Exhibition Layouts from around the World

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 3^rd 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:-

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

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 ?

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 !

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.

A 1936 display layout by Bassett-Lowke

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

The photo on the left is from Practical Mechanics. Part of the article describing the station states :- The picture above shows the trains entering at the first floor level with the ground floor being used for cars. The facing side of the building has brick on the bottom and top bands with the centre printed celluloid to see the trains inside. This would be a striking model, what a pity it was not put into production.

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
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
The show was between 20^th February and 3^rd 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.

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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