Trix trains

[sagaguy]

I have noticed on here that there is no forum for Trix TTR or British Trix on here.Do folk collect & run these trains.To start the ball rolling,this is a model i bought in the last few days.

 

                                   Ray.

[andyman7]

The British Trix (and later British Liliput) range was always smaller than that of competitors and after around 1970 was produced at pretty much cottage industry levels so the market is more specialised than for Hornby Dublo or Triang. I do have a few items, my favourite being the Transpennine unit you have pictured, in that first, illustrated box. I also have the A4 in silver grey, and an E3001. In addition, I have two of the grain wagons produced by Trix for Triang in the Triang boxes - a very rare and unusual pair of items.

[roythebus]

Trix used to have a shop in Great Portland Street in the mid-1960s. I remember buying tinplate wagons from there for a shilling just for the couplings as the MRC layout used HD/Peco/Trix couplings! the wagons were binned as they were obsolete and I was only about 14 at the time.

 

The Trix shop later moved to a place opposite Harrods next to Knightsbridge Green where they had a demonstration layout displaying their new code 100 2-rail track and rolling stock. We used to go there most Saturdays to admire the detail of their new stuff and the free running of their coaches which appeared far better than the HD or Triang offerings of the era. I worked in Patricks Toys in Fulham at the time and the Trix rep would pop in every few weeks. It was exciting to see the proposals for the A3 and A4, as well as the artists impression of the Brush 4 they were going to make.The AL1 was already out and I bought several as loco kits for £4/19/6, £4.99 in today's money!

 

As well as the rake of blue/grey coaches (built from kits) I had a selection of private owner wagons and a set of whisky wagons at 7/6d each. they formed the "grain train" on the MRC's New Annington layout in the 1980's.

 

I had a Western at one time but can't remember what happened to that. I may still have a Brittania kit around somewhere (unmade), also had their E1 tank, a BR standard 4--6-0 which was quite a good model and a good runner, never had a Warship or EM1 though.

 

What I forgot to mention was that Adrian Swain of ABS Models made the patterns for the AL1 motor bogie side frames. I picked up one on the dashboard of his Ford Cortina estate on day! I don't know if Adrian done any other patterns for them.

 

Trip done some jolly good semaphore signals complete with lights; their searchlight type signals were good too, with the single aspect changing colour by using 2 bulbs in the base with a couple of clear moulded plastic lenses going up the signal post. All good stuff.

Edited February 20, 2016 by roythebus

[BR60103]

There is a small Trix Twin enthusiast group that stretches at least from Toronto to Chicago.

I'm not in it as I don't remember ever seeing it during my formative years in Canada.

[sagaguy]

Yes,i remember the showroom in Gt.Portland st,i used to walk past it on Thursday afternoons on my way back home from a trip to W & H models in New Cavendish st in the early 1960s.I went in there once as they had a closing down sale & bought a lighted semaphore signal.They had lots of goodies but i had very little money being only about 17 at the time.Probably,the Transpennine & EM1s were assembled in Stimpson  Avenue,Northampton.The Transpennine is set up to run on Hornby Dublo 3 rail track along with my EM1s.

 

It`s good to see there is still some interest out there.

 

                            Ray.

[roythebus]

The Trix die-cast British locos had the ability to run on the old TTR track with steamroller flanges as well as "fine scale" code 100. They had removable plastic steam roller flanges! They could also run on 2 or 3 rail (or overhead) depending how the pick-up plungers were arranged. Here their adverts about running 3 trains independently controlled on one track.

 

They done this by having one loco configured picking up from centre third and returning through one running rail; loco 2 would be conventional 2-rail, loco 3 would be overhead and return through the common running rail or centre third! Who needs digital when there's stuff like that around that actually works?

Edited February 20, 2016 by roythebus

[sagaguy]

As you can see from this pic,i rather like Woodhead electrics.I have some Trix catenary whichi`m itching to assemble,the Triang EM2s although 2 rail should work if picking up from the OHLE!!.Thsses will hopefully run on HD 3 rail track.

