The End of an Era.

Simon Kohler was branch manager at Hornby from 1982, and part of his remit included the Minitrix part of the company.  In an article that he wrote entitled "It’s a Small World" on the Hornby website, he described how he had worked with the Minitrix factory in Germany in order to help develop new models for the British market using existing tooling as far as possible.  I suppose that for such a small market it was important to keep the costs down, and using an existing chassis for a new model was one very effective way of making sure that models could be manufactured. Compromises would have to be made and without them the models would never have been made.  So for example the A4 Mallard and Gresely, the Britannia and Boadicea all used the same chassis;  The 9F used the Britannia body moulding.

He recognised that to keep Hornby N Gauge alive, new models were needed, but these compromises had to be made and he would meet with Minitrix staff every year.  In 1986 there was a determined effort to add a brand new model and plans for an A3 and some Gresley coaches were presented to the Minitrix team, and they were convinced that the same Pacific Chassis could be used for a new Flying Scotsman locomotive as was used for the later Britannias and the A4s.

Minitrix agreed and started the process of  production.  According to Pat Hammond in the Story of Rovex Vol 3, Hornby allocated 3 numbers for new versions of the A3 locomotive:  N215, N216 and N218 were allocated to ‘Cisero’, ‘Flying Scotsman’, and ‘Windsor Lad’ respectively.

However, the British Economy had other ideas.  Inflation was almost out of control and the exchange rate and import costs between UK and Germany made the partnership between Hornby and Minitrix impossible. 

So in January 1987, Hornby ceased their partnership with Minitrix.

But Minitrix still had unfinished business with the plans which they had formed with Hornby.  Following the success of the County of Norfolk and The Queen Mother Class 27 Locomotives, it only took new paintwork to produce two additional very distinctive varieties of this model: The Railfreight Grey 51-2024-00 (or 12024) and the Intercity 51-2025-00 (or 12025).   Plans for these also existed at Hornby's end as two additional Class 47s were allocated Hornby Numbers N220 and N221

These Class 47s are superb.  They are heavy, runs smoothly and farily quietly, have 8 wheel electrical pick-up and the same 8 wheels are driven.  One axle has traction tyres.  These beasts will haul anything and are very easy to convert to DCC.

The two additional class 47 locomotives, introduced after Hornby stopped marketing Minitrix models - although all of the models on this page would have been instigated by Hornby.

In July 1987, Minitrix produced what I believe to be their first leaflet of purely British outline models intended just for the British market since the 1970/71 offering from Thernglade. This new 1987 Catalogue - The Fascinating World of Model Railways 1:160 scale, 9mm gauge - contained the complete range of British locos that were currently available, all of the ones that had been available from Hornby, plus the two brand new ones - shown above.

Although the green 2-6-0 Ivatt loco is shown, the 46402 variety is not identified.  Neither are the A3 models that had been planned and on which the production process had already begun.

1988

In the 1988/89 Minitrix Catalogue, the British locos are once again listed with all of the others, subdivided into steam and diesels. At the top of the diesel page with the 8 British models is a simple heading: Limited Availability. Shown are the 4 Class 47, 2 Class 27s and 2 Warships.  At the top of the page with the British steam locomotives are two slots. The first hasn’t got a picture but has a caption for the A3 Pacific ‘Flying Scotsman’ in British Railways green. The second slot has the same caption but this time a picture of an unidentified silver A3 locomotive. At the time of printing at least, the details of the two versions of Flying Scotsman do not appear to have been finalised.

Ultimately the two locomotives produced were 51-2949-00 ‘Flying Scotsman’ in British Railways green and 51-2950-00 ‘Flying Scotsman’ in LNER apple green. The chassis is the same as the one used on the A4s and later Britannia class Pacifics, albeit with slight differences in the sliding valve gears to better match those on the real A3s. The cylinders, moulded in plastic, are also suitably modified.

The two A3 Scotsmen

The British Railways 60103 version looks good in the proper shade of Brunswick green, and alongside the impressive level of body detail, even for 30-year-old models.  The don't stand up to really close scrutiny when compared to (say) my Farish North Eastern - except when removed from the track when the rather large wheel flanges make the wheels look far too large.  On the track this is not such an issue and has proved to be an excellent runner even on Peco code 55 track and points.

Both version of the model have three wires to the tender indicating a readiness for the EMS circuit board if desired. Although the apple green livery seen on the LNER version of ‘Flying Scotsman’ isn’t my favourite colour, it still looks very smart with its painted wheels and neat lining.

DCC is an easy addition to the Minitrix Flying Scotsman with the chip located above the worm drive - although the tender is the obvious place, it then needs 4 wires to link tender to loco and it becomes cumbersome and affects the flexibility of the coupling.

The Minitrix A3 Pacifics were reviewed by Andy Calvert in the NGS Journal in 1988, in issue number 5, on page 152.

The Ghosts of British-Outline Minitrix

Hornby stopped their association with Minitrix in January 1987, and this began a rapid decline in the availability of the models. Some were still produced and imported by various companies – one of which was Bachmann, who eventually bought up and began developing the Graham Farish range of N gauge models. This happened around the same time that Trix Mangold was bought out by Marklin. With different companies having different priorities, it seems that the time and enthusiasm for a British range of Minitrix models had dwindled.

Which is odd, because they are still sought after on on-line auctions. For collectors, obtaining the full UK range of 25 models (give or take a few early variation) is an attractive target. They are sturdily built and are easy to dismantle, clean and reassemble. Most models can be fitted with DCC without too much fuss and with the motor and drive gear in the loco, the pulling power is exceptional. Some spare parts are still available – there are many on-line suppliers of Trix parts, and 3D printing has solved the problem for some of the more fragile pieces – the plastic cross heads and crank pins are now readily available. Good quality replacement motors are particularly difficult to find though, and substitutes elude me as the spindle diameter is an odd size, but prudent purchases of non-running models can provide rich pickings. A couple of years ago I bought a non running Scotsman which turned out to be only broken wires and was in better condition than my own model which needed new valve gear. 

As for ‘new’ British Minitrix models, there are plenty to be had on on-line auctions. Dads who in the 1980s decided to rekindle a boyhood desire to have the sort of train layout that was on the covers of magazines, would buy a few locos and lovingly put them to one side until the layout was built. Life happened since then, but the layout didn’t.

I love getting these old models, taking them apart and rejuvenating tired, worn and poor running locos to full health, whether they are mine or recent acquisitions. For me, this is all part of the hobby – the Minitrix models are well engineered and a delight to work with.

I have just counted - in my collection I have 7 on-line model purchases which turned out to be pristine, and which I have checked over, run around the track a few times and carefully put to one side. I have fitted DCC chips to all of them and mostly they sit in their boxes waiting for the next time to be let out to exercise.

Given the quality of the models, 60103 and 4472 Flying Scotsman make a fine finale to the Minitrix story. I love the appearance of the Minitrix Scotsman more than any other, but the favourite of my regular runners has to be the 9F. I know this because there is alway one on my layout. 

The Scotsmen get tidied away in their box to remain pristine for as long as possible. Yes, I know that the 9F has a sawn-off Britannia body, its centre drive wheel has a flange, the cylinders are horizontal and its valve gear demands that platforms have a larger gap than is required by other locos.  I still don’t care. I reckon I must be an impressionist modeller because I have 5 of these beasts and to me, they sure create the right impression of a large heavy duty steam work horse.  Each model is capable of hauling a 12 car passenger train up a 2% gradient with a 12” radius curve without any wheel slip.  Probably more.  I only have 12 carriages.

The Minitrix models are not the only ones that I have on my layout. But they are the ones that give me the most enjoyment.