The “Classic Trademarks” series is proving highly popular amongst collectors, and is now being continued with the new “Kleinbahn” € 0.55 stamp.
“Kleinbahn, mechanische Werkstätte – Spielwarenerzeugung Ing. Erich Klein” is an Austrian manufacturer of H0 scale model railways. Founded in 1947, the company originally only produced wooden ships and aircraft at its site on Vienna’s Währinger Gürtel, but soon added the now legendary models railways to its range of products. From 1952 on, ...
moreThe “Classic Trademarks” series is proving highly popular amongst collectors, and is now being continued with the new “Kleinbahn” € 0.55 stamp.
“Kleinbahn, mechanische Werkstätte – Spielwarenerzeugung Ing. Erich Klein” is an Austrian manufacturer of H0 scale model railways. Founded in 1947, the company originally only produced wooden ships and aircraft at its site on Vienna’s Währinger Gürtel, but soon added the now legendary models railways to its range of products. From 1952 on, the company operated under the name “Gebrüder Klein OHG”, and in 1955 a lack of space forced a move to the Viennese district of Atzgersdorf. The products were in those days mainly aimed at the Austrian market, since Austrian Railways models were rarely produced by the dominant German manufacturers. The company philosophy of enabling everyone to afford a model railway thanks to inexpensive production proved to be successful, with the small fine-detailed trains selling in such numbers that the name “Kleinbahn” became the common generic name in Austria for H0 model railways.
In 1979 “Gebrüder Klein OHG” was dissolved and split up into two companies. After 1984, two model railway manufacturers were run at the old company site, with Erich Klein managing the “Kleinbahn, mechanische Werkstätte – Spielwarenerzeugung Ing. Erich Klein” and continuing the successful line of inexpensive products, a business that has now been taken over by his daughter. Oskar Klein senior renamed his enterprise “Klein Modellbahn GesmbH”, which was run after his death by his son Oskar Klein junior and focussed on high-quality true-to-detail products. However, following financial difficulties, the company ceased production in July 2008, although the remaining stock is still available in the shops.
In terms of length, the Kleinbahn models were traditionally much shortened. For instance, a railway carriage originally 26.4 metres long was reduced by a scale of 1:113 instead of the usual 1:87. The models are simple but sturdy, and mainly targeted at newcomers to the hobby and cost-conscious model railway fans. Highly sought for collectors items include the “Blue Lightning”, an Austrian diesel railcar from the 1950s, and a 1960s model of an ÖBB 12 series express steam locomotive. The attractive image on the stamp shows an illustration from the 1958/59 main catalogue.
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