Lines Bros Ltd
Encyclopedia
Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang brand name.
Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak, was claimed to be the largest toy maker in the world.
Mk III submachine gun
. Manufacture of toys resumed shortly after the war ended.
At their peak they had 40 companies world-wide, but as a result of losses overseas they were in financial trouble. In 1971 Lines Bros. Ltd called in the Official Receiver
. The Group was broken up and sold off. Rovex Tri-ang Ltd (which had the Hornby Railways among its portfolio) was Pocket Money Toys Ltd and then sold as Rovex Ltd, complete with its factories at Westwood and Canterbury
, to Dunbee-Combex-Marx Ltd. (DCM). G & R Wrenn
a linked toy railway company bought itself free as Wrenn Railways. The name Tri-ang was sold off. As a result the Tri-ang Hornby system took the name Hornby Railways
from January 1972. The Dinky and Meccano businesses were bought by Airfix
.
.
In 1964, Meccano Ltd
, which manufactured the Hornby Dublo range collapsed. Tri-ang purchased the company, and the combined model railway was marketed as Tri-ang-Hornby although the vast majority of the models were all Tri-ang. Because the Hornby brand was more established and recognised, the Tri-ang part was dropped and model railway division was sold as Hornby Railways
.
Railway systems
Everyone has seen the red-bonneted tipper lorry, the bonneted Shell tanker,
breakdown lorry and the London Transport double decker bus.
To most people this was all the range consisted of with a couple of cranes and a Puff Puff railway engine or two thrown in for good measure. The actual selection of pressed steel vehicles including the different types of cranes and trains consisted of over 200 different types. There were actually nine different series of lorries together with a series of buses, cranes and trains. Tri-ang was one of the largest toy producers in the world and their range of toys reflected this.
The nine different ranges of Pressed Steel Toy Lorry were:
The pressed steel (and occasional wooden) trains and pressed steel cranes were made during the same lifespan as the lorries, although up until the mid 1950s, most trains were made of wood. The steel buses were manufactured from 1957 up until around 1970. In the Pressed Steel Lorry range there were delivery vans, petrol tankers, breakdown lorries, different types of articulated lorries, rocket launchers, car transporters, circus lorries, mobile shops, Army, RAF and emergency vehicles. There was quite a vast range of these vehicles and the cab types tended to reflect the designs of those in real life at that particular time that they were being manufactured. All nine different ranges large roadvehicles Tri-ang produced you can find on the below link Triang NL.
, in which the electrical conductors were spaced more widely apart on each side of the guide slot, and were hence more stable.
Vehicles were controlled by a hand-held controller, which had a thumb-operated speed control plus a rotating reversing switch.
The range of vehicles was designed to be complementary to a model railway set, and for instance included a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, a Humber Super Snipe, a Routemaster bus, a Shell petrol tanker and a towtruck. The most remarkable vehicle was a Road-Railer
, an articulated lorry with a pair of pivoting rear axles, one bearing road wheels and the other rail wheels. The semi-trailer could be remotely uncoupled and then collected by a bogie wagon on the Tri-ang railway system. These could in theory be chained together to compose a train. This vehicle suffered from being underpowered. Vehicles could also be driven aboard a car-carrying wagon in the Tri-ang railway system.
The basic track sections contained two slots, though single-slot pieces also existed. They permitted quite complex road layouts, and included a crossroads, a 4-section roundabout, forks to create dual carriageway sections, right-angle junctions, single-track forks to allow lay-bys, and later a crossover from the left to the right track (with a break in the conductors). Railway compatibility was ensured by a level crossing and road/rail interchange pieces. Curves could be built with up to 5 parallel slots.
Points were manually operated, although third-party electric point solenoid
s could be fitted.
A range of trackside accessories such as a petrol station and a ferry allowed users to build towns around their systems.
At a late stage of the system's life, an attempt was made to update its image and enter the model racing-car market. Racing car bodies were introduced, which contained more powerful motors with worm drive, and with the improved pickups mentioned above.
The Minic Motorways system allowed the modeller to animate the roads as well as the railways in their townscapes. Some modellers used flexible track manufactured by Peco to enhance the level of realism.
Minic, like Tri-ang railways, used 12-volt direct current
with a two 'rail' system, which made reversing loops impossible without an insulated section. The competing German Faller
system used alternating current
, and had a compatible trolleybus
system.
B Francis of Minimodels Ltd designed a range of metal model racing cars driven by clockwork in 1952 under the SCALEX brand. To this he later added an electric motor showing the product in 1957. Faced with a demand beyond his capacity to fulfill, Francis sold his company to Tri-ang in 1958. With their mass-manufacturing capability and know-how with plastic, the Rovex subsidiary of Tri-ang converted the metal cars to plastic and extended the range.
, had competed with the Dinky range but never had the success of Dinky and its designs were briefly subsumed into the Dinky range.
There were associated companies overseas selling Tri-ang under their own brand names. e.g.: A.T.T. in the U.S.A.
Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak, was claimed to be the largest toy maker in the world.
History
The brothers George and Joseph Lines made wooden toys in the Victorian age, their company being G & J Lines Ltd. Joseph was the active partner while George went into farming. Joseph (or Joe) had four sons. All of these formed Lines Bros Ltd soon after World War One. They were William, Walter and Arthur Lines. Three Lines making a triangle - hence Tri-ang. Arthur's son, Richard Lines, was largely responsible for the Tri-ang Railways system. At the start of the Second World War, production of children's toys was deemed non-essential by the British Government. As a result, production facilities were converted to weapons manufacture, specifically the StenSten
The STEN was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War...
Mk III submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
. Manufacture of toys resumed shortly after the war ended.
At their peak they had 40 companies world-wide, but as a result of losses overseas they were in financial trouble. In 1971 Lines Bros. Ltd called in the Official Receiver
Official Receiver
An officer of the Insolvency Service of the United Kingdom, the Official Receiver is an officer of the court to which he is attached. The OR is therefore answerable to the courts for carrying out the courts' orders and for fulfilling his duties under law...
. The Group was broken up and sold off. Rovex Tri-ang Ltd (which had the Hornby Railways among its portfolio) was Pocket Money Toys Ltd and then sold as Rovex Ltd, complete with its factories at Westwood and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, to Dunbee-Combex-Marx Ltd. (DCM). G & R Wrenn
G & R Wrenn
G & R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn.- Origins :...
a linked toy railway company bought itself free as Wrenn Railways. The name Tri-ang was sold off. As a result the Tri-ang Hornby system took the name Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train...
from January 1972. The Dinky and Meccano businesses were bought by Airfix
Airfix
Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....
.
Railways
Lines Bros had its own railway system, Tri-ang RailwaysTri-ang Railways
Tri-ang Railways was a British manufacturer of toy trains, one of the elements of the Lines Bros Ltd company who traded using the Tri-ang brand name...
.
In 1964, Meccano Ltd
Meccano Ltd
Meccano Ltd was a British toy company established in 1908 by Frank Hornby in England to manufacture and distribute Meccano and other model toys and kits created by the company...
, which manufactured the Hornby Dublo range collapsed. Tri-ang purchased the company, and the combined model railway was marketed as Tri-ang-Hornby although the vast majority of the models were all Tri-ang. Because the Hornby brand was more established and recognised, the Tri-ang part was dropped and model railway division was sold as Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train...
.
Railway systems
- Tri-ang Minic Narrow Gauge (garden) railways in 10 1/4" gauge.
- Railways systems (see above) in '00' and 'TT' gauges.
Large road vehicles
The British range of Tri-ang large scale pressed steel vehicles were produced from the early 1930s through until the mid 1970s. To the casual onlooker or collector in the world of old toys, these toys (not models!) are of no great interest, are crude by modern standards and only a few different types were ever made or so it would appear.Everyone has seen the red-bonneted tipper lorry, the bonneted Shell tanker,
breakdown lorry and the London Transport double decker bus.
To most people this was all the range consisted of with a couple of cranes and a Puff Puff railway engine or two thrown in for good measure. The actual selection of pressed steel vehicles including the different types of cranes and trains consisted of over 200 different types. There were actually nine different series of lorries together with a series of buses, cranes and trains. Tri-ang was one of the largest toy producers in the world and their range of toys reflected this.
The nine different ranges of Pressed Steel Toy Lorry were:
| Metal lorries | made between 1930–1937 | |
| Bedford’s | made between 1937–1956 | |
| 200 Series | made between 1948–1957 | |
| Diesel Series | made between 1955–1960 | |
| 300 Series | made between 1957–1963 | |
| Thames Traders | made between 1959–1966 | |
| Junior Diesels | made between 1958–1967 | |
| Regal Roadsters | made between 1962–1966 | |
| Hi-ways | made between 1966–1973 |
- (All dates are approximations)
The pressed steel (and occasional wooden) trains and pressed steel cranes were made during the same lifespan as the lorries, although up until the mid 1950s, most trains were made of wood. The steel buses were manufactured from 1957 up until around 1970. In the Pressed Steel Lorry range there were delivery vans, petrol tankers, breakdown lorries, different types of articulated lorries, rocket launchers, car transporters, circus lorries, mobile shops, Army, RAF and emergency vehicles. There was quite a vast range of these vehicles and the cab types tended to reflect the designs of those in real life at that particular time that they were being manufactured. All nine different ranges large roadvehicles Tri-ang produced you can find on the below link Triang NL.
Model road vehicles
Minic Motorways was a system of HO-scale road vehicles that followed a slot in a plastic roadway. The system aimed as far as possible for realism, and therefore the slot was as narrow as possible (about 1/8") with brass conductors placed vertically at each side. The vehicles picked up power via a small wheel (called a Gimbal Wheel) on their underside, which was divided into two halves by an insulating flange. At some time in the 1960s this mechanism was replaced by a pair of vertically spring sliding pickups. This design differed from that of electric racing car systems such as the same company's ScalextricScalextric
Scalextric is a toy brand for a range of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s, as a creation of British firm Minimodels. The brand is currently owned and distributed by Hornby.-History:...
