Maker record
Hugar
Hugar was a British maker of model buildings, railway accessories and wooden model trains. Its products included buildings for 0-gauge and 00-gauge layouts, as well as a Southern Railway electric train set. The train, believed to have appeared around 1939 or later, used wooden bodies and paper lithography. Hugar’s railway range developed as British manufacturers faced wartime restrictions on metal supplies, and its buildings included stations associated with the Southern Railway.
- Founded
- 1946
- Final year
- 1971
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Locations
- Clerkenwell, London, UK
- Founders
- Jessie Upton · Harold Upton
The story of Hugar
Hugar made model buildings before adding railway products. By about 1939, it had developed ranges of buildings for 0-gauge and 00-gauge layouts. In 1939 it also offered electric-motor boat kits. The company’s railway buildings included stations with Southern Railway signage and posters, and its 00-gauge range accompanied the growing market for electric model railways.
Around 1939 or later, Hugar introduced a wooden-bodied 00-gauge train depicting a Southern Railway electric multiple unit. The set used paper-lithographed surfaces and a track system built from grooved wooden sections with aluminium rail strips. Hugar also made points and level crossings for the system. The train was reportedly available in at least one toyshop in 1943. Its wooden construction suited a period when wartime restrictions limited metal supplies for nonessential goods.