Train set prices Railway Modeller 1959 November

[kevinlms]

As a Hornby Dublo owner in 1959, I looked with envy at the Triang offerings. Despite Dublo's quality Triang had some attractive stuff. The L1 caught my eye, and the 3F. However, I was locked into Dublo and there was no way I could change. So the Dublo grew very slowly, as pocket money was in very short supply. I did acquire the Triang girder bridge and sloping piers.

 

Hornby really was very badly run. Market Research was non-existant. It took them a while to realise that if they produced models with different numbers or liveries they would sell more.

Tri-ang were the same,  regards models produced for years with the same number. How many models were produced of the 'Jinty', with 47606 on the side! So unfair to single out Hornby-Dublo for this.

 

From this page 

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/class_details.asp?classid=6

 

It was available as 47606 from 1955 to 1975!

[Golden Fleece 30]

Their early Princess was a case of different colour meant a different identity. Black was Victoria, green was Elizabeth and maroon was Royal. I don't know if the black at one time was Elizabeth until the colour additions came out.

 

Garry

[kevinlms]

Must have missed this thread up until now. 

Price comparisons for those of us who could mostly only afford the Triang option. I seem to have kept the catalogues from my last few years of my big Triang Train set. (before I caught the "scale" bug and wrecked most of them for the motors). I wish I still had them all.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

What is interesting about that list and my original post to this thread, is that in 1959 the Goods set cost 58/- and in 1968 the cheapest goods set (not sure if contents were the same), it had a price of 59/-.

 

But my original post related to how a goods set with a loco, wagons and a circle of track varied between the major manufacturers of the time, price wise. Easy to see how Tri-ang kept going and dominated the RTR market, until Airfix and Mainline came onto the market in 1977.

[GoingUnderground]

Their early Princess was a case of different colour meant a different identity. Black was Victoria, green was Elizabeth and maroon was Royal. I don't know if the black at one time was Elizabeth until the colour additions came out.

 

Garry

The Princess Elizabeth loco was black originally, R50 and was joined in 1953 by the green version, R53. In 1959, the name used on R50 was changed to Victoria, and the maroon Princess Royal, R258 was launched. R50 always had simplified valve gear, I don't know when R53 acquired "walschaerts" valve gear, but pictures in Pat Hammonds Rovex stroy suggest that might have been as early as 1954. The text doesn't mention when that differentiation between the two versions, black and green, was introduced, but R53 certainly had walschaerts by the 4th edition, (1958), catalogue. R258 always had the same valve gear as R53. Edited January 8, 2019 by GoingUnderground

[raymw]

The Rovex Princess Elizabeth, that I was given either Jan 52 or Dec 51 was definitely black with no valve gear and brass plungers bearing directly on the rails to pick up power.

[Golden Fleece 30]

The Rovex Princess Elizabeth, that I was given either Jan 52 or Dec 51 was definitely black with no valve gear and brass plungers bearing directly on the rails to pick up power.

That was a second issue Princess as the first had rollers for pick ups which was subsequently changed for plungers.

 

Garry

[GoingUnderground]

Tri-ang were the same, regards models produced for years with the same number. How many models were produced of the 'Jinty', with 47606 on the side! So unfair to single out Hornby-Dublo for this.

 

From this page

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/class_details.asp?classid=6

 

It was available as 47606 from 1955 to 1975!

I think we need to remember that both Triang, Dublo and Trix were aiming for their younger customers who, with their parents, probably couldn't afford to buy more than one loco of each type. That was true in my case, and the Triang locos that I hadn't got my brother had instead. If they could sell what they made without too much difficulty then long production runs kept costs down and sales up.

 

In my case, it wasn't until I returned to the hobby in middle age that I deep enough pockets to even consider buying additional models with different numbers or liveries.

[Il Grifone]

Dublo did change the numbers for the 2 rail (and ring field) versions. Hattons made a few bob from selling them with the bodies switched, though I don't know how many they sold.

