Maker record
Treni Favero
Treni Favero was an Italian maker of electric model trains based in Limena, near Padua. Its range began in the late 1950s with economical train sets aimed at children, including small steam locomotives, freight cars and passenger coaches. The company later added a more detailed model series with locomotives representing Italian, French and Swiss prototypes. Favero trains used HO-scale track; early track had steel rails on plastic sleepers, while the later model range introduced brass-rail track. The products appeared in catalogues from 1958 through the early 1960s.
- Founded
- 1990
- Countries
- Italy
- Founders
- Tiziano Favero
The story of Treni Favero
The Favero company was already making miniature household toys in Padua by 1947, including sewing machines, polishers and irons. In 1958 it began producing HO-scale trains at Via del Santo 88 in Limena, under the name Industria Giocattoli AGFA S.a.s. di Aldo Favero & C. A surviving 1958 catalogue presents a ‘Serie Giocattolo’; a 1960 price list adds a ‘Serie Modello.’ Early sets paired small steam locomotives with plastic freight cars and coaches. The locomotives included free-lance steam types and an electric E.424, while the company also sold complete sets through representatives and shops, particularly in northern Italy.
Favero expanded its trains during the early 1960s with locomotives based on Italian and European prototypes. Its later range included the Italian E.428, the French BB 9200 and Swiss Ae 6/6. Track for the early toy sets had steel rails on plastic sleepers; the model series used brass-rail track. Around 1966 the company registered the Unicar brand and shifted its attention from trains to 1:24-scale slot cars. The train-making period is documented into the mid-1960s; the company was later described as no longer traceable after 1969.