Hornby is a household name and is famous as the UK brand leader in the model railway hobby. The companys founder was Frank Hornby 1863 - 1936 who applied for a patent in 1901 to protect an invention he called Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People. Nobody then could have imagined how this product would influence the model railway hobby that we know today.Hornby is a household name and is famous as the UK brand leader in the model railway hobby. The companys founder was Frank Hornby 1863 - 1936 who applied for a patent in 1901 to protect an invention he called Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People. Nobody then could have imagined how this product would influence the model railway hobby that we know today.