 

AFAIK (I'd have to check with the bible which is currently out of reach behind boxes of tools and trains - at least the bathroom is almost finished!) the green Tri-ang Princess always had valve gear and the black one always didn't. Tri-ang (now Hornby) never seem to have realised that the valvegear should have LH and RH versions.

[GoingUnderground]

That was a second issue Princess as the first had rollers for pick ups which was subsequently changed for plungers.

 

Garry

The Princess chassis was subject to many mods in the life of the model:

The first was plastic and had roller pick ups.

The second was laminated metal and had plunger pickups.

The third had metal wheels to pick up instead of the plungers.

The fourth had a solid chassis.

The fifth had a mounting point for the Seuthe smoke unit.

The sixth took the Syncrosmoke smoke unit.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Dublo did change the numbers for the 2 rail (and ring field) versions. Hattons made a few bob from selling them with the bodies switched, though I don't know how many they sold.

 

AFAIK (I'd have to check with the bible which is currently out of reach behind boxes of tools and trains - at least the bathroom is almost finished!) the green Tri-ang Princess always had valve gear and the black one always didn't. Tri-ang (now Hornby) never seem to have realised that the valvegear should have LH and RH versions.

The numbers were the easiest way to work out if the body was a 2 or 3-rail one that was as original or had been swapped.

 

Here is a green Tri-ang Princess Victoria on a chassis without valve gear.  I know chassis's could be swapped and this is a late issue open spoked wheel one but the body is from green plastic and the numbers look to be heat printed on as an original body.  Looking underneath the chassis seems to be the one without the centre crankpin for the return crank that had the flats machined on just the plain topped one.  The other one again could be swapped but no idea if it has.

 

Also the first issue Princess with roller pick-ups.

 

Garry

Edited January 9, 2019 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

The Princess chassis was subject to many mods in the life of the model:

The first was plastic and had roller pick ups.

The second was laminated metal and had plunger pickups.

The third had metal wheels to pick up instead of the plungers.

The fourth had a solid chassis.

The fifth had a mounting point for the Seuthe smoke unit.

The sixth took the Syncrosmoke smoke unit.

 

There was also a version which needed the wheels to be removed to remove the motor, This was rapidly superseded by the version with the X.04. The earlier wheels were smaller (and more in keeping with the undersized model IMHO) than the later ones. I think the heat printing was only on the early models or was there a later economy version?

 

IIRC the first two were Rovex rather than Tri-ang - Rovex. The Rovex ones had a single ended hook that dropped under the coupling loop rather than over the top. For a simple model, there are a host of variations to collect....

Edited January 9, 2019 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

There was also a version which needed the wheels to be removed to remove the motor, This was rapidly superseded by the version with the X.04. The earlier wheels were smaller (and more in keeping with the undersized model IMHO) than the later ones. I think the heat printing was only on the early models or was there a later economy version?

 

IIRC the first two were Rovex rather than Tri-ang - Rovex. The Rovex ones had a single ended hook that dropped under the coupling loop rather than over the top. For a simple model, there are a host of variations to collect....

Hi David,

 

The photo I put on earlier with the roller chassis shows the motor that needed the wheels taking off to remove the motor. I bought one of these recently as the gearbox might fit in a TT chassis but unfortunately the gear wheel is bigger than any driving wheels.

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

Hi David,

 

The photo I put on earlier with the roller chassis shows the motor that needed the wheels taking off to remove the motor. I bought one of these recently as the gearbox might fit in a TT chassis but unfortunately the gear wheel is bigger than any driving wheels.

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry,

 

I think the first version on the wiper pickup had the motor locked in as well, but maybe I'm wrong and as I said my copy of the bible is inaccessible at the moment. (SWMBO has made tidying up noises!   ). The Nellie Gear should mesh I think but the result will have a jack rabbit type response due to the two start worm. I've bought some of the more recent plastic gears to curb the enthusiasm of some of my more enthusiastic models, but I'm not too keen on plastic gears and they are too big for TT too.

 

David

Edited January 9, 2019 by Il Grifone