 

                   Ray.

 

[Il Grifone]

Trix is very collectable - Google TTRCA. I seem to recall a dormant thread here too.

 

Trix (as opposed to Trix Twin/Express) has finer flanges and will run on Hornby Dublo without problems, beyond having the chassis live to the centre rail rather than the running rails, which can cause shorts (insulating the couplings solves this) and, when new, I found my 0-6-2T (6664) would start with a jerk on my Dublo resistance power unit (due to lower current drain I think) and cured by using a decent controller. (The Trix DC motor is a good, solid and indestructible device.)

 

Earlier coarse wheel stock requires Trix or at least 'universal' track. The last fibre pointwork is in fact universal (as long as the stock will negotiate 13 ½" radius curves.

 

IIRC the last coarse wheel locos were the first 'Britannias' and 'Class 5s'* and the Ruston-Hornsby shunters. Later the first two were supplied with the convertible wheels with a removable plastic flange. The change to DC more or less coincided with the introduction of finer wheels.

 

* Usually described as a Class V which leads to confusion with the 'Schools' which was available for a short period in the late '50s (the last of the rather crude 4-4-0s).

 

The British Trix coupling* is not 100% compatible with the Peco/Dublo version as the dropper is closer to the centre of the track. This is so that the uncoupling ramp will clear the flanges. Trix Express continued to use the pre-war coupling with the addition of a dropper for remote uncoupling.

 

* It is compatible with the Jouef/Playcraft version however. Bending the dropper works wonders - this should not be done too often as Trix tinplate is not very forgiving and fatigues quickly.

 

The other compatibility problem is scale. British Trix is 1/80 scale like Rivarossi. (Later models excepted, as eventually they switched to 00.)

 

I started my Trix collection with a remote illuminated signal, followed by the colour light signals and the Manyways station units. (My first item was an LMS scale length coach, which failed to run on my Dublo layout (at the age of five, I didn't think to change* the wheels!). I don't know what  happened to it - I suspect it was traded for the Dublo coach which arrived later.

 

* Regauging is another option, but still gives a bumpy ride through pointwork.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Il Grifone
Eliminate erroneous information

[Il Grifone]

Earlier Trix thread - long dormant.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/53216-trix-ttr-just-keep-on-going/

 

and this one likewise (mainly a discussion on whether the layout should be vintage style too or modern - I would opt for vintage, but with later bits where appropriate - some vintage stuff was really rubbish, but it's beaten hollow by some of today's. (Rather like the music scene.......)

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52631-trix-ttr-train-set/

Edited February 21, 2016 by Il Grifone

[2750Papyrus]

I still have most of my Trix from when I was young, though it hasn't run for years.  My Dad converted the original LNER 0-4-0 and Southern electric to DC by removing the field coils and replacing them with large "Eclipse" permanent magnets.  The latter also gained a head/tail lamp as we couldn't afford a diesel flyer.  The main board was a sheet of Weyroc, 8' x 3' 6", laid with bakelite track.  We then added a branchline across the back of my bed to a terminal station on the windowsill, laid in 3 rail Wrenn fibre-based track.  At that time our mains electricity supply was DC, so the model railway and TV were powered by a rotary converter located in the cellar.  Interference supressors were unknown and for some reason, operation of the whistling signal box produced a similar sound from the downstairs TV!

 

Shortly after Trix "went DC", we started a new layout in the garage and traded in the bakelite track with Hattons.  I think we got 6d a piece for it, and the proceeds largely funded a class V - the most powerful loco I have ever owned.  The new layout was built with Peco track - there were bases about 5" long, with pressed out baseplates and holes every 3rd or 4th sleeper to insert spikes to hold down the code "n" flat bottom rail (where "n" was a large positive integer!).  There were matching (universal) point kits, though we also used Trix fibre-based points for the built in point motors.

 

Maybe one day.......

