The history of the Trix model railway system is very complicated and, with its twists and turns, it is a fascinating one to study. It started out as a 3-rail 14V AC coarse scale system and finished up 2-rail fine scale with 12V DC operation. At times its owners could not decide whether it was an 00 or an H0 scale and the confusion did nothing to improve sales. The company changed hands many times and the product was renamed on almost as many occasions. The story is further complicated by its links with the German Trix system and Liliput of Austria.

The Trix Twin Railway took its name from the fact that one could operate two trains on the same piece of track. This was achieved by having three rail track with the centre rail acting as a common return. The left-hand outer rail was then used by one locomotive to collect current and the right outer rail by another loco. When overhead catenary was introduced it became possible to run three trains on the same track!

Trix was a system invented and initially made in Germany but, soon afterwards, made in Britain through the involvement of W.J.Bassett-Lowke.

Stephan Bing left the famous family toy making firm and, in 1928, purchased the toy making business of Andreas Fortner. Bing brought to his new venture a number of colleagues including Siegfried Kahn who became his general manager and designer of his new range of toys. A construction toy, along the lines of Meccano, was launched in 1930 under the name of Trix and proved very successful. In order to make this system in Britain, Trix Ltd was formed in 1932.

The actual manufacture took place at Winteringham Ltd; an associate company of Bassett-Lowke Ltd. The MD at the factory was James Mackenzie and he had as his assistant Robert Bindon Blood, a keen model railway man who was responsible for the design of some of the finest locomotives made by Bassett-Lowke Ltd.

In 1932 Stephan Bing’s son Franz emigrated to Britain and joined the fledgling company, organising sales. About this time Mettoy Ltd, another toy manufacturer who would later be remembered for Corgi toys and Playcraft model railways, started up in the basement of Winteringham Ltd with Winteringham doing the manufacturing for them. In 1935, a new 00 scale model railway system called Trix Express was launched in Germany by Stephan Bing and, by the end of the year, was being imported to the UK by Trix Ltd. Initially it was sold here as ‘Bassett-Lowke Twin-Train Table Railway’ and production of a British version was soon started at Winteringham Ltd in Northampton and launched by Trix Ltd in time for Christmas 1936.

Like the German version, design was built around an 0-4-0 14V AC electric mechanism. The locomotives had diecast bodies while rolling stock was tinplate and wood was largely used for lineside buildings.

1937 saw considerable expansion of the Trix Twin Railway and, to keep the public informed, The TTR Gazette was published from late 1937. The first Pacific locomotives arrived in 1938 but this was the year the rival Hornby Dublo system was launched with its better looking models.

Anti-Semitic legislation in Germany forced Stephan Bing and his partners to sell their German company. Their associate Ernst Voelk, who had also bought the Distler toy company in Nuremberg, purchased it. The partners and Kahn emigrated to Britain.

War halted production as Winteringham Ltd transferred its attention to the war effort. In 1941, Winteringham Ltd got together with Trix Ltd and formed Precision Models Ltd to take over the production of the Trix range. The following year, Trix Ltd took a controlling interest in Precision Models Ltd and effectively separated the former Winteringham factory from Bassett-Lowke’s control.

The Trix trains were not to reappear until 1948 and by then had the Peco type automatic couplings fitted. It was at this time that the fateful decision was made to stick with 14V AC 3-rail operation and coarse wheels, for the sake of existing customers; a decision that was to condemn Trix to a very slow death and to bankrupt companies along the way.

Export was the first priority after the war and American outline models were produced. However, shortage of materials was the company’s biggest problem. Ahead of their rivals, Trix adopted the new BR liveries in 1950 but the public wanted more realism in model design. They were getting it from Hornby Dublo and Tri-ang but not from Trix. In 1952 the German company decided it was time to pull out of its involvement with Trix Ltd and sold its shares. The following year W.J.Bassett-Lowke resigned from the boards of both Trix Ltd and Precision Models Ltd.

