Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang Toys brand name.
Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak in 1947, was claimed by the company to be the largest toy maker in the world. Under the Tri-ang Toys brand name, Lines Bros Ltd also made children's bicycles, such as the
Unity Dragster TT.
History
![Tri-ang embossed label](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Tri-ang_embossed_label.jpg)
The brothers George and Joseph Lines made wooden toys in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...
, their company being G & J Lines Ltd. George was a trained carpenter, while Joseph was more business focused. Joseph had four sons, three of whom formed Lines Bros Ltd soon after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. 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
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, production of children's toys was deemed non-essential by the
British Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_est ...
. As a result, production facilities were converted to weapons manufacture, specifically the
Sten
The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cos ...
Mk III
submachine gun. Manufacture of toys resumed shortly after the war ended.
At their peak they had 40 companies world-wide, including the famous
Hornby,
Meccano
Meccano is a brand of model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nut ...
and
Dinky
Dinky may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dinky Toys, a brand of die-cast toy vehicles
* Dinky (film), a 1935 film starring Jackie Cooper
* Dinky Bossetti, protagonist of the 1990 film '' Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael'', played by Winona Ryde ...
brands, but as a result of losses overseas they were in financial trouble. In 1971 Lines Bros. Ltd called in the
Official Receiver
An officer of the Insolvency Service of the United Kingdom, an official receiver (OR) is an officer of the court to which they are attached. The OR is answerable to the courts for carrying out the courts' orders and for fulfilling their duties ...
. 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 (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
, to
Dunbee-Combex-Marx Ltd. (DCM).
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
G&R Wrenn's first product line was trackwork for 00 gauge model railway equipment, producing a variety of ...
, a linked toy railway company, bought itself free as Wrenn Railways. The remains of the Tri-ang brand was sold off. As a result, the Tri-ang Hornby system took the name
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is a British model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, ...
from January 1972, with the Dinky and Meccano businesses being acquired by
Airfix
Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...
.
Product lines
Wooden toys
![Lines Bros factory in Merthyr Tydfil (5204075793)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Lines_Bros_factory_in_Merthyr_Tydfil_%285204075793%29.jpg)
The company kept producing toys made of wood such as
dolls' houses,
toy forts, a
Noah's ark
Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...
with wooden animals as well as a small range of wooden soldiers.
Railways
Lines Bros had its own railway system, the Rovex system, marketed as
Tri-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 brands Tri-ang, Minic, Pedigree, and Frog. The Tri-ang Railways name was dropped a few years after Lines Bros took ...
.
In 1964,
Meccano Ltd
Meccano Ltd was a British toy manufacturing company, established in 1908 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England, to manufacture and distribute Meccano and other model toys and kits created by the company. During the 1920s and 1930s it became th ...
, which manufactured the
Hornby Dublo
Hornby Railways is a British model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, ...
range, collapsed. Lines Bros. purchased the company, and in 1965 the combined model railway was marketed as Tri-ang-Hornby although the vast majority of the system was all Tri-ang 2 rail. In 1966 a controlling interest was acquired in a smaller rival, G & R Wrenn. Wrenn were then ''sold'' all the redundant, 3 rail, Hornby Dublo tooling. When, in 1971, the Lines Bros. empire was broken up, Rovex - Tri-ang was purchased by Dunbee, Combex, Marx (DCM) but without the Tri-ang brand. Because of this DCM were forced to re-brand the model railway as
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is a British model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, ...
.
![1963 Tri-ang Railways catalogue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/1963_Tri-ang_Railways_catalogue.jpg)
Railway systems:
*Tri-ang Minic Narrow Gauge (garden) railways in 10" gauge.
*Railways systems (see above) in '00' and 'TT' gauges.
Large road vehicles
![Triang lorry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Triang_lorry.JPG)
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 are commonly seen.
The most common are the red-bonneted tipper lorry, the bonneted Shell tanker, breakdown lorry and the London Transport double decker bus, with a couple of cranes and a few Puff Puff railway engines.
The full 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:
*1930–1937: Metal lorries
*1937–1956: Bedfords
*1948–1957: 200 Series
*1955–1960: Diesel Series
*1957–1963: 300 Series
*1959–1966: Thames Traders
*1958–1967: Junior Diesels
*1962–1966: Regal Roadsters
*1966–1973: Hi-ways
: (All years 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
slot cars. The system aimed as far as possible for realism, and therefore the slot was as narrow as possible (about 1/8 in) 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 sprung sliding pickups. These differed from that of electric racing car systems such as the same company's ''
Scalextric
Scalextric is a brand of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s. The Scalextric were first invented by engineer B. Fred Francis, when he added an electric motor to the ''Scalex'' tin cars that were produced by Minimodels Lt ...
