The Jouef name was then primarily associated with the toy end of the market as the original Jouef models were incorporated into the Lima or Rivarossi ranges, although they were still recognisable as Jouef.

Rumours of the demise of the parent group abounded since the takeover and in October 2003 it was understood that they went bankrupt and production of all model railways associated with these famous names virtually ceased.

However after a brief period of uncertainty Lima recommenced supplies to the UK market in January 2004 but then the Group suddenly went into liquidation.

The Sunday Times newspaper of March 14th 2004 carried an article praising the Hornby company in UK for their turnaround of fortunes. Included in the article was reference to their recent £5.4M bid for the Group.

In December 2004 Hornby announced that their bid had been successful and that they would be moving production to China.

Here is a 2005 Jouef trains brochure showing what was planned and if you look at the Hornby International website you can see the present day range of models.

More information will be added here as and when