Trix battery train
The Trix Express battery trains are simplified model trains that were brought onto the market from 1953 to 1960 by the Trix company in addition to the existing Trix Express model train program.
Emergence
Almost simultaneously with the introduction of direct current for model railways , the toy manufacturers Trix , HWN ( Heinrich-Wimmer-Nürnberg ) and Distler began producing inexpensive battery trains in nominal size H0 for the H0 gauge in 1953 . The clear marketing goal at the time was to expand the customer base, especially children and young people, in order to introduce them to the hobby of model railways at an early stage. The Trix company (then United Toy Factory Ernst Voelk KG , Nuremberg) in particular successfully implemented this idea with the help of the Distler brand. Ernst Voelk himself was President of the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce in the 1950s; He took over the Johann Distler KG company in 1936 as part of the Aryanization process from the Jewish owners, and two years later also the VSN - Vereinigte Spielwarenfabriken Nürnberg with the TRIX brand from its Jewish owners.
From 1953 onwards, several variants of the Trix-Express 4.5-volt battery- powered railway appeared, which, thanks to their inexpensive offer and their (child-) easy and safe handling, were widely used among the baby boomers of the post-war generation. For many children and young people it was their first contact with technical toys and for some it was their entry into electrical engineering and mechanical engineering . Today, the now rare model railway items are in demand with many collectors, as the memory value of the time can be quite high.
technology
Trix also relied on this new sales strategy in England . There, in 1955, two versions of a 6-volt train came onto the market with the “Trix - Junior Train”. A “Junior Goods” freight train set with a black B-locomotive ( British Railways ) and three freight cars and a “Junior Passenger” passenger train set with the same locomotive and two passenger cars.
A hand dynamo with a crank was included as a drive source in the English train sets. With the help of the dynamo , the train could be regulated by turning the crank slower or faster. A change in the direction of travel was achieved by turning in the opposite direction. The hand-held dynamo was also offered on the German market by Distler for a short time, but the drive source, which was somewhat laborious in the long term, was not widely used.
The German as well as the English battery railways were equipped with an electric motor newly developed by Distler . This was a closed, cylindrical DC motor that could be operated independently of the mains with a normal, commercially available 4.5 volt battery. The new electric motor from Distler was market leader in terms of performance and economy at the time, so that other manufacturers also used this reliable drive source for their products. This engine found multiple applications u. a. in tape recorders (Phonotrix) and razors. The speed controller was also developed by Distler. A 4.5 volt flat battery was inserted here. Alternatively, a compatible power supply unit from Distler was available (see illustration). From 1959/60 onwards, instead of the battery control panel, the train sets included small yellow or red low-voltage transformers (4.5 to 6 volts, 75 mA) from Siemens-Schuckert .
construction
In order to keep the energy consumption for driving as low as possible and to maintain the joy of playing for as long as possible, the rolling stock of the battery-powered railways at that time was predominantly of " lightweight construction ". The simple gearbox ( crown gear ratio ) and the coupling , which was only available on the rear, were largely made of plastic and significantly reduced the total weight of the traction units. Illuminated headlamps on the locomotives were missing due to the power consumption, as were lighting devices on the cars. From 1957 onwards, instead of sheet metal wagons, extremely light plastic wagons were added to the train sets. Both the buffers and the axle box covers have been saved for all types of car . The three-wire rail system with cardboard sleepers, newly developed in 1953/54, was offered as track material in Germany. In England, battery trams were initially run on tracks with a Bakelite base and only from 1957 on cardboard rails.
Some models
From 1953 onwards, various versions of the Trix battery-powered railway were put on sale in West Germany, including the Trix diesel train (TE 7/900) with a red plastic housing, which was now very popular among collectors and which was very fragile. The chassis and engine of the railcar corresponded to the battery tank locomotive shown (TE 6602). The production of this model ran only until 1955 with a relatively small edition. At that time, the diesel train was only offered in two parts in specialist shops (sales price at the time: DM 24). The corresponding intermediate car existed as a hand-made sample, but never went into series production.
Disappear
From the 1960s, the model railway market in Germany boomed in the nominal size H0 on a scale of 1:87. The H0 gauge prevailed everywhere. The scale of the rolling stock was kept more and more closely by the manufacturers, the details refined more and more, the electric motors more powerful. From this point on there was simply no market for the rather immaculate and poorly detailed battery trains - production was discontinued in 1960.
Every now and then you can still find some articles from this era on regional model railway exchanges, often unrecognized and submerged in anonymous crawling boxes. But some parts from this time are now very valuable and very sought after by collectors. These include in particular the red diesel train shown above (TE 7/900) and the rare sand track (TE 7/601). But other train sets from bygone times now achieve respectable sales prices in a well-preserved condition.
literature
- H. Ast: Battery tracks - connection devices for TRIX and DISTLER. In: Antik Revue toy. Issue 2–3, 2001.
- J. Franzke (Ed.): TRIX - United toy factories. SCHUCO, BING & Co. (Volume 4) 2000, pp. 98-104.
- K.-P. Huschka: DISTLER, BUB and Co. In: MIBA. 12/98, Nürnberg 1998, pp. 88-91.
- D. Käßer, A. Freund: HWN railways in O / HO gauge, from sheet metal to plastic. In: Antik Revue toy. Issue 5, 2000.
- T. Matthewman: The history of TRIX - H0 / 00 model railways in Britain. 1994, ISBN 0-904568-76-8 .
- H. Zarges: On the fairway - BECKH, DISTLER, DRESSLER, GRÖTSCH and HWN. In: Antik Revue toy. Issue 4 u. 5, 2000.