34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Does anyone else remember these? They appeared - and then disappeared - and I only ever had three, despite the attractive price; my recollection is of 3/11 or something similar. I well recall going near cross-eyed cutting out all the compartment side windows and the corridor side compartment wall openings before assembly, but then they went together really well and the printed teak looked good. Did one have to score the inside face to get the beading depth, that I do not remember? Whatever mine were sold years ago as impractical to repaint when I went BR(ER) and I have never seen one since. Any out there? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 If you are member of Facebook,Phil Delnon in Trix model railways back in February of this year built some of these.I hope Phil doesn`t mind,they are of historical value. Ray. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 So many unopened packets. That alone was a blast from the past, thanks for the posting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 They show up now & again on ebay. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) Still got some left-over bits. Somewhere I've got the 7mm tram too, unmade. I think that has the mesh on the baconies screen printed on clear plastic sheet. Edited July 26, 2017 by BernardTPM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I don't remember those. What date were they on the market? Can't say I've ever seen any for sale at exhibitions etc. either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I don't remember those. What date were they on the market? Can't say I've ever seen any for sale at exhibitions etc. either. In the sixties (or possibly early seventies) IIRC. I remember seeing some in Beatties in Holborn at the time. I don't think they sold very well. We had moved on from printed card rolling stock by then, though I believe Hamblings still had the Merco litho sheets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 In the sixties (or possibly early seventies) IIRC. I remember seeing some in Beatties in Holborn at the time. I don't think they sold very well. We had moved on from printed card rolling stock by then, though I believe Hamblings still had the Merco litho sheets. That probably explains it, around the time I was involved in 'other interests' and not taking much - if any - notice of railways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2750Papyrus Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I still have 3 in packets, 2 of them unopened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) Freestone model accessories still list Merco sheets.Pity the smokey brick sheets disappeared. Ray. Edited July 28, 2017 by sagaguy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 (edited) I don't remember those. What date were they on the market? There's a review of them in the December 1971 Railway Modeller. Three types are shown which (as listed in the Bakers Model shop advert) are C1 All 1st, C2 Brake Third Composite (see post 26) and C3 Composite. The beading was embiossed, giving some relief to the surface, the inner face of the sides was printed black and basic interior partitions were provided so there would be a modicum of detail for those ambitious enough to cut the windows out. In the same issue the first four N gauge card building kits were reviewed (N1 Station buidling, N2 Platform, N3 Signal box and footbridge N4 Goods shed - 2 more were added later: N5 Engine shed and N6 Terminus building). Now, I knew about these for the Minitrix range; what I'd forgotten is that shortly after they did a similar range of card building kits for 00 too (00-1 Station building, 00-2 Platform, 00-3 Signal box & huts, 00-4 Goods shed, 00-5 Engine shed, 00-6 Platform shelters). I have seen the N buildings, but can't recall seeing the 00 ones. The 7mm scale open top 'Preston' tram was reviewed in the October 1971 RM. Edited July 31, 2017 by BernardTPM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Brit70053 Posted July 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2017 I recall buying one of these to experiment with from the long gone Applegarth's Model Shop in Claypath Durham in the late 1960s / early 1970s. The attraction was the pocket money price, but I remember really struggling to cut out the windows etc. with a pen knife(!) and not having a clue how or where to obtain suitable bogies or wheels. Do I recall correctly that the bogie sideframes were merely flat grey card prints ? Whatever, it didn't make the grade or last long before being consigned to the rubbish bin, but that would be due at least as much to my juvenile ineptitude as to any shortcoming of the kit. Regards, John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I recall buying one of these to experiment with from the long gone Applegarth's Model Shop in Claypath Durham in the late 1960s / early 1970s. The attraction was the pocket money price, but I remember really struggling to cut out the windows etc. with a pen knife(!) and not having a clue how or where to obtain suitable bogies or wheels. Do I recall correctly that the bogie sideframes were merely flat grey card prints ? Whatever, it didn't make the grade or last long before being consigned to the rubbish bin, but that would be due at least as much to my juvenile ineptitude as to any shortcoming of the kit. Regards, John I was going to ask what the builder was supposed to do about wheels and bogies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Brit70053 Posted July 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2017 Trix suggested using their coach Commonwealth bogies! Genuine enquiry, was that suggested in the instructions? I can only remember being none plussed about running gear and my build wouldn't have been worth spending more money on anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted July 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 28, 2017 Genuine enquiry, was that suggested in the instructions? I can only remember being none plussed about running gear and my build wouldn't have been worth spending more money on anyway. Don't know but that was definitely what we bought. I think somewhere in the murky depths of the odds bin in the garage I still have my bodged attempt (not currently accessible easily as under other stored stuff). My recollection is there were card bogie sides and also underframe trusses so I suppose you were supposed to file detail off the bogies and overlay the card. