Traing Wrenn Trains & Railroads

Tri-ang was a British model railroad manufacturer that operated under the parent company Lines Brothers Ltd. This company was founded by brothers William, Walter, and Arthur Edwin Lines shortly after World War I. The name Tri-ang came from the play on words that three Lines made a triangle.

Arthur Lines' son Richard was primarily responsible for the formation of Tri-ang Railways. The company began producing model railroad products in 1951 in HO and OO scales. In 1957, Tri-ang began producing TT scale model railroad products. Tri-ang also produced a garden railroad in 10.25 inch gauge. This railroad, which was large enough to carry passengers, was called the Tri-ang Minic Narrow gauge Railway, or TMNR. Fewer than 90 sets of this railroad were produced.

In 1964, Lines Bros. purchased Hornby Dublo. They combined the company with Tri-ang to become Tri-ang Hornby. Lines Bros. also bought controlling interest in G & R Wrenn Ltd. in 1965 and began producing model trains under the Wrenn name. In 1970, Wrenn model trains were rebranded Tri-ang Wrenn. This brand name lasted until 1972 when the Lines Bros. company folded. The Wrenn and Hornby companies continued to operate under their own names and Tri-ang model railroads was folded into Hornby.

Quick Facts

• Tri-ang model railroads were sold through Rovex Scale Models Ltd