Conti (Co.Mo.Ge.)

Conti was a Bollate toy maker known for wooden toys and dolls before it entered electric train production. In the immediate postwar period, the company began working with CO.MO.G.E., founded by cousins Primo, Secondo and Aldo Parretti. Under their arrangement, CO.MO.G.E. produced trains marketed as Conti, while its patents remained with the company. Conti’s 1947 catalogue introduced its electric railway department and identified the CO.MO.G.E. patents. Early products included an aluminium electric railcar and the E 424 locomotive.

The range expanded to locomotives, passenger and goods cars, track, transformers, signals and railway buildings. Locomotives were generally made of aluminium. Conti first offered three-rail track and later introduced two-rail track; its 1958 catalogue listed nearly 300 items. The E 424 remained in production until Conti’s train business ended. The Settebello and Belvedere were among the company’s prominent trains. Around 1960, Conti transferred its train business to Milan toy dealer Oreste Cicchetti, who continued production for a time. Another account dates Conti train production through 1962 and describes a brief later attempt, so the subsequent production history is not settled.