K.B.N. Trains

[Anonymous]

My grandfather gave me a K.B.N. engine that he got as a Christmas present in 1906. Actually he got the train in 1906, he gave it to me about 20 years ago.

I've tried to find something out about K.B.N. on the Internet, but all I get are auction sites. Can anybody tell me something about the company, or a site that tells about it. I don't really care what it's worth, I don't want to sell it. I just want to know something about its history.

Thanks,
Bill

[Anonymous]

KBN stands for Karl Bub, Nuremburg. Bub was a German toy company founded by a man named Karl Bub in the late 19th century and manufacturered their products in the city of Nuremburg, where most of the German toy companies were located. They produced a wide variety of trains in both clockwork and electric and over the years made trains in 1, O and OO/HO gauges. However, their products were always made for the lower end of the market and never reached the quality of companies like Marklin (the most famous of the German train manufacturers, still in business today). In 1933, Bub acquired the tooling of the Bing company, another manufacturer of similar products. This was because Bing was a Jewish-owned company and the *** took power at this time. After WWII, Bub continued making trains, but as the years went on, the company suffered major financial difficulties. They were eventually forced to close in 1963.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Sask. Great answer. My grandfather’s family was never wealthy and I always wondered how he got a toy like this. This one by the way is a clockwork train, and still works. Forward and backward.

Thanks again, you've answered a question I've had for a long time.

Bill

[jimhaleyscomet]

Wow! you are fortunate!

Jim H

[Anonymous]

I know, and I just got here too.

[mersenne6]

I agree with Sask_Tinplater that KBN was aimed at the lower end of the toy train market in the states , however, this introduces a sampling bias with respect to the kinds of trains associated with KBN in the U.S. and Canada. They did make many products for European consumption which were head and shoulders above what we saw over here on the other side of the pond.

To me, their most impressive cars were the series of lithoed freight cars made in the early 1930's. The cars were 8 wheel and had stunning lithography. The litho treatment was not prototypical in any sense of the word but it was impressive. Of the group the California Frucht Transport had the best graphics. Probably because of the spelling, a few of these cars made it over to the U.S. The January 2001 issue of CTT has an article on the car.