Tri-ang Railways.

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Sarahagain said:

Unusual Early Tri-ang Railways Station Buildings

 

The first series Tri-ang Railways Station Buildings are quite well known.

 

Dating from 1953, they remained in production until 1962.

 

Over the years the type of plastic changed from Cellulose Acetate to Polystyrene, and the colour changed from bright red through dark brown, ending with a darker brown around 1962.

 

One thing remained the same however; the Station Buildings carried colourful Advertising Transfers for various “Tri-ang” products, and some others for local Holliday resorts and other products.

 

I have acquired two buildings that have unusual transfers.

 

There is a Ticket Office R.60 in Red Cellulose Acetate Plastic with "Durham" Station Name Transfers on the ends in place of the usual advert posters.

 

 

 

 

There is also one on the "entrance side" (small canopy side) where there is not usually any transfer.

 

 

 

I also have a Signal Box R.61, also in Red Cellulose Acetate Plastic, with "Durham" Station Name Transfers in the "usual" place, and also one on the "non step" end.

 

 

 

 

Are these unique?

 

I am thinking that there may be a possibility that they were specially made for a trade or exhibition layout?

 

I have never seen or heard of any buildings like these, has anyone else?

 

 

I'm no expert at all but my guess would be that the transfers were added by a previous owner.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

That could be possible.

 

Providing that the person responsible had access to the Tri-ang Railways transfers.

 

As far as I know, these were not sold...

 

 

[andyman7]

44 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I'm no expert at all but my guess would be that the transfers were added by a previous owner.

The transfers were factory items, unlike the 1970s / 80s buildings. To me the main station buildings are much more reflective of SER practice rather than LB&SCR.  Stations like Clock House and Woodside are very local to me and bear a distinct resemblance (albeit in yellow London stock brick rather than red cellulose acetate...)

[sandwich station]

34 minutes ago, Sarahagain said:

That could be possible.

 

Providing that the person responsible had access to the Tri-ang Railways transfers.

 

As far as I know, these were not sold...

 

 

 

Was Durham a name that Triang used on there buildings?

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Yes, I think Durham was one of the names used.

 

I'll have to look up my list later.

 

Meanwhile, what I was thinking of.

Round topped windows on LBSCR buildings.

 

London Road (Brighton) LBSCR.

 

 

Falmer LBSCR.

 

 

Agreed, not all LBSCR buildings have round topped windows.

[Nearholmer]

The general style that Triang picked-up on for the first series buildings was common in mid victorian times, not just for stations, but for houses, small public buildings etc.

 

Hipped roof, round-topped windows, slightly overhanging eaves. I think it was a sort of English domestication of Italianate, which was popular for “posh” buildings a few years earlier, including some stations. IIRC the GNR )or maybe it was the GER) architect stuck with the Italian very low-pitched hipped roof on his smaller stations, making them look quite distinctive, when others pushed the pitch up for our wetter climate.

 

So, Triang rather cleverly chose an ‘everywhere’ style.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Tri-ang Railways first series station names.

 

Mertown. Only used on the original 'mock up' models for train set box top photos, etc. Not issued.

 

The following are those names listed in Pat Hammond's Rovex Book, Vol. 1. Page344.

 

Andover, Bristol, Carlisle, Chatham, Crewe, Dundee, DURHAM, Grantham, Grimsby, Ipswich, Margate, Mertsham, Norwich, Plymouth, Preston, Ramsgate, Redhill, Swindon, Torquay, Wigan, Yeovil, York.

 

From our collection...

 

 

From Pat Hammond's book, page 345.

 

 

DURHAM. Top left in the image above.

 

 

From a printed sheet of reproduction replacement names.

 

WESTWOOD is not an original name, it is the district of Margate where the Tri-ang Railways factory was from 1954.

 

 

The Australian market had its own selection on station names, supplied on a printed sheet, to be cut out and attached by the purchaser.

 

From a printed sheet of reproduction replacement names, based on a photo of a complete sheet on page 366 of Pat Hammond's vol. 1.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Sarahagain
added photos....

[Il Grifone]

A 'special' does seem likely. They could, of course, just be items made when they'd run short of the 'proper' posters. By the time I became properly conscious of Tri-ang buildings they had switched to brown plastic, but I was aware of a reputation for warping.

 

Drat (and double drat) something else to collect!

Edited April 13, 2020 by Il Grifone

[BernardTPM]

On 11/04/2020 at 09:07, Sarahagain said:

Playcraft Railways had some kits, possibly made by Pola, of the modern station buildings being erected on the West Coast Mainline, during the electrification. These were, of course, to HO scale.

