The German Trix Era - Before Hornby (Part 1 - 1968 - 1970)

So this is where the story of the British outline Minitrix models starts in earnest.  German Trix had bought the tooling, resources and factory  from the British Trix company and they had retained some of their key staff.  Presumably with the company they acquired the tools and the technology to produce their own plastic moulded bodies.  Retaining the staff meant that they had the skills to continue production.

In order to continue production of their own models, Minitrix created a company called Thernglade Ltd, which was formed specifically to continue the production of models at Wrexham - including the British N gauge models. So for a couple of years, Thernglade in N Wales was manufacturing British Outline plastic moulded bodies for a range of Minitrix chasses that were manufactured in Germany for sale in Britain.  All owned by the German Trix / Minitrix company.  No confusion any more.  Trix and Minitrix were one organisation.

After a couple of years, German Trix were in a position to be able to continue all of its production in Germany, and so they took back control from Thernglade.  The tooling went to Germany and the production at Wrexham was stopped.  But the manufacture of high quality N gauge models had taken a big leap forward.

1968

Recently (Dec 2023), I came across a '68 catalogue for Minitrix for sale on ebay. It had some shots of a few of the pages inside, one of which was headed 'British Rail Locomotives'which listed the four diesel locomotives which also appeared in the Thernglade Cataloge 2 years later and reproduced below.

Also on the same page are three complete trains of locos and carriages that were made available. I actually have a copy of the 1968 Katalog which doesn't have this page - but that 'K' gives the clue. Mine is not the english Catalogue !.

During this period between 1968 and the end of 1972, six potential British models had been announced in the catalogues from MiniTrix and/or Thernglade.  Models would be sold in narrow, clear plastic boxes with a clear clip-on lid. The sequence as near as I have been able to establish is described  below, and continues on the page detailing developments between 1971 to 1972. 

1969

The first Type 2 Diesel - a green BR Class 27 - appeared as a new item in the Minitrix Catalogue, Part No 51-2940-00.  As far as I can tell, this is exactly the same model that was offered by Courtauld's British Trix group, and shown in one of the 1968 catalogues - here making its third appearance - as a new model - this time for the company that (I believe) manufactured its chassis in the first place.

The Green Class 27 - Robust and fast.  Ideal for a starter layout.
Adopted 'as-is' by Hornby Minitrix in 1973

1970

Thernglade Ltd now set about the task of developing a range of models for the British Model Rail enthusiasts and produced a catalogue titled 'Minitrix N Gauge 1970/71'.  Inside it had 6 'British' Models on offer. All of these will look familiar to the Hornby Minitrix enthusiasts, as all of them in one form or another would make their way into the Hornby Catalogue.  The Thernglade Catalogue is interesting in that some of the images are anticipating what the company intended to have available - leaving the catalogue designers to do the best with what they had at the time.

The two right hand columns below are my reconstruction of a page from the Thernglade 'Minitrix' N gauge catalogue for 1970/71, showing pictures of similar later models and my re-typing of the original text.

The blue text on the left show my additional notes.

The 1970/71 Minitrix catalogue showed 6 British models which were to become available to the UK market.    In the extract on the right, I have quoted the captions and substituted my own photos for the original catalogue images.  It gives an impression of what UK models were to be made available.  The text is a faithful reproduction of what was printed in the catalogue. The 2 Class 27 models had been in production since about 1967, although this is the first catalogue that I have found which identifies the blue version, The green model has the BR Lion Logo and bears cab number D5379.   The blue Class 27 is identical except for the body shell which is in British Rail blue, has the intercity double arrow logo and bears cab number D5370.				No 2902 Diesel locomotive, British Rail blue livery, all other specifications as No 2901.
				No 2901 Diesel Locomotive, BR type 2, diecast chassis, moulded superstructure, British Railways green livery, four axle drive, Minimotor, 12 volt DC, working headlights, automatic light change, length over buffers 4 inches (10cm), approx weight 3.5 ounces, interference suppressors fitted.
These Class 42 Warships seem to be speculative drawings - ie they appear in the catalogue, but non of the models that were eventually sold turned out to be exactly as shown.   eg - the green warship is shown as being named 'Vanguard', the blue version is shown as 'Spartan'. This seemed to be quite common in the catalogues - it seems that the deadline for going to print was much earlier than the models could be mady ready for the production of the artwork.  In such cases, artists impressions might be used, or perhaps existing older models, or a reduced photo of an existing OO model ?				No 2035   Diesel locomotive, Warship class,   British Railways green livery, diecast chassis, moulded superstructure, four axle drive, Minimotor, 12 volt DC, working headlights, automatic light change, length over buffers 4.5 inches (11.5cm), approx weight 4 ounces, interference suppressors fitted. No 2034   Diesel locomotive, British Rail blue livery, all other specifications as No 2035
The 4-6-2 steam locomotive is Britannia in British Rail green.   This is another speculative picture - clearly the intention to manufacture it is there, but the Britannia that appears in the OO gauge Trix catalogue of the time seems to be the same image as the one used for this 1970 N gauge catalogue. The valve gear is far too intricate for an 'N' gauge model.				No 2037   4-6-2 Steam locomotive and tender, class 7 of British Railways, diecast chassis, Minimotor, 12volt DC, driving wheels flanged, power transmission to all 3 driving axles, interference suppressors fitted, British Rail green livery.
The 0-6-0 steam locomotive is an existing model of a Prussian T3 which had been around in the German Trix catalogues since at least 1966.   With a new body casting, this little engine would become the first loco in the Hornby Minitrix catalogue, - a Class 2, Fowler 'Jinty' Dock Tank.   But for now, it retained its tall chimney and German looks.				No 2914 Model of the prototype as used by the former Prussian National Railways.   3-Axle-drive, diecast chassis and superstructure, length 2.1"