Edited March 28, 2016 by 2750Papyrus

[5050]

I had a rake of the coaches in 'GWR' livery, not correct as they were models of BR Mk 1's, but they fitted with my interest at the time (mid 70's).  They were superb runners, far better than Hornby or Triang but the small scale made them look a bit anaemic alongside 4mm stock and especially when running behind a Hornby Castle.  They looked better behind the 'Warship' and 'Western' Trix diesel locos.  The Private Owner wagons were also excellent runners but the chassis was a bit 'heavy' with the brake gear nowhere near the wheels.  The bodies weren't to bad and I have some fitted with Cambrian chassis in my P4 wagon fleet, stripped and repainted into BR period 'P' numbered ex-PO mineral wagons.

 

Sacrilege..................

[roythebus]

One thing that was really good about "plastic" Trix stock was the remarkably free running characteristic. I've never yet found anything to match them.

[Il Grifone]

They're almost too free running! A combination of pinpoint axles and a slippery plastic (Delrin or a relation?).

 

It is a great Pity that Trix stuck with 1:80 scale when they decided to go 'fine scale'. * Rivarossi made the same mistake - twice - with their British models and also their Italian models (ignoring the items in their catalogue of Trix Express or Pocher origin). Since their main competitor for the latter was Lima** perhaps they can be excused.

 

* HD standards really but compared to what went before.....

 

** Other makes were available, but they make Lima look exhibition standard....... (To be fair, most Lima products are quite reasonable!)

 

Really the only items  of Trix rolling stock that are suitable for 00 are the mineral wagons. Trix always used the 00 buffer spacing (or even a bit over) and as these fit on a 1:80  17'6" underframe are more or less the right length. There are planking issues with the wooden ones.

[Nearholmer]

Gents

 

I noticed an early three car diesel set called the Trix Meteor in an auction catalogue. Presumably continental? Any knowledge?

 

Kevin

[Legend]

Good thread. It does appear that Trix is the forgotten man of 60s (and 70s?) RTR, overshadowed by Hornby Dublo and Triang, later Triang-Hornby and of course Hornby. While I've got books on the history of Triang (Pat Hammonds trilogy) and Hornby Dublo (Michael Forster) , I don't recall anything similar for Trix.

 

My only contact was in magazines and visits to Argyle Models in Glasgow in late 60s /early 70s. I was a Triang Hornby kid, so Trix locos looked pretty exotic to me. I remember the Trans Pennine unit and A4s in Blue and Grey LNER liveries, the A3 Flying Scotsman, because it had two tenders and would it have been an A2. I don't recall ever seeing the electrics, warships or Class 5.

 

So what was the reason it didn't catch on? You would have thought with that line up it would have achieved at least the same success as Wrenn in these days. Especially if they were contemplating bringing out a 47, we had to wait until 1975 for the first Hornby one to appear. Was it scale , were they all a hybrid 3.8mm? Or was it just too costly for it's time?

[Il Grifone]

I'm not sure what (if any) prototype the Meteor had, though the streamlining is reminiscent of an EMD F series. It was available in red or (rarer) blue.

 

 

 

The models running in the second link (around a mass of Trix Express) are described as British Trix, though the last one is actually Trix Express. It was available in this country in the mid-fifties. I can remember seeing an example on sale.

 

Compared to Tri-ang and Hornby, Trix had three main problems - cost, scale and availability. Trix Twin also suffered from 'steamroller' wheels (though Tri-ang was almost as bad!) and that that most of the models didn't look much like their prototype. The best was the 'Scotsman', but, at nearly £10, it was beyond most people's pockets. The universal motors didn't help.

 

On becoming just Trix in the second half of the fifties, the flange problem was eliminated and the motors became D.C. Unfortunately they choose a scale of approx. 1:80, which looks decidedly undersized alongside 4mm scale models. In the mid sixties they saw the error of their ways and the last models were to 4mm scale, but by then it was too late. Sporadic issues of these models occurred up to about 1990 IIRC (anyone who knows better please confirm/deny - I was living abroad at the time).

