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Tri-ang Railways was a British manufacturer of toy trains, one of the elements of the Lines Bros Ltd company who traded using the brands Tri-ang, Minic, Pedigree, [1] and Frog. The Tri-ang Railways name was dropped a few years after Lines Bros took over the Hornby name although the majority of the trains were still the original Tri-ang models.
Brothers George and Joseph Lines made wooden toys in the Victorian age, their company being G & J Lines Ltd. Joseph was the active partner while George went into farming. Joseph (or Joe) had four sons. Three of these – William, Walter and Arthur Edwin Lines – formed Lines Bros Ltd shortly after World War I. Three Lines make a triangle, hence the Tri-ang. Arthur's son, Richard Lines, was largely responsible for the Tri-ang Railways system.
Rovex Plastics Ltd was founded just after World War II in 1946 by Alexander Gregory Vanetzian, who made toys for Marks & Spencer. [2] Venetzian was asked to develop an electric toy train set for Christmas 1950. He delivered the product but, although the company had found larger premises in a former Brewery in Richmond, it was constrained financially. Lines Bros were looking to expand into railways and so they purchased Rovex. Their products would be sold under the Tri-ang Railways name from 1951. To give room for development they moved the company, now Rovex Scale Models Ltd, to a brand new factory built at Margate, in Kent, in 1954.
A battery powered plastic 0 gauge range called the Big Big train was sold from 1966 to 1972. Some, but not all of the moulds from these were later sold and used by other manufacturers including Novo in the USSR and Lima in Italy.
As well as 00/H0 gauge, Tri-ang made TT gauge models from 1957 to at least 1967. [2] [3] The 3mm Society supports those who still model Tri-ang TT.
J. H. Doyle, Managing Director of Rovex Scale Models joined Rovex Plastic Ltd in its early days. His responsibilities within Tri-ang were the development of the OO/HO range and he was "a prime mover in starting and promoting" the TT gauge. [4]
Tri-ang also manufactured a garden railway system called Tri-ang Minic Narrowgauge Railway, thus being known as TMNR. This was a 10.25" gauge passenger carrying system using 2 rail electric pick-up with motors running at 40 volts DC. This was produced in the early 1960s and not a commercial success, with less than 90 'sets' being produced.
The success of Tri-ang meant that British competitors Trix and Hornby Dublo were affected. In 1964, Hornby Dublo, a division of Meccano Ltd, had stopped production and Meccano Ltd invited Lines Bros. Ltd to buy them out. Tri-ang purchased the company including a large amount of stock. The combined toy railway was marketed as Tri-ang Hornby. Production of the Tri-ang models continued and a supplementary catalogue was published in May 1966 to show both Tri-ang and Hornby Dublo items. [5] The Lines Bros empire itself collapsed in 1971 and was broken up. The model railways, then marketed as Tri-ang Hornby, were sold to the Dunbee-Combex-Marx group, but the rights to the Tri-ang brand were sold elsewhere; accordingly, the Hornby name being established and recognised, from 1 January 1972 the model railways were rebranded Hornby Railways. [3] [6]
In April 1963, Railway Modeller reviewed the ex-L.N.E.R. B12 locomotive which had the new Magnadhesion, with magnets close to the wheels, to improve traction with Tri-ang steel track. [7]
A number of Tri-ang models specific to Australia were produced by Moldex in Melbourne during the 1960s, including:
Other models were manufactured in Auckland, New Zealand, and were mainly the same as those made in England, although there were variations.
Some Super-4 track was produced in Australia.
The Australian and New Zealand models were produced in 00 gauge only.
Lines Bros. (Canada) Ltd. was originally incorporated on 24 March 1947. [8] The trademark used in Canada was that of the thistle which had first been registered by Joseph Lines, the co-founder of G. & J. Lines Ltd., in 1910. The main factory and warehouse facility was located at 4000 St. Patrick Street, Montreal, Quebec. The Canadian company struggled to make acceptable profits and it was thought that profits could be increased with a wider range of toys to market. The Tri-ang Railways Transcontinental range of models was devised specifically with this in mind and by Christmas 1954 the first sets began to appear in the shops.
However, the models were produced too quickly, without sufficient attention to detail and lacked realism. Without proper consideration to what the Canadian market demanded, the models were not popular although they sold well enough in the UK. Historically, standard train sets were imported into Canada from the UK; initially only the Transcontinental range of models. However, between 1957 and 1974, a number of sets were produced exclusively for the general Canadian market as well as some special sets commissioned by department store chains and / or mail order companies; including Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears, Eaton’s, Woodward’s and the Hudson’s Bay Company. [9] No models were made in Canada but the Canadian company assembled a wide range of sets from both boxed and unboxed models sent out to them from the Margate factory.