'', in which the electrical conductors were spaced more widely apart on each side of the guide slot, and were hence more stable.
There was a small removable peg at the back of the vehicles to stabilize it when in reverse.
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
The Humber Super Snipe is a car which was produced from 1938 to 1967 by British-based Humber Limited.
Pre-war Super Snipe
The Super Snipe was introduced in October 1938, derived by combining the four-litre inline six-cylinder engine from the ...
, an
AEC Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The first prototype was completed in September 1954 and the last one ...
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
solenoids 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 (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...
with a two 'rail' system, which made reversing loops impossible without an insulated section. The competing German
Faller
Faller (styled as 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.
Faller now specializes in making scene ...
system used
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
, and had a compatible
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
system.
Model pond yachts and boats
Various model boats were made by Tri-ang companies, early yachts were made of steel under the name of Tri-ang. Tri-ang also sold a range of wooden hulled yachts and clockwork motor launches. They also produced early battery powered electric motor launches. Penguin was a name that they manufactured plastic yachts and clockwork boats and some battery powered electric boats. Over the years these toys/models were manufactured under the name Rovex, Scalex and Minimodels.
Model racing cars
*
Scalextric
Scalextric is a brand of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s. The Scalextric were first invented by engineer B. Fred Francis, when he added an electric motor to the ''Scalex'' tin cars that were produced by Minimodels Lt ...
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-on
Spot-On models, was a brand name for a line of diecast toy cars made by Tri-ang from 1959 through about 1967. They were manufactured in 1:42 scale in Belfast, Northern Ireland, of the United Kingdom. Competition for Spot-On in the British Isl ...
, had competed with the Dinky range but never had the success of Dinky and its designs were briefly subsumed into the Dinky range.
Model Ships
Minic Limited, a Lines Bros subsidiary, produced a range of 1:1200 scale waterline ship and harbour models between 1958 and 1965 which were marketed under the Tri-ang Minic Ships brand. After a reorganisation in the mid 1960s Minic Limited became a subsidiary of Rovex Industries Ltd (later Rovex-Tri-ang Ltd) which was acquired by Dunbee Combex Marx (DCM) as Rovex Limited after Lines Bros went into receivership in 1971. Rovex Limited reintroduced a limited range of the original waterline ship and harbour models in 1976 together with four new battleships under the name "Minic Ships and Harbours by Hornby" the "Tri-ang" trademark having been acquired by Barclay Securities who purchased Tri-ang-Pedigree Ltd when Lines Bros was liquidated. The Hornby "Second Series" of Minic Ships, which were manufactured in Hong Kong, did not sell well and was discontinued in the late 1970s / early 1980s.
The Triang name and Minic trademark were acquired by Charles Shave of Hong Kong in 2003. The new company reproduced the original 1960s harbour models, together with a good range of modern merchant vessels and
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
warships. Production numbers have been low, but these new "Third Series" models have now been on sale for longer than either of the earlier sets.
[anticsonline.uk/N1350_Tri-ang-Minic/index.html]
Other names
![1950s Tri-ang models](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/1950s_Tri-ang_models.jpg)
*Arrow
jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture.
In t ...
s
*Pennybrix,
*Pedigree Prams and dolls,
*Minic vehicles,
*Minix cars,
*Minimodels,
*Miniville,
*Minic waterline ships
*Minic Motorways,
*
Sindy
Sindy 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 her the best-selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970. After Louis Marx and ...
,
*
Arkitex
Arkitex was an all-plastic construction toy produced by Tri-ang from c.1959 to c.1965. It was available in 1/42 and OO scales. The toy was designed by Geoff Bailey. One of the advantages that the toy offered was that changes can be made to a part ...
construction kits (two scales),
*
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
construction kits,
*
Wrenn Railways
There were associated companies overseas selling Tri-ang under their own brand names. e.g.: A.T.T. in the U.S.A.
World War II
In World War II, Lines Brothers was a major manufacturer of the
Sten
The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cos ...
submachine gun.
References
External links
Tri-ang societyTriang.nl(information about Lines Bros including photos of the factories from th
V&A Museum of Childhood(a 1938 Tri-ang catalogue from th
V&A Museum of Childhood*
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAA8I5a8fn8 Video of a Sten Mk III - as manufactured by Lines Bros during WW2br>
Video of a Sten Mk III (as manufactured by Lines Bros during WW2) compared with 2 other submachine gunsInformation on the Minic 10.25" trainsWeb site of the TMNR SocietyWWII fire damage to factory reported. See 28 Feb 1944
{{Authority control
Toy companies of the United Kingdom