Lima (models)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lima" models – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lima S.p.A.

Industry	Hobbies
Founded	1946; 78 years ago (1946)
Defunct	2004 (company)
Fate	Company defunct; rights to brand acquired by Hornby
Headquarters	Vicenza, Italy
Products	Model railways
Owner	Hornby
Website	limamodel.it

Lima S.p.A. (Lima Models) is an Italian brand and former manufacturing company of model railways. The company was headquartered in Vicenza for almost 50 years, from the early 1950s until the company ceased trading in 2004. Lima was a popular, affordable brand of 00 gauge and N gauge model railway material in the UK, more detailed H0 and N gauge models in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States as well as South Africa, Scandinavia and Australia. Lima also produced a small range of 0 gauge models. Lima partnered with various distributors and manufacturers, selling under brands such as A.H.M., Model Power, and Minitrain. Market pressures from superior Far Eastern produce in the mid-1990s led to Lima merging with Rivarossi, Arnold, and Jouef. Ultimately, these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004.

Hornby Railways offered €8 million to acquire Lima's assets (including tooling, inventory, and the various brand names) in March of the same year,^[1] the Italian bankruptcy court of Brescia, last headquarters of Lima, approving the offer later that year^{[citation needed]}. In December 2004, Hornby Railways formally announced the acquisition along with the Rivarossi (H0 North American and Italian prototypes), Arnold (N scale European prototypes), Jouef (H0 scale French prototypes), and Pocher (die-cast metal automobile kits) ranges^{[citation needed]}. As of mid-2006, a range of these products has been made available under the Hornby International brand, refitted with NEM couplings and sprung buffers and sockets for Digital Command Control (DCC) decoders.