Lines Bros

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 Sten Mk III submachine gun.

At their peak they had 40 companies world-wide, including the famous Hornby, Meccano and Dinky brands, but as a result of losses overseas they were in financial trouble.

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.

Railway systems: The British range of Tri-ang large scale pressed steel vehicles were produced from the early 1930s through until the mid-1970s.

[citation needed] 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 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, an AEC Routemaster bus, a Shell petrol tanker and a towtruck.

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).

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.

Minic, like Tri-ang railways, used 12-volt direct current with a two 'rail' system, which made reversing loops impossible without an insulated section.

B Francis of Minimodels Ltd designed a range of metal model racing cars driven by clockwork in 1952 under the SCALEX brand.

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.

In World War II, Lines Brothers was a major manufacturer of the Sten submachine gun.