Pre-War Trix Coaches

I recently got my hands on some Pre-War Trix coaches but first, before I introduce them to you, a bit of background on Trix.

Around 1936, W J Bassett-Lowke, in conjunction with the German Trix concern introduced 00/H0 (in the case of Trix, an appropriate description, as the company throughout its existence used a rather elastic scale ratio that was somewhere between 00 and H0) train sets to the British market. Initially they were a German 0-4-0 repainted from black to green and German coaches repainted in a colour described in their catalogue as "correct Southern Railway Green". They were very much toys rather than models, with the coaches being devoid of underframes.

By 1936 coaches were improved in appearance and were available in the liveries of the LMS, LNER and, a year later, the Southern Railway. the locomotives were still unrealistic 0-4-0s, but the new coaches, although generic, too short, and lacking detail, were definitely an improvement on the crude toys initially offered. Interestingly, they were to have been issued in GWR livery as well, but the GWR refused permission to use their name as they thought the toys were too unrealistic.

The trains were a huge success, partly because there was no competition in any scale smaller than 0 gauge. Hornby sensed an opening in the market and started to develop their own 00 system, Hornby Dublo (00, Dublo - get it?), which was introduced in 1938.

Bassett-Lowke subsequently had Trix produce more realistic coaches that were described as "scale length". The company also, shortly before WWII, introduced their Flying Scotsman and streamlined Coronation which, although leaving a lot to be desired by present day standards, were streets ahead of what Trix had offered previously.

My coaches are the improved 1936 type (not the Bassett-Lowke "scale length" ones, although I do have some Post-War tinplate Trix BR coaches, which are similar). They are a bit the worse for wear, but the bogies and, most importantly, the printed tinplate sides, are in very good condition. My first impressions were that the models, if you can call them that, are rather crude, but the quality both of materials and of the printing on the sides is exceptional. The couplings, unfortunately, do not couple to Hornby Dublo, unlike Post-War Trix, so I will have to do something about that. The steamroller wheels, with their huge flanges, won't go through Dublo pointwork or go over Dublo uncoupling ramps, but I have enough spare Dublo wheels to take care of that problem. A couple of the sides and ends have dents to be removed, but the main work will be straightening out the roofs, some of which are badly dented and a bit rusty. That shouldn't be too difficult though, as the roofs have no detailing on them at all, not even small indentations to represent ventilators.

Here they are:

 

I should be able to repair it, as the metal is bent rather than creased, and the paintwork is intact. The fact that the ends are a separate piece of metal from the rest of the body should make things a bit easier too. As far as the acetate windows are concerned, they have shrunk with age and a couple of end windows have no acetate on them. I'll try to clean them up and see how I go - hopefully they will look presentable afterwards. I don't want to replace them with clear plastic, as it would spoil the patina you refer to and, in any case, with coaches like these, you don't need the sort of finish you would get with a perfect scale model.

The LMS ones are in the best condition of the lot - I could probably get away with just giving them a clean. The LNER ones are almost as good condition, but their roofs are dented and beginning to rust. The Southern coach actually looks worse in the photo than in real life, except for the roof, which is dented and the paint crazed. I am fortunate though that the sides of all of them are in pretty good condition, considering they are around 80 years old.

It will be some time before I start on them though, as I have quite a few projects (railway and others) on hand at the moment.

Jim