John 'Jack' English formed the John A English Company following wartime service as an aircraft designer. The company initially produced die cast H0 models, including a Pacific locomotive and 60 ft heavyweight coaches, before switching to injection molded plastic and launching H0bbyline in 1953. H0bbyline ran for four years, until 1957, after which (1958) most of the tooling was sold to Lionel for their H0 line. One notable exception was H0bbyline's 60 ft heavyweight, streamlined, and boat-tail observation cars, which had been issued in both kit form and ready to run. The tooling for these were acquired by Penn Line, then Varney, and subsequently Life_Like. That same tooling was used for Life-Like's Scene Master range, continuing through ownership of Life-Like by Walthers, until the late 1990s, and possibly beyond.
John English passed away 29th January 2013, aged 99.
H0bbyline 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive, unfinished plastic kit |
H0bbyline 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive, unfinished plastic kit |
H0bbyline 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive, unfinished plastic kit |
H0bbyline PRR Overland passenger car |
H0bbyline box car, New Haven livery |
H0bbyline box car, Rio Grande livery |
H0bbyline box car, Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway livery |
H0bbyline PRR diesel hauled passenger train set |
H0bbyline 426 The Hot Shot PRR diesel hauled freight train set |
H0bbyline Powerpack No 720 transformer/controller |
H0bbyline Catalogs 1955 (grey) and 1956 (red) |
H0bbyline Catalogs 1955 (grey) and 1956 (red) |
H0bbyline Catalogs 1955 (grey) and 1956 (red) |
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