 

There is a book about Trix, but since it cost around £60, unfortunately I don't have a copy.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Model-Railways-Britain-1935-92/dp/0904568768

Edited March 7, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Nearholmer]

Accidentally duplicated

Edited March 7, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Metropolitan H]

That Trix "Meteor" train looks very like one of the 1950s / 60s "TEE" (Trans Europe Express) diesel set - possibly the Dutch (NS) ones.

 

Regards

Chris H

[Nearholmer]

A few thoughts .......

 

The fact that it had a history rooted in AC, wound-field motors, and horribly complicated reversers, rather than nice, simple DC with permanent magnet motors, must have damaged the brand badly.

 

It came onto the market just before the quality of permanent magnets reached the level needed for 00/H0, whereas Hornby came that little bit later, and took the risk of going DC and permanent magnet from the outset ........ And, they judged their moment, and the product that they put into the market, very well indeed.

 

To use a rather tortured footballing analogy:

 

- Trix went one up by being first in the market;

 

- Hornby equalised and went two ahead by choosing the scale that was growing in popularity, the simpler electrical system, and having both brand-name and retail system that were far stronger;

 

- when Rovex came on, playing crosswise, with a cheap product, both Trix and HD let goals in;

 

- by the time Trix put subs on, by sorting out the electrics, the game was already lost.

 

They thought it was all over; then it was.

 

(Hmmmm ...... That came out worse than I expected!)

 

Kevin

 

and, a picture that makes CH's point very well:

Edited March 7, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Il Grifone]

As can be seen it's the same but different!

 

In my case it was price that killed Trix Twin. I always wanted one but the high prices (and incompatibility with the Dublo I already had) ensured the most I had was some signals and Manyways station units. A tinplate wagon was fitted with Dublo wheels in due course.*

My first Trix loco was a black 56xx, but she wasn't a great success (polarity problems and not happy with Dublo controllers). The undersize wasn't particularly noticeable, because Dublo's own 0-6-2T has H0 leanings as well.

 

I've since acquired several Trix Twin locos. Bridge rectifiers have sorted out the direction of travel problem.

 

The 0-4-0 North American switcher was available for export with a D.C. motor and 'scale' wheels around 1950. A few slipped 'under the counter' in this country and one ended up in my collection in due course. She has a few original bits missing (pilot and marker lights - commonly missing as the first is a separate part (and possibly subject to alloy pest?) and the latter fall out and get lost. I believe replacements are available from the TTRCA, but a damaged example of Lima's version has supplied a replacement pilot for now. It also supplied a tender, but I have since obtained the correct one.

 

* Not 100% successful as the wheels are different in diameter.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Nearholmer]

The other thing that struck me was the winged logo on the front,which looks very SJ or DSB, which takes us to Nohab and their licensing agreement with GM.

 

Whatever inspired the Meteor, I rather like it.

 

K

Edited March 7, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Il Grifone]

Märklin and Piko did these. Heljan do too, which is appropriate as they are Danish. (Gauge I example below).

 

My Märklin body sits on the bogies from a Lima MZ (acquired cheaply at the same time as the above 0-4-0, victims of the Italian sunshine).

 

Edited March 7, 2016 by Il Grifone

[sagaguy]

This model came with an electronic whistle which was operated by a very brief interuption to tha track supply,unfortunately,if there was any dirt on the track,it would whistle at most inoportune moments.Also,if buying,make sure the reverser works as it is quite complicated & difficult to repair.These remarks refer to the AC version.If your appetite is whetted,have a look here for help in repairing.

 

             http://www.ttrca.co.uk/METEOR_WIRING.pdf

 

 

                Cheers,Ray.

[sagaguy]

There`s  some on here,

 

                 http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l2632.R2.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xtrix+meteor.TRS0&_nkw=trix+meteor&

 

   Expensive but although they are described as 12v dc,they have the AC brush holder protruding from the side.Were these used in DC versions?.

[Nearholmer]

Very nice indeed. Very elegant, and I like the finish on them.

 

It's a good job these aren't 0 scale, otherwise trouble could be brewing.

 

K

 

PS: If someone made the same in 0 scale, its best you don't tell me, understood?