Peter Churchus

The managing director of Totally Trains, a model railway shop, responds to a leading article that lamented the decline of the model railway as a children's hobby

As one of the largest model railway shops in the country, I must answer the remark that "the model railway seems to have joined archery and ballroom dancing as a harmless but nerdy hobby for a few adult enthusiasts".

Model railway as a hobby is growing for two reasons - first, young children love Thomas the Tank Engine; and second, adults have an increasing amount of leisure time and money.

The adults are not few and are not "nerdy" - you should review the profiles of young businesspeople in your columns in the last 12 months who mention model railways as their hobby.

The hobby is not a peculiarly British pastime. It is the most popular hobby for men in Germany and is popular in the US and Japan. Hornby, in common with a lot of British industry, has failed over a considerable period to produce satisfactory products for its market in the UK.

Its model railway products would not be considered in other countries because of their quality. Improvements have been made recently by moving the production overseas to China. But it is quite possible to produce goods in the UK for the global market, and one British company is the largest manufacturer of model railway track in the world.

You have to applaud the Hornby company chairman for trying to seek a takeover or merger of the company on the back of an increase in sales of 24 per cent and reduced costs. Surely a lot of people in such circumstances would try to take a profit. That doesn't mean Hornby is going out of business or that its model railway range will cease to exist.

Hornby, while a well-known name, is not the only company that makes model railways. The hobby would certainly not die if Hornby were to go out of business - that is as absurd as saying the motorcar will no longer be produced if Rover closes.