The Hornby factory site in Margate has been bought by a locomotive company.
Locomotive Storage Limited, a property company affiliated with Locomotive Services Limited, Statesman Rail and Icons of Steam has confirmed it made the acquisition of the former Hornby plc facilities at Westwood Industrial Estate, off Ramsgate Road.
The site was sold for a reported £2.25million but the buyer was not revealed at the time.
The Hornby Visitor Centre is the only current tenant and they will be remaining on the site after plans to build a new centre in Ramsgate were ditched. The firm is leasing back that part of the site from Locomotive Storage Limited.
Locomotive Storage intends to embark on a rolling refurbishment of the facilities and to engage in discussions with interested parties regarding potential uses of the site.
Jeremy Hosking, a director of Locomotive Storage Limited, said: “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Hornby plc after extended but friendly negotiations. Our group has a greatly expanded its asset base and activities in recent years and this site will greatly enhance our current facilities.”
Locomotive Storage currently looks after 13 steam locomotives and works to preserve and operate historic locomotives on the main line and heritage railways of Britain.
Hornby moved distribution to Hersden in 2014 and office functions to Discovery Park in 2015, ending more than 60 years of work in Margate.
The site will provide storage for locomotives and rolling stock. No locomotive repair work is expected to be conducted on the non-rail connected site.