Trix Ltd limped along but with very low profits there was no money to invest in the new models needed to reform the system. They managed to produce a 12V DC junior train set in 1955 but a complete 12V DC system was needed. By the end of 1956 the financial problems peaked and there was no way out but to sell the company. In February 1957 the Trix group was bought by Ewart Holdings Ltd.

From 1957 both Trix Ltd and Precision Models Ltd had a completely new board of Directors and a fresh start was feasible. The conversion to 12V DC continued, fibre base track was introduced and an excellent range of new locomotives was designed. The only problem was: they were to be in the smaller H0 scale! Furthermore, 3-rail operation was retained and so too were those horrible coarse wheels.

New models needed new capital and money was borrowed. With insufficient money coming in the financial position worsened and in 1958 Ewart Holdings collapsed. A major creditor was Dufay Ltd who in November 1958 acquired the assets of Trix Ltd and Precision Models Ltd. Trix Products Ltd took over the design and marketing of the Trix range and in 1960 Dufay moved Trix production to Birmingham.

In 1958 Ernst Rozsa had established a company to import Liliput models from Austria. His company was called Miniature Constructions and assembled some of the Austrian models in the UK. He persuaded Liliput to make an 00 model of the Class AL1 E3000 for them. Rozsa joined Trix in 1961 and took with him the E3000 model.

Poor sales in 1960 and 1961 lead to Dufay closing down Trix production in order to save damaging the rest of their group and Trix was prepared for sale. In 1962 the company was sold to Alvus Investments & Trading Ltd who planned to restart production of Trix in High Wycombe but only the coach moulding tools were made. At about this time it was reported that Trix models were produced to a scale of 3.89mm to the foot.

In April 1963 British Celanese (part of the Courtaulds Group) formed British Trix Ltd and purchased the goodwill and patents of Trix Products Ltd for £1 and a production base was set up at the British Celanese factory in Wrexham. Ernst Rozsa was placed in charge of design and development but later took full responsibility for production. The decision was taken to dump the stocks of tinplate and 14V AC models and they were buried in a large hole on the Wrexham factory site.

To swell the range quickly a lot of models were bought in from Continental manufacturers and repackaged. I964 was a good year but by 1965 Courtaulds were inviting Lines Bros. to take Trix off their hands. Lines Bros. turned down the offer. Kit locomotives and rolling stock were introduced that year and sold well and in 1967 N gauge Minitrix models for the British market were being made in the Wrexham factory.

Despite a number of successes, the financial problems continued and at the end of 1967 the plug was once again pulled. Quickly the German Trix company acquired the assets of British Trix and a company called Thernglade Ltd was acquired to take over production. Rozsa was a Director of the new company and the product was renamed ‘Trix Trains’. This period was famed for the excellent LNER Pacific locomotives they produced in 00 scale.

A number of German toy company ownership changes lead to a decision to phase out model railway production at Wrexham from 1971. The Minitrix tools were bought by the German Trix company and in 1973 Rovex Ltd became the importers of the range which was renamed Hornby Minitrix. Meanwhile Thernglade continued toy production until the factory closed in 1973.

Rozsa had salvaged the model railway side of the business and purchased stock and spares. He set up a mail order business under the name Berwyn Hobbies Supplies while Liliput of Austria purchased the British model tools owned by Trix of Germany. In 1974 Rozsa formed Liliput Model Railways (UK) Ltd and continued to assemble former British Trix models from parts supplied by Liliput. This continued until 1992 when the supply of parts finally dried up. Some parts and tools were acquired by Dapol Ltd and others were retained by Liliput which was bought by Kader in 1993. Kader, a Chinese company who owned the American Bachmann company, had established Bachmann Industries Europe Ltd in Britain to market British outline models made from the former Mainline Railways tools which it owned. With the Liliput tools now in their possession, the former British Trix A4 model formed the basis of the Class A4 models currently sold by Bachmann.

As we said at the beginning, Trix has a very complicated history!

The excellent book The History of Trix H0/00 Model Railways in Britain by Tony Matthewman, which formed the basis of the above potted history, is strongly recommended to anyone wishing to study the subject. It was published by New Cavendish Books (ISBN 0-904568-76-8).