Faller (styled as FALLER) is a German toy company founded in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1946 by brothers Edwin and Hermann Faller. The company later relocated to the brothers' home town of

Gütenbach Gütenbach is a municipality in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is the home of the Faller toy company. History Gütenbach, originally called Wuotenbach, was first mentioned in an official certificate in the ...

in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. Faller now specializes in making scenery,

plastic model :''In art and architecture, plastic model may also be any three-dimensional physical model, regardless of material.'' :''In mechanical engineering, a plastic model is a mathematical model of a material which incorporates plasticity.'' image:South-G ...

kits and other accessories for

model railroads Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, ...

but has manufactured a range of toys during its history, such as model airplane kits, the 'Auto Motor Sport' (AMS)

slot car racing Slot car racing (also called slotcar racing or slot racing) is the competitive hobby of racing with powered miniature autos (or other vehicles) which are guided by grooves or slots in the track on which they run. Slot cars are usually models o ...

sets and die-cast model cars. Their modern product line includes railway structures, houses and commercial buildings, bridges, amusement rides and terrain accessories in H0, N, TT and Z scales, as well as the Faller Car System (FCS). Since 1997 Faller also owns the Pola brand, which is now solely devoted to

G scale Large scale or G scale (, G gauge) is a track gauge for model railways which is often used for outdoor garden railways because of its size and durability. G scale trains use a fixed track gauge of to accommodate a range of rail transport m ...

structures.PlanetDiecast.com
2 March 2011 Faller's older toys and models can be highly

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any Physical object, object regarded as being of value or interest to a collecting, collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types ...

today, together with their early product catalogs.

Faller Car System

From the 1960s into the '80s Faller produced the Auto Motor Sport (AMS) slot cars, based on existing patents, similar to the Aurora Model Motoring system. The Faller controller and the car had a small

selenium rectifier A selenium rectifier is a type of metal rectifier, invented in 1933. They were used in power supplies for electronic equipment and in high-current battery-charger applications until they were superseded by silicon diode rectifiers in the late 1960 ...

on board so two cars could run independently on the same track on the positive or negative half wave AC. The cars were in 1:65 scale but could be used with the 1:87 H0 scale model railways. Faller has a "Car System" in both the H0 and N scale, which consists of battery-powered road vehicles, made by other manufacturers such as Wiking, that have a

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

attached to the front

steering Steering is a system of components, linkages, and other parts that allows a driver to control the direction of the vehicle. Introduction The most conventional steering arrangement allows a driver to turn the front wheels of a vehicle using ...

. The magnet follows a steel wire hidden under the road surface, resulting in trucks and buses that behave in a realistic fashion without the need for guide rails. This system is extensively used by the ''

Miniatur Wunderland ''Miniatur Wunderland'' (German for 'miniature wonderland') is a model railway and miniature airport attraction in Hamburg, Germany, the largest of its kind in the world. The railway is located in the historic Speicherstadt neighbourhood of the ci ...

'' (German for 'miniature wonderland') model railway attraction in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Mechanisms are also available to stop vehicles and to switch them from one route to another, as at an intersection. These can be integrated with sensors and working

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traf ...

s to create a realistic operating scene. In September 2013 Faller released their Digital Car System allowing computer control of the system.

Amusement park fairground models

Faller has produced

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

fairground models for over 20 years, with well over a hundred different models. Many have been discontinued as newer models have been introduced. Faller offers models in H0 scale and a limited number of amusement park fairground models in N scale as well.

References

External links

Faller's official website
{{Authority control Model railroad manufacturers German brands Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Model manufacturers of Germany