Exhibition
Layouts from around the World
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Trix
Exhibition layouts in the early years !
1935 to 1939
1935
Note
the coaches are pre-production models with 3 windows in each end. These were not
on the final model which has a solid end. |
On 3rd March 1935 Trix Express trains were first
presented to the public at the Leipzig Trade fair. The
trade stand included a layout which is shown in the picture alongside and
below. This is the
very first picture of a Trix Layout ever ! |
The photo alongside is from the 1935 layout at the
Leipzig Trade Fair set up in the Petershof by the United Toy manufacturing
company of Nurenberg, the owners of the Trix brand. It shows the Trix Express items available at that
time. Some of these were pre-production models Note the track is multi-coloured. This was not put into production, instead
plain black was chosen with which we are all familiar. A photo of this pre-production track is below:- |
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Autumn 1935
The above
photo is with thanks to the Bassett-Lowke Society
The above photo is from a 1935 promotional leaflet by
Bassett-Lowke for the new “Twin Trains”. |
The photo on the left is from a 1935 promotional leaflet
by Bassett-Lowke for the new “Twin Trains”. It shows the Trix Express items available at that
time. It may be the layout at Leipzig
in September 1935. In the background there is an 0-4-0 loco with pantographs
which was first shown to the public at the autumn trade fair |
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1936 This exhibition
picture I have is probably the first Trix Twin layout ever : taken at the
British industries Fair in 1936. The buildings are the
early wooden type, similar to Trix Express, but in the far background a TTR
terminal station can be seen, this was only made in England. Locos
and rolling stock are familiar LMS and LNER models |
An exhibition layout from 1936 Is this the first picture
of a Trix Twin layout with English
outline stock ? |
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The photo on the
right shows a close up of the top left
part of the picture above. This is probably
the first picture of the LMS 0-4-0 passenger set shown in public ! The loco has disc wheels ! |
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Above a 1936 Trix Express layout |
The earliest
picture I have of a Trix layout from Germany, is also taken in 1936 !! This Trix Express
layout already had progressed from a table top design to include scenery and even
a small group of buildings, probably made of wood, in the centre of the
layout. At the top one can see an
industrial scene. |
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A 1936 display layout by Bassett-Lowke |
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The gradient at the back centre I calculate to be 6%, apparently new
locos could pull up coaches !! Note
the station on the left, this is a prototype of a terminal station, intended
to be made for Trix but never put into production
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1938 |
Below a Trix Twin trade stand with
a layout in 1938 |
The layout on the right
was part of TTR presentation at the British Industries Fair (BIF) in the
Spring of 1938. This annual
exhibition was a major event where all British manufacturers exhibited their
wares to the trade. Orders were
eagerly sought for the newest models presented to the public for the first
time, although the public was not allowed entry; it was trade only. Indeed some
prototypes were shown that were never put into production. |
Below
the layout in the foreground above |
On the right in the picture one can see the mixture of
early 1936 buildings and latter Manyways structures. Near the front is the
early carriage shed, in the middle the straight footbridge whilst in the far
back is the angular bridge. Clearly
being marketed at the same time |
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1938 |
Part of an exhibition layout Showing the new MANYWAYS station units |
An incredible find !! |
The layout opposite was found by
Rainer Haug. It was made by the German
Trix Express company in 1937/8 as an exhibition layout, probably as a shop
display. To this day it is complete
with track, buildings and scenery and
in working condition. An
interesting feature is the way the twin circles meet in the front of the
picture. Here the trains are automatically controlled via a block control
system, introduced first in Germany in the 30’s and then by TTR in England in
the 1950’s My
thanks to Rainer for sharing the picture with us. |
A fantastic large Trix Twin layout was on show in 1939 at the BIF |
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The show was
between 20th February and 3rd March 1939 |
Above one can see a
planned development of the Manyways station buildings with shop fronts added
to the buildings. Although they were never put into production. On the left the
layout shows the gravity fed shunting yard. The station above is in the far
top left of the picture. In the front there is a Southern tank pulling two UD
tank wagons. It is interesting
to note the wires were clearly shown on top of the layout to explain how to
wire up the layout. Unlike the German
layouts of the time there was no scenery.
This approach to demonstrate TTR is still the practice to day by most
exhibitors, 65 years on !! |
Trade Layouts, (at the BIF for example), were sometimes designed to show the wiring to illustrate the automatic characteristics of TTR layouts. The wiring was laid neatly on top of the table. |
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If you have any pre-war pictures of Trix layouts please send copies
to me. I would love to share them with other enthusiasts
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