This period seemed to mark the start of a new surge in model production, possibly as a result of the introduction in 1982 of a new Branch Manager in Simon Kohler. Before 1980, eight models had been produced for sale through Hornby, but from 1980 another thirteen Minitrix models would become available, eight steam locomotives and five diesels. In my opinion this collection of models represent the true quality that Minitrix brought to the N Gauge model railway scene. Detailing for the time is excellent, although not nearly is good as models produced 40 years later. On the other hand, the quality of the engineering is superb, and many of these models are still running on many a layout.

By this time, Minitrix had already started to add EMS to selected locos, a system that allowed two locos to be controlled on the same track simultaneously. A clue to whether a particular later model could be converted to EMS was the way it was wired. On models of steam locomotives for example, the default situation was to have one wire from the tender to the loco would provide the motor with the positive feed from the right-hand tender pickups. The earth connection was usually made via the drawbar and a spring. But models designed for EMS instead had a positive pickup with two leads: one to join the loco positive feed with the tender and one to pass the power back to the motor in the loco. The third (I assume) was for the negative feed to the motor. All of the 4-6-2 locos could be converted to EMS as well as the 9Fs. The ‘Warships’ also had the capability, but curiously not the Class 47s.

There seems to have been a change after this time in the way that models were painted. Some key places which require good electrical contact seem to have been sprayed with a dusting of a black paint. Maybe it was electrically conductive paint, but I have found significant improvement in running some never used old models by removing this paint from the various important contacts including the draw bar contacts; motor connection to earth on the 4-6-2 locos; the front bogie sweeper on the 4-6-2s; and the circuit board earth contact to the inner chassis on the Class 27s and 42 diesels.

1980 - A New Era Begins with 2 New Models

The headline addition to the range in 1980 was the A4 Pacific ‘Mallard’ in BR green (N211).  I remember the small leaflet of the time - every single component laid out on engineering paper to emphasise the quality of the construction of these models, including numerous improvements over the earlier ‘Britannia’ Pacific of 1973. The crosshead and main crank pin were now manufactured out of plastic, the crank pin fitting into a square hole on the centre drive wheel (the same arrangement had been used of the 9F and 2MTs). The front bogie wheels now had spoked wheels, rather than those horrible tiny disc wheels of the early ‘Britannia’ models, but again, similar to the 9F and 2MTs. However, the 1980 version of the ‘Mallard’ came in the lighter green shade of paint seen on early ‘Britannia’ and ‘Evening Star’ models rather than the more prototypically correct darker green used on later models.

N211 Mallard

Anyone would be forgiven for thinking the ‘Mallard’ shared the same chassis with the 1973 ‘Britannia’, but they are not the same. This new addition to the steam loco line-up was the world speed record breaking locomotive from 1938, and presumably the engineers wanted the model had to reflect this and run faster than their ‘Britannia’. The gearing is different, the Mallard had an overall gear reduction of 22:1 which meant that the motor had to turn 22 times to turn the drive wheels through 360˚, whereas the motor in the ‘Britannia’ had to spin 24.429 times per turn of the driving wheels. Assuming the motors spun at the same rate, the ‘Mallard’ would therefore run about 10% faster than the ‘Britannia’. For the technically minded, the reduction from the worm gear is 19:1 on the ‘Britannia’. The next reduction onto the drive wheel is 18:14. For the ‘Mallard’ the reduction figures are 15:1 and 22:15. Because of the different sizes of cogs, the spindles had to be located in different places on the chassis.

The model has plastic moulded brake shoes hovering near to the wheels. To support them, the brass base plate that retains the axles in their positions in the Britannia, is now replaced with a plastic moulded one. These are quite fragile and suffer in the hands of an overenthusiastic screwdriver operator. Although at first glance the chassis of the original Britannia and the new Mallard chassis apper to be the same, they have a number of significnat differences. From now on the Pacifics woud be manufactured with the new version. of the chassis.

Hornby Minitrix N211 'Mallard' - shown here in the later dark Brunswick Green Livery. 
The 1980 model had the much lighter green of the early Britannia.

Compared to anything else that was available to British N Gauge collectors at the time, this new model was the business.  It looked smart, it had a highly recognisable shape and history, and it came presented in a smart, new-style clear plastic box with a a full depth lid, and a blow-moulded protective insert which held the loco firmly in place.  You could see the quality before even opening the box.

The ‘Mallard’ looks superb when running smoothly and has plenty of electrical pickups to ride the points and track imperfections, including two axles for positive and two axles for negative on the tender. I believe that this model was one of the first Hornby Minitrix locos to be supplied in the new wide plastic case, but I have no way of knowing that for certain. In any event, my model bought in April 1980 was supplied like that. Incidentally, this model was reviewed by Malcolm Hall in the Winter (1980) issue of the NGS Journal on page 107.

