Founded in 1906 by Karl Arnold in Nürnberg, K. Arnold
& Co. began its life producing tin toys and related items. They produced an extensive line
of model ships, doll house items and other
toys. In 1935, K. Arnold & Co. hired Max Ernst as their managing
director. Ernst, not to be confused with the German realist artist of the same name, was a significant factor in the future of
Arnold.
Nürnberg was number one on the hit parade for allied bombers during World War II, and,
at the end of the war, all of the Arnold facilities were in ruins. Postwar production continued at a facility in the Upper
Palatinate (OberPfalz), with the company beginning its slow recovery with the manufacture of
window hardware. The postwar operation of the company was under the direction of Max Ernst and Ernst Arnold, son of Karl Arnold.
The factory buildings in Nürnberg were rebuilt and the Arnold Company continued to grow.
In the postwar period, smaller model train sizes became the order of the
day. In earlier times, model trains had been largely the plaything of the well to do who had enough money to live in houses large
enough to support the display of the larger scales of model trains. The growth toward smaller scales had begun in the early
1900s, with O scale being the first “small” scale. In the
1930s, HO/00 scale became the
“small” scale. In the late 1940s and 1950s, TT scale was the “small” scale, allowing for realistic model railroad displays being situated in relatively
small areas. Three companies led the TT revolution, H.P. Products of Indiana, USA, Tri-ang
of the United Kingdom and Rokal of West Germany.
But TT-Scale was not to be the smallest scale in model railroading. Led initially by Lone
Star Toys of Great Britain and Trix of Nürnberg, there was a movement toward an
even smaller scale. Both companies experimented earlier with “floor toys”, unpowered model trains designed to be moved about by
child power. Lone Star dropped by the wayside after a period of time, but Trix continued experimentation and development of what
would be their electric powered Minitrix product line. Arnold was to come up with a workable solution, also. The introduction of
Arnold rapido was from scratch because nothing like this had been done before. Arnold was literally establishing what would
become N scale. This is not to say that it was the sole developer of N, but Arnold Rapido was
there first.
Although Karl Arnold’s son, Ernst, was involved with the company, several sources cite the presence of Max Ernst, who was
Managing Director from 1935 until 1976, as being the prime mover
behind this new product line. Ernst has been described as a dynamic businessman, the person most responsible for the introduction
of the Arnold Rapido product line. Karl Arnold passed on in October, 1946, leaving his son and Herr
Ernst as principals in the Company. Much later, an Arnold Sales Manager, Ferdinand Graef, would marry Max Ernst’s daughter,
Sonja, keeping the Arnold company as a family operation. It would continue to be so until 1995.
There are several distinct phases of Arnold’s model train production. In the period of 1960 -
1962, Arnold marketed the Arnold Rapido 200 product line; this line was very crude yet it also was
a sensation because of its much smaller size than TT.
The next phase is the period of 1963 - 1967, when the rapido
product line begins to swing toward scale representations of the trains. It is during this period that the “Rapido Coupler” comes
into production, beginning its widespread use by all model train manufacturers in N-Scale. It also is during 1964 that the term
“N-Scale” comes into use.
The next phase is 1968 - 1970, when the Arnold Rapido line of
trains reaches maturity. It is during this period that Arnold introduces its turntable and roundhouse. It is also during this period that Arnold enters into a business relationship with Revell,
beginning the marketing of Revell Rapido model trains. This marks the beginning of wide production of North American prototype models by Arnold.
After that, the Arnold Rapido line expanded, with continuing development of new models until the early 1990s.
As mentioned earlier, Max Ernst retired from Arnold in 1976. At that point, Arnold employed
perhaps 200 to 250 people, using three facilities in the Nürnberg area. The Company continued under family control until 1995,
when Arnold went into bankruptcy and was sold to the Rivarossi Group of Italy. Rivarossi, in turn, would also go bankrupt, leading to the sale of all assets to Hornby, of the United Kingdom
English language pages on Arnold Rapido: http://guidetozscale.com/general/Arnold_Rapido/arnold_rapido.html
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