Trix Pullman

[Prometheus]

Today, I collected a largish amount of old rolling stock to sell within the club [on a commission basis] for a family as part of an estate sale. Hidden in some pretty run of the mill stuff were a couple of interesting items:  a boxed and mint Triang Hornby M7 [gloss green], a boxed and mint Triang Hornby Albert Hall [both boxes predated the window packaging], a Wrenn Windsor Castle in blue, a Wrenn N2  in LMS black, an early post-War Hornby clockwork O gauge LMS tank and this item, a 49/50'ish TTR Pullman.

 

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This is the first TTR Pullman I have been able to handle and a rake must have looked fine in its day. It has interior lighting and is is reasonable condition - I suppose - for its age and storage in an attic. 

 

Tony

Edited September 4, 2019 by Prometheus

[Wolseley]

They are quite nice models, although Trix did use a rather elastic scale which hovered between 00 and H0, and often varied from 1:90 to 1:76, sometimes in the same model - it's best to run a rake of Trix coaches by themselves and not mix them with Dublo or Tri-ang.  All but the later Trix rolling stock will also have very coarse profile wheels, and will only run on Trix track.  Fortunately, Dublo wheels will fit into the bogies very easily,  just lever out the old and drop in a set of Dublo wheels - but do it carefully and slowly, as Trix metalwork doesn't like being bent.  If the coaches have a lighting unit fitted you will need insulated wheels on the bogie with the pick-up and non-insulated on the other one.  The lighting is effective but not very realistic, due to the light coloured inside and the lack of interior detail.  If you run them on Dublo track, the lights flicker when you go over points, as there is only one point of contact on the Trix pick-up.  They're not as realistic as the Dublo pullmans, but I rather like them......

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Wolseley
(correcting typo)

[Prometheus]

Thanks for that note. Even though it’s empty, unlike the later Triang Hornby versions, it is tin-plate and sort-of the correct length. It is what it is though, a delightful vintage throw-back. It probably cost a bit, too. The 1954 catalogue has them in at 25 bob - any idea what that is now?

 

Tony

[dhjgreen]

£30

[Prometheus]

I checked too, I found that £1/5/- as equal of £34 (ish). Regardless however, with wages correspondingly very much lower in real terms (average weekly wage then around £10), a great deal of money.

 

tony

Edited September 5, 2019 by Prometheus
Factual error

[Ramrig]

I thought a “Bob” was a shilling or 5p now, so 25 Bob would have been 25 shillings or £1.25 in today’s currency. 

 

 

[Wolseley]

6 minutes ago, dhjgreen said:

£30

 

Or if you want to be really precise, according to the CPI Inflation Calculator (http://www.in2013dollars.com/1954-GBP-in-2018?amount=1.25) £1.25 in 1954 is the equivalent of £33.34 in 2018.

 

By way of contrast, I picked up four of them, boxed and in good (but not mint) condition on eBay for £44.00 and, a few months later, a mint, boxed (OK, the box was a bit scruffy, but intact) example for £16.00.  It doesn't really seem that they have increased in value in real terms, does it?

[Wolseley]

1 minute ago, Wolseley said:

 £1.25 in 1954 is the equivalent of £33.34 in 2018.

 

Before someone picks me up on my rather bad wording of this, I do know that we didn't have decimal currency in 1954 - it was just that I had to input it in that format to get a conversion and then I just did a copy and paste.  And, although I am now in Australia, in 1954, I was living in Scotland, so I feel justified in saying "we didn't have decimal currency in 1954".

[Prometheus]

1 hour ago, Ramrig said:

I thought a “Bob” was a shilling or 5p now, so 25 Bob would have been 25 shillings or £1.25 in today’s currency. 

 

 

 

That’s right , but if I have not misunderstood you, £1/5/- in ‘54 was the equivalent of £33 or £34 now.

 

tony

Edited September 5, 2019 by Prometheus
Clarification

[kevinlms]

53 minutes ago, Wolseley said:

 

Before someone picks me up on my rather bad wording of this, I do know that we didn't have decimal currency in 1954 - it was just that I had to input it in that format to get a conversion and then I just did a copy and paste.  And, although I am now in Australia, in 1954, I was living in Scotland, so I feel justified in saying "we didn't have decimal currency in 1954".

Well both Britain and Australia, didn't have decimal currency in 1954!

[Wolseley]

14 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Well both Britain and Australia, didn't have decimal currency in 1954!

 

Correct, but I was thinking someone might read what I said as referring to Australia rather than the UK, which would have made my comment appear totally irrelevant to the original question.

[Il Grifone]

The Trix Twin Pullmans are not uncommon, considering they cost over a pound (something like 25/- IIRC) in the days when a pound actually bought something. The reflective internal white paper lining is usually discoloured and the contact for the centre rail is usually missing as it is rather delicate. Initially the roofs were white, but changed to grey on later examples (Easily swopped of course, as the roof is removable for access to the lighting - two 75mA 14V bulbs. Trix transformers were rated 3Aso the drain from the lighting wasn't a problem. Other makes werre not as generous, not that Trix would run on any other make of track.)

 

(Reply drafted this morning but here in Sardinia the internet is not all it might be!)