1980 also saw the release of another version of the Class 27 diesel, N212 in BR blue, numbered 27014. This model was of course included in the German Minitrix catalogue all the way back in 1970, though the illustration in that catalogue was of a drawing rather than a photograph. I have seen a photograph of the blue Class 27 dated 1967 and displayed in the narrow Perspex boxes Minitrix used at the time. It had a small rectangle of yellow at the front and rear which is not visible from the side view, and displayed the number D5370. I have yet to find this listed in any catalogue and presumably up until 1980, it had only ever been prodcued by British Trix. (See the first page of this essay). So 1980 was the first time that this particular Class 27 model appeared in the Hornby Minitrix line-up.

Finally for 1980, a mystery! At some point, the ‘Britannia’ had a complete facelift and adopted the same chassis, wheels, axles, and gearing that was used for the ‘Mallard’. It was also painted using the correct Brunswick Green paint. The main crank pin was now the plastic version with the square peg to fit into the square hole in the centre wheel, though the tiny stamped metal sliding crosshead remained.

It seems that for a while, although Hornby kept the same N203 code number for the new Britaania, Minitrix distinguished it from the original version with a slightly different number: 51-2037-10. I have a data sheet for the Mallard that I purchased as new in April 1980 that also applies to ‘Britannia’, which has the new Britannia number at the top. The data sheet is dated Feb 1980, and the Minitrix 1981 catalogue also shows the new number.  Confusingly both the Minitrix and Hornby catalogues illustrate the new model with a photo of the old model !  The difference is easy to spot in the photos - the old version has the smaller solid disc front bogey wheels - and these photos remained in new catalogues catalogues for at least the next two years (I have the 82/83 catlogue still showing the picture of the old Britannia). The 1985 catalog shows the new Boadicea image with captions indicating the two vaieties. Presumably, there was plenty of stock of the older models around, and publishing the existence of a much newer, brighter model would devalue the old stock. I am guessing. 

So the precise date of the change from the old to new chassis remains an enigma to me at present. I am inclined to think early 1980, but why they would paint my 1980 ‘Mallard’ in the horrible light green colour in 1980 when my new style ‘Britannia’ received the nicer dark green shade does not seem to fit with this. In fact, my new chassis dark green ‘Britannia’ was bought in the green/yellow Minitrix box with a data sheet dated September 1982.  The enigma is probably not difficult to solve.  Shops would simply have carried on selling whatever Britannia that they had in stock, and the new variety would find its way onto the shelves in due course.

Not a great deal of effort would have gone into manufacturing this new variation.  The new style chassis was already in use for the Mallard and for the German Schnellzug-Dampflok BR01 (12076).  The same body fitted.  Everything apart from the valve gear - which required a plastic crankpin to be fitted instead of the metal splined crankpin.  Consequently there would be no need to manufacture the wheels, cogs, chassis etc for the newer style Britannia.  That is a big saving.

Two Britannias, the later dark green version on the left. 
Some documents suggest that the change was being planned in 1980, but it may have reached the shelves later.

1982 - 1983

N213 Ivatt 2-6-0 with Tender in Brunswick Green - 46406 and 46402

A welcome return of the Ivatt 2-6-0 which appeared as one of the models for Hornby Minitrix in their first (1973) catalogue. The new model - Hornby N213 has the Minitrix number 51-2038-00, is in the correct Brunswick green.  It looks smart - if you can find one.  Even rarer is a version that had cab number 46402, with model number 51-2038-50, described more fully later on.

N213 The Brunswick Green 2-6-0 Ivatt.  This is 46406. 
An otherwise identical 46402 variation was produced 3 years later.

N210 - The Class 47 County of Norfolk - 51-2966-00

On the diesel front, one Minitrix model that made its first appearance in the German Trix catalogue for 1981, is N210, the Class 47 diesel-electric locomotive, number 47170, ‘County of Norfolk’ (though oddly, the image in the catalogue has the nameplate ‘Vulcan’). The German Minitrix Catalogue had a similar French outline model (CC 6500) that won a title for French ‘model of the year’ in 1980, and it appears that the Class 47 used the chassis from the French locomotive under a new body shell.

N210 County of Norfolk. The first of 4 British Class 47s to be released by Minitrix.

This model is attractive and well-engineered. It has four driven axles, and the chassis neatly encloses the motor without preventing air circulation, resulting in smooth, quiet operation at all speeds. There are four electrical pick-ups on each side of the loco, and the overall design and construction are a few steps up from the earlier Minitrix diesels, resulting in something that looks much closer to the real thing. The model looks in scale and is really only a tiny fraction wider than more current models, so unlike the earlier Class 27s and ‘Warship’ models, the Minitrix Class 47 doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb on a modern layout. The upper circuit board that provides the diodes for the directional lights (and supports the overhead pantographs for the French model) can even be partially sacrificed to make room in the roof for a slim DCC chip. One axle is fitted with tyres for adhesion, but its sheer weight means that it is never struggling for grip.