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 I don't think they sold very well. We had moved on from printed card rolling stock by then, though I believe Hamblings still had the Merco litho sheets. Back in the day when it was the physical model shop you could get to that was a significant part of the availability equation, it depended on their stocking policy too. Neither of my local shops made much effort with Trix I now realise. What was in stock was limited and once sold a long wait before more appeared. Never did manage to purchase an A2, which I very much wanted. Peco would go on clanging out their wonderful wagons based on printed card for a long time yet (are they still at it?) and for representation of varnished teak printed card is still a credible option I think. A modern set of die punched and embossed printed card sides to go on a plastic shell anyone? Trix suggested using their coach Commonwealth bogies! They did indeed, think they were 5/6 a pair, more than the coach kit! Living a train ride from KX, I soon after discovered THE model shop, and they had a range of suitable assembled Gresley bogies available, so an upgrade occurred. To my lasting regret I sold most of the Trix commonwealth bogies, restored to the made up Trix teak coaches when I sold them on. The material from which Trix moulded this bogie remains the most successful bearing material I have ever encountered in model railway. Now fitted with scale size MGW coach wheels - steel tyre, polished stainless steel pin point axles, there was another ace product of the 1970s - they will roll away on no gradient at all. Superior to all current RTR, although Bach's scheme of split axle pick up on coach bogies runs them close enough, with the added benefit of reliable pick up if power is required on the vehicle. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 31A Posted July 29, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2017 I remember eagerly anticipating these when they were first announced, being (wrongly) under the impression that they would be nice plastic RTR LNER coaches, and being so disappointed when I saw what actually appeared that I never even contemplated buying any. Had to use PC Models kits to make (half) decent representations of LNER coaches, instead! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Probably the Hornby LNER coaches (for all their shortcomings) killed them off. A complete R-T-R coach or a card kit for much the same price - no contest. Also the availability of Trix was always a problem. I suspect the price put dealers off stocking the make,.A Dublo A4 at around £4 or a Trix A10 (The Trix model never got rebuilt to an A3 ) at £10 - again no contest. (I'll leave aside the AC motor and the chassis from a German Pacific....). It's telling that the Trix Princess never appeared after the war following the release of the Rovex one (less than £3 against £10 here). The warping problem hadn't raised its ugly head back then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Hornby only had the 'Thompson' coaches when those kits were available. The Hornby 'Gresley' coaches didn't appear until 1978, some years after the Trix kits were discontinued. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 The 'Thompsons' would have been enough. There were also the P.C. Models kits, which were complete and would have given a better result for little more money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Actually, if they'd done Thompson coaches they would have been a lot simpler to build without that complex roof shape! There were also the BSL Gresley kits that had been around a couple of years or so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 (edited) Actually, if they'd done Thompson coaches they would have been a lot simpler to build without that complex roof shape! There were also the BSL Gresley kits that had been around a couple of years or so. Forming the tumblehome would not have been too bad with the aid of a steel rule to impart a curve, but the roof must have been a nightmare in card. It does not like curving in more than one dimension and can't be filed smooth like plastic. (Soaking in shellac might help, but then its goodbye to the printed finish.) Persuading the P.C. sides to curve was bad enough. I never built a Gresley, but did a Churchward 'Toplight'. The finish is excellent but the lack of mouldings spoils the model. (some were steel-sided but not the one I built - an E95 IIRC.) Edited July 31, 2017 by Il Grifone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hornby only had the 'Thompson' coaches when those kits were available... My impression at the time is that 'we' wanted the real teak coaches, not the ersatz. The wooden framed and panelled coaches from Gresley and Howlden always way outnumbered the more recent steel panelled stock until steam was withdrawn at the KX end of the system. I couldn't get on with the PC models flush sides either, so very wrong. Then the Kirk kits appeared and we had the long desired solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 (edited) I found the remaining sides I still have. It turns out that the brake was a Brake Composite, not Brake Third. I had cut the windows out and tried mounting them on clear plastic. Unfortunately my teenage self made a mess of it (too much solvent, probably), hence the distortion at the brake end of the corridor side. The compartment side is cut out but not mounted. The printing is quite nice and the embossing provides some relief, but the graining above the waist is incorrect as it is horizontal. Also having two droplights in the double doors is wrong. Interestingly this appears to be the same diagram BCK as Minitrix eventually did as proper plastic moulded models in the latter part of the 1980s (without the droplight error in the luggage section). Edited July 31, 2017 by BernardTPM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booking Hall Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 In my early days of railway modelling, back in the early 1970's when I was 16, I built a corridor 1st. I made the underframe out of balsa and fitted it with whitemetal bogies, brass buffers, a balsa roof fitted with whitemetal ventilators and clear glazing. It's never yet run in service!! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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