 

On 11/04/2020 at 15:22, BernardTPM said:

The Playcraft Macclesfield/Bletchley buildings are compressed, of course, but very recognisable. There was a drawing of Macclesfield's buildings in RM July 1964. As I've got a (not brilliantly built) kit I'll have a measure of it. The doors are 31mm high so wouldn't look ridiculous on a 4mm layout.

 

I've found the RM drawings of Macclesfield and it would seem the Playcraft kit is basically 4mm scale but subjected to selective compression. The doors are the correct height and width as are the overall heights of the walls and roof section, but on the model each of the frame sections (the prototype was of modular construction) is 2/3rds of the width so on the real thing there would be three doors per frame (by the drawings, sometimes a fixed panel of door size) or three louvred and plain enamelled panel sections or a plainer door plus two of the louvred glass/enamel panels wide. In each case the Playcraft kit has two. The total number of frame sections is less, of course. Interestingly the middle division section (where the roof is dropped between the canopy roofs) is exactly the correct width.

So that makes another Playcraft model 00 rather than H0!

Edited April 13, 2020 by BernardTPM

[Ruffnut Thorston]

The Tri-ang Railways Brown plastic was always Polystyrene, EXCEPT for the R.75 Water Tower. This was first made around March 1954, in the Cellulose acetate plastic, in grey for the tank, and brown for the building.

 

Yellow Polystyrene plastic canopies were supplied with CA plastic R.60 Ticket Offices, as the original CA plastic canopies warped badly.

 

The R.70 Level Crossing was also made from Polystyrene plastic early on.

The thin mouldings warped badly.

 

Polystyrene and CA plastics were not glued together, so there should be no buildings with mixed plastic roofs and building parts.

 

The first Polystyrene plastic buildings, except for the Water Tower (brown) and R. 76 Engine Shed (more of a maroon colour) were made in red, with grey roofs, and yellow canopies, etc. around 1955 1956.

The R.72 level crossing gate keepers hut was always green.

 

From 1957, the brown colour was being made.

 

From around 1962, the last production, was made in a darker shade of brown.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Sarahagain
more added...

[Ruffnut Thorston]

The Tri-ang Railways second series buildings used a similar selection of names.

 

Initially, the names were also white on a deep blue.

The second series names however are self adhesive labels, and they have a white line around the outside of the lettering.

 

Later, the BR regional colours were used, again with a white line around the outside of the lettering.

 

The same labels were used into Hornby Railways production.

 

The third series buildings, originally in a printed brick finish, later printed stone, had a sheet of waterslide transfers supplied, with a selection of names, in the same style as before, in the BR regional colours.

 

The third series buildings are now supplied unprinted, with labels for the purchaser to apply, with a choice of brick or stone finishes.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Sarahagain
more added...

[Wolseley]

1 hour ago, Sarahagain said:

The Australian market had its own selection on station names, supplied on a printed sheet, to be cut out and attached by the purchaser.

 

From a printed sheet of reproduction replacement names, based on a photo of a complete sheet on page 366 of Pat Hammond's vol. 1.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm curious why they included Wynyard on the list, as it's an underground station with two upper and two lower level platforms.  Hardly something that many people would want to model.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Interesting. I don't know very much about the Australian stations.

 

I believe the sheet was printed in Australia, for Moldex.

 

So, they would know it was an underground station?

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Sarahagain
more added...

[stewartingram]

I find that the early station has a certain resemblance to the (now disused) Shoreditch station on the former East London line.

 

Stewart

[Nearholmer]

Shoreditch; the station that time forgot!

 

The ELR stations certainly had round-topped windows, but gable, rather than hipped roofs. 

[rockershovel]

23 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Shoreditch; the station that time forgot!

 

The ELR stations certainly had round-topped windows, but gable, rather than hipped roofs. 

 

I worked there for a while, on the reconstruction of Brunel’s tunnel. It was definitely different! 

[Ben B]

18 hours ago, rockershovel said:

 

I worked there for a while, on the reconstruction of Brunel’s tunnel. It was definitely different! 

 

A very atmospheric underground line there, prior to the Olympics rebuilding. I used to use it to visit a mate who lived there, it was like transfering to a branch line

[Ben B]

I thought I'd post some pics of my personal favourite bit of Triang tooling, the DMU.

 

 

The DMU in it's natural habitat, a childs train set... in this case, the set belonging to my youngest foster-daughter.  Apologies for the unfinished state of it, we're building it as a collaborative project.  This also explains the randomly-placed overscale livestock and occasional My Little Pony attacking the line Godzilla-like.