There are some tiny retaining clips above the battery box that help to hold the body in place, and if these are not gently released first, it is possible to break away pieces of the plastic body. The previous owner of one of my models seems to have done this, resulting in a rather nibbled edge to the body, which can be sen in the above photo!

On 20th October 1982, the real 47541 class 47 loco was named ‘The Queen Mother’.  This was fortuitous for Hornby who quickly released their own model version - but not in time for Christmas.   While broadly similar to ‘County of Norfolk’ described above, it had smaller cab numbers and a smaller double arrow logo. The model number was initially 51-2966-50, but technical data sheet of April 1987 shows the final model number 51-2958-00.

The 1983 release of the Hornby Minitrix Queen Mother Class 47 Loco.

The Minitrix Class 47 'County of Norfolk' was reviewed in the NGS Journal, on page 26 of the Spring, 1983 issue.

N214 Sir Nigel Gresley - A4 Class, Blue # 4498

Sometime after both the Hornby and the German Minitrix Catalogues were published in 1982, N214 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ in LNER garter blue came onto the scene. Coincidentally or otherwise, the real locomotive could be seen running up and down the Settle to Carlisle line on summer weekends at about this time, making its appearance as a model particularly welcome. There was very little difference between this model and the earlier ‘Mallard’ apart from the obvious red painted wheels, but it was a popular addition to the range of British steam locomotives available in N gauge, which is what Hornby were reported to have wanted to achieve with their relationship with German Minitrix.

N214 Sir Nigel Gresley

The Minitrix A4s could be prone to slipping their quartering after extended use. While it was easy to twist the wheel back into place on the axles, such wheels would often shift again. The first signs would be that the loco would develop a small ‘wobble’ as it sped on its way. Easily fixed with Loctite 603 and a couple of rectangular block back to back gauges. The chassis and the tender both have recessed areas presumably intended to house grain of wheat light bulb. There is nowhere for light to emerge from the front of the loco, but there is a small lens at the top right corner of the tender. However, bulbs and wires are not fitted to either end of the models, though there is enough space in the tender for an ECM circuit board if desired.

1985

All seemed to be quiet in 1983-1984, although the models were selling well in the shops, in spite of being much more expensive than competitiors like Lima.   Go into a model shop to look for the Hornby Minitrix range, and from my own experience, they would look up information in the German Minitrix Catalogue. In the 1985/86 English edition of the German Minitrix catalogue, the British models were not shown on the pages with the continental models. Instead of the luxury of seeing five descriptions and full-size photos of model locos per page, the British and American models were all bundled together onto a single page: 10 lines each of three small photos with a small caption that provided the name and model number.

However, two very welcome additions to the Hornby line-up were introduced, I assume at very little set-up cost to the manufacturers in Germany.  Both were new versions of existing models.  Not so easy to find nowadays, and quite rare even then.  One is a renamed and renumbered version of the later Britania - Boadicea; the other is a new version of the Green Ivatt 2-6-0 & Tender.  #46402

N217 Boadicea

N217 - Boadicea No. 70036. 
Identical to the re-vamped Britannia, but a great addition to the popular Pacific locos from Hornby.

While mechanically identical to the updated ‘Britannia’, N217, ‘Boadicea’ was a brand new introduction to the range of N gauge steam locomotives. It is quite rare, having had a production run of just two years, and it sports the correct shade of Brunswick green, spoked front bogies, plastic crank pin on the centre drive wheel, and the higher gearing of the A3 and A4 Pacifics.

I have found that it is not unusual for the information in catalogues to be slightly out of step with the actual models, and the numbers 51-2037-10 and 51-2037-50 have both been used for the Britannia-class locos, I think this is simply an error introduced in the catalogues. Evidence suggests that the later ‘Britannia’ was given the number 51-2037-10, and the new ‘Boadicea’ was given the number 51-2037-50 until they finally allocated the number 51-2042-00.

N213 Variation - Cab Number 46402

Quietly slipping into the range of British Minitrix steam locomotives is a new Ivatt 2MT.  This is identical to the earlier N213 except for the cab number, and I have no idea whether it was sold as Hornby Minitrix or just by the German Minitrix company. All I know is that I have seen photographs of this model being sold on eBay a few times. Eventually, I found a proper reference to it in the English version of the 1985/86 Minitrix Catalogue, shown under the photo of the original 46406 model, but in the caption identifying two variants, one of which places the 46402 number with the model code 51-2038-50.

The actual model may have appeared later, but the only reference that I have seen is in Minitrix Catalogue sheets in 1985, so I have included it with the Britannia.  I've since discovered that Pat Hammond has this model listed as 1985 as well.  You have to be sharp eyed to spot this uncommon model.   It is so rare that I haven't managed to locate a good quality version of it yet.  The photo below is my 46406 with the number suitably modified !

This model may have been slipped into the Hornby N213 boxes rather than the 46406.  I don't know.  But it is quite likely that if it did, owners would not be aware that there is anything special about it  !

Ivatt 2-6-0 with tender - #46402 (mockup)