, in which the electrical conductors were spaced more widely apart on each side of the guide slot, and were hence more stable.
Vehicles were controlled by a hand-held controller, which had a thumb-operated speed control plus a rotating reversing switch.
The range of vehicles was designed to be complementary to a model railway set, and for instance included a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, a Humber Super Snipe, a Routemaster bus, a Shell petrol tanker and a towtruck. The most remarkable vehicle was a Road-Railer
Roadrailer
In railroad terminology a Roadrailer or RoadRailer is a highway trailer, or semi-trailer, that is specially equipped for use in railroad intermodal service.- Overview :...
, an articulated lorry with a pair of pivoting rear axles, one bearing road wheels and the other rail wheels. The semi-trailer could be remotely uncoupled and then collected by a bogie wagon on the Tri-ang railway system. These could in theory be chained together to compose a train. This vehicle suffered from being underpowered. Vehicles could also be driven aboard a car-carrying wagon in the Tri-ang railway system.
The basic track sections contained two slots, though single-slot pieces also existed. They permitted quite complex road layouts, and included a crossroads, a 4-section roundabout, forks to create dual carriageway sections, right-angle junctions, single-track forks to allow lay-bys, and later a crossover from the left to the right track (with a break in the conductors). Railway compatibility was ensured by a level crossing and road/rail interchange pieces. Curves could be built with up to 5 parallel slots.
Points were manually operated, although third-party electric point solenoid
Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
s could be fitted.
A range of trackside accessories such as a petrol station and a ferry allowed users to build towns around their systems.
At a late stage of the system's life, an attempt was made to update its image and enter the model racing-car market. Racing car bodies were introduced, which contained more powerful motors with worm drive, and with the improved pickups mentioned above.
The Minic Motorways system allowed the modeller to animate the roads as well as the railways in their townscapes. Some modellers used flexible track manufactured by Peco to enhance the level of realism.
Minic, like Tri-ang railways, used 12-volt direct current
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
with a two 'rail' system, which made reversing loops impossible without an insulated section. The competing German Faller
Faller
Faller is a German toy company founded in Stuttgart in 1946 by brothers Edwin and Hermann Faller. The company later relocated to the brothers' home town of Gütenbach in the Black Forest....
system used alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
, and had a compatible trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
system.
Model racing cars
- ScalextricScalextricScalextric is a toy brand for a range of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s, as a creation of British firm Minimodels. The brand is currently owned and distributed by Hornby.-History:...
B Francis of Minimodels Ltd designed a range of metal model racing cars driven by clockwork in 1952 under the SCALEX brand. To this he later added an electric motor showing the product in 1957. Faced with a demand beyond his capacity to fulfill, Francis sold his company to Tri-ang in 1958. With their mass-manufacturing capability and know-how with plastic, the Rovex subsidiary of Tri-ang converted the metal cars to plastic and extended the range.
Model cars
When Meccano Ltd faced financial troubles and was acquired by Tri-ang, it also acquired the Dinky Toys range. Tri-ang's own range of model cars, Spot-onSpot-on
Spot-On Models, was a brand name for a line of diecast toy cars from 1959 through about 1967, built in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.-A Tri-Ang Product:...
, had competed with the Dinky range but never had the success of Dinky and its designs were briefly subsumed into the Dinky range.
Other names
- Arrow jigsaw puzzleJigsaw puzzleA jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
s - Pennybrix,
- Pedigree Prams and dolls,
- Minic vehicles,
- Minix cars,
- Minimodels,
- Miniville,
- Minic waterline ships
- Minic Motorways,
- SindySindySindy is a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. A rival to Barbie, Sindy's wholesome look and range of fashions and accessories made it the best selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970...
, - Arkitex construction kits (two scales),
- FrogFrog (models)Frog was a well-known British brand of flying model aircraft and scale model construction kits from the 1930s to the 1970s.- History :Founded in 1931 by Charles Wilmot and Joe Mansour, International Model Aircraft Ltd...
construction kits, - Wrenn RailwaysG & R WrennG & R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn.- Origins :...
There were associated companies overseas selling Tri-ang under their own brand names. e.g.: A.T.T. in the U.S.A.
External links
- Tri-ang society
- Triang.nl
- Lines Bros (information about Lines Bros including photos of the factories from the V&A Museum of Childhood)
- Tri-ang catalogue (a 1938 Tri-ang catalogue from the V&A Museum of Childhood)
- Photos of the Sten Mk III - as manufactured by Lines Bros during WW2
- Video of a Sten Mk III - as manufactured by Lines Bros during WW2
- Video of a Sten Mk III (as manufactured by Lines Bros during WW2) compared with 2 other submachine guns
- Information on the Minic 10.25" trains
- Web site of the TMNR Society