 

 

I started railway modelling with Hornby Thomas stock, but my dads' venerable Triang DMU made an acceptable Daisy, as well as being my first piece of non-Thomas stock.  I absolutely loved it, and ran it to death; some of the gearing and a wheel finally gave up the ghost when I was about 10, and the motor bogie dismantled itself.  It was an identical model to the one on the right, which was bought from a scrap bin at the Shipley show a few years ago, as a parts donor so I could repair my Dad's old model.  The problem is whilst his DMU runs on modern track, the one on the right, above, has ridiculously thick flanges and bumps along on the railchairs, so may be an earlier issue.

 

 

So I bought another, this time a 2-car with non-prototypical headcode box on the dome, which an article in an old MRE informs me was the very tail-end of production by Hornby before they retired the tooling.  I'd guess Hornby binned this tooling in the great scrap clearout a few years ago, which would be a shame... the DMU would surely have been a candidate for re-issue this anniversary year.  Anyway this unit was bought to cannibalise, for about £20... and runs beautifully (if with the traditional Triang smell and growl!).  Far too nice to dismantle.  Anyway, Younger Child wants a stock roster which reflects her favourite line, the KWVR, so despite the headcode being wrong compared to their 101, this has become an important part of her roster now.

 

 

So I bought another example online to canibalise, which turned up as this odditiy.  Again, according to the MRE article by Pat Hammond, Hornby did turn the DMU out in blue in the 70's, but with different yellow ends to this one.  I'd guess this is a repaint from the issued version.  And once again I decided it was too nice to dismantle!  I'm a sucker for BR blue, and gives me something indestructible to run on her layout when we're playing (she's 8, and pretty good with looking after models, but I still wouldn't want to use modern stock just in case).

 

 

Another oldy, the good old clockwork tank loco.

 

 

Probably most other layouts don't have a dragon swooping overhead either; maybe with the blue 101 we can say it's a Cambrian Coast scene, and therefore accurate for Snowdonia

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Your old green DMU with the big flanges looks to have the mk2b open loop couplings.

 

That would make it pre 1959, when the MK3 closed loop tension lock couplings were introduced.

 

Nothing wrong with Dragons...

 

 

[BernardTPM]

The early one looks to be in lovely condition. The green is a more realistic shade than the more insipid 1970s green too.

Edited April 20, 2020 by BernardTPM

[Il Grifone]

The earlier DMU reflects the livery of the time. It predates yellow end panels by several years. The wheels can be replaced to make it compatible with modern track.

 

My Dublo layout featured a red dragon between the tunnels. (I won't post it again (search 'Dublo Layout') as it was camera shy.). IIRC it's now on my American layout somewhere (under the junk?). This also features 'Herbie' and Dick Dastardly's Mean Machine Wacky Race car.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Il Grifone

[Lacathedrale]

I've bought and enjoyed 'The History of Hornby Dublo Trains' very much, and I was wondering what the equivalent Triang book is? I'm loathe to start a collection but it would be nice to see some pretty pictures!

[Legend]

18 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

I've bought and enjoyed 'The History of Hornby Dublo Trains' very much, and I was wondering what the equivalent Triang book is? I'm loathe to start a collection but it would be nice to see some pretty pictures!

 

There is a trilogy by Pat Hammond that takes you in detail through Tri-Ang to 1965, Tri-ang Hornby 1965-1971 and Hornby Railways 1972-1996. These are excellent books by New Cavendish, probably out of print now but there should be a few around usually on Amazon or eBay  . If you specifically want the one that's the contemporary of Hornby Dublo then its" Tri-Ang Railways The story of Rovex Volume 1 1950-1965" by Pat Hammond ISBN 0 904568 57 1. It was first published in 1993 . It was a fairly expensive book back then , but well worth it

 

If you want something less expensive then the latest book celebrating Hornbys 100th anniversary  " The Hornby Book of Trains The first 100 years" also by Pat Hammond  ISBN 978 1 913295 21 9 is just out . This covers Hornby O gauge Hornby Dublo Tri-ang Hornby from 1965 to date . A nice book but covering a lot more ground and has less detail, although still comprehensive . Think you should get it on Amazon . I think you can also get it direct from Key Publishing .

Edited April 24, 2020 by Legend

[Lacathedrale]

Thank you so much, @Legend !

 

 

[Prometheus]

The Pat Hammond books are excellent. I have had no luck in obtaining Vol 3 however. There is one on Amazon for fourteen hundred quid though! Why do they bother?

 

Tony