From 1965 a new full-colour Canadian catalogue was produced, where previously the UK catalogue had been used and supplemented (up until 1962) by an illustrated price list.
Initially, a number of Canadian National Railway (CNR) models were introduced specifically for the Canadian market. Later, in 1967 models representing the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) began to appear. Of note were the representations of the transcontinental passenger trains which have become firm favourites with collectors of Tri-ang Railways.
A limited number of models were manufactured in Durban, South Africa.[ citation needed ] These are very rare.[ according to whom? ]
OO gauge or OO scale is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards, and the only one to be marketed by major manufacturers. The OO track gauge of 16.5 mm corresponds to prototypical gauge of 4 ft 1+1⁄2 in, rather than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard gauge. However, since the 1960s, other gauges in the same scale have arisen—18.2 mm (EM) and 18.83 mm (Scalefour)—to reflect the desire of some modellers for greater scale accuracy.
Meccano is a brand of model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nuts and bolts. It enables the building of working models and mechanical devices.
Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer.
TT scale is a model railroading scale using 1:120 scale with a gauge of 12 mm between the rails. It is roughly halfway between HO scale (1:87) and N scale (1:160). Its original purpose, as the name suggests, was to make a train set small enough to assemble and operate on a tabletop.
Dinky Toys was the brand name for a range of die-cast zamak zinc alloy scale model vehicles, traffic lights, and road signs produced by British toy company Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool.
Bassett-Lowke was an English toy manufacturing company based in Northampton. Founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, the company specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items.
Hornby Railways is a British-owned model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor, Tri-ang, and sold when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the London Stock Exchange, but due to financial troubles reported in June 2017, became majority owned by British turnaround specialist Phoenix Asset Management.
Frank Hornby was an English inventor, businessman and politician. He was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908, and launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine in 1916.
A die-cast toy is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass, or other machined metal parts. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection molding, but the two methods are distinct because of the properties of the materials.
Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge, OO gauge and O gauge.
Meccano Ltd was a British toy manufacturing company, established in 1908 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England, to manufacture and distribute Meccano and other model toys and kits created by the company. During the 1920s and 1930s it became the biggest toy manufacturer in the United Kingdom and produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: Meccano, Hornby Trains and Dinky Toys.
The British Rail Class 81 is a class of AC electric locomotives that formerly operated on the West Coast Main Line of the London Midland Region of British Rail. Originally designated AL1, it was the first type of AC electric locomotive to be delivered to British Railways.
Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang Toys brand name.
Spot-On models was a brand name for a line of diecast toy cars made by Tri-ang from 1959 through about 1967. They were manufactured in 1:42 scale in Belfast, Northern Ireland, of the United Kingdom. Competition for Spot-On in the British Isles were Corgi Toys and Dinky Toys. The line was particularly British and rarely produced marques from other countries.
G&R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn.
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley and introduced in 1920. Further batches were built by the London and North Eastern Railway from 1925. They had superheaters and piston valves driven by Stephenson valve gear.
Frog was a well-known British brand of flying model aircraft and scale model construction kits from the 1930s to the 1970s. The company's first model, an Interceptor Mk. 4, was launched in 1932, followed in 1936 by a range of 1:72 scale model aircraft kits made from cellulose acetate, which were the world's first.
Merchandise for the Thomas & Friends franchise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends. Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in the United States and Japan.
The SER R class was a class of 0-6-0T locomotives on the South Eastern Railway.
Richmond Brewery Stores is a building on 18 Petersham Road in Richmond, London, England. Built in red brick, it has a tiled facade with "RICHMOND BREWERY STORES" in white lettering on blue. Further to the south along Petersham Road was the brewery itself. Known as Lansdown Brewery, and operated by D Watney & Son, it was registered in April 1895, but is known to have been in existence at least as early as 1882 when the brewery design practice Davison, Inskipp & Mackenzie was engaged to extend the building. It was acquired by Brandon's Putney Brewery Ltd in 1915 and subsequently closed. By 1923 the National Fire Protection Company Limited occupied the former Brewery Stores building. In 1950 the toy manufacturer Rovex Plastics Limited, which made plastic toys for Marks and Spencer, bought the building for use as a factory, and the company's own nameplate was placed over "RICHMOND BREWERY STORES" during the firm's use of the building. By 1954, however, it was becoming obvious that the factory was quite inadequate to produce the volume of goods and, following the acquisition by Tri-ang, the factory moved to Margate in Kent in 1954.