HO Scale Lima Model Trains
Lime is a now defunct model scale train maker established in the late 40s. The company started as manufacturers of parts of the actual trains in Italy. The company ventured into making model scale trains when the Italian train company made parts of their own. The company found relative success during the 50s because of its poor quality but became a very popular model when it made some significant changes coming into the 60s. By the 70s, Lima is the biggest model scale manufacturer in the world. But intense competition has taken its toll in Lima and they could not keep up with quality. Lima was purchased by Hornby Railways in 2004.
The HO scale of Lima produces model trains for US and various European countries. However, the desired products of HO scale of Lima were the first produced since the later products are not as par in terms of quality with other US manufacturers. But even with the decline in quality, most of the products of Lima are collector’s item. Lima only produces in limited quantity in any of their models. Instead of manufacturing 4000-5000 units, they only build 1000 or even 500 for their limited edition models. The fact that Lima is now under Hornby even made the model scale trains a highly coveted collector’s item.