Trix Twin Coach lighting

Back in the 1950s, Trix marketed both their BR crimson and cream and their Pullman coaches with optional lighting kits. They were a novelty in their day but by present day standards (or perhaps even standards of 10 years later) are rather crude and unrealistic. I have three of their BR crimson and cream with lights as well as two unlit examples. The lighting would have been more realistic if the coaches were fitted with an interior, but they weren't, so what you see when they are running is two bright bulbs and a couple of wires inside the coach.

I also recently bought, on eBay, four Trix Pullman coaches with lights, but they haven't arrived yet. They have the older coarse Trix wheels, so I will have to fit Dublo wheels before I can run them on anything other than a basic oval. I put in a bid for them at the starting price, expecting them to go for more, but no-one else bid on them.....

Here's a scan of the instructions for the lighting unit:

 

I have got three of the crimson and cream coaches' lighting units working (I have four of these with pickups) but this leaves me with six coaches without pickups. Some time further down the track I will fabricate replacements myself - there probably isn't any other way to get the rest of them working.

The coach lighting is rather effective, if a bit toy-like by present day standards. It does work quite well although, as you would expect, the lights on each coach go out for a fraction of a second as it goes over the points. The reason for this is that there are a couple of dead spots of about 5mm each in the centre rail at the points - not a problem with the locomotive pickups, but the Trix lighting pickups have only one small point of contact on the single pickup. I'm talking about Dublo points here by the way - I have rewheeled the coaches with Dublo wheels so I can run them with my other stock.

As an aside, our grandsons were over today (we babysit three days a week) and the youngest one (he's 13 months) was so excited by the sight of trains with lights that, when our son-in-law arrived to take the boys home, he wouldn't let his father take him to the car until he had seen the coach lighting working.....