. Howey, then (re-named Colossus) to Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.
The Class 10 and Class 20 had narrow fireboxes. The Class 30 and Class 60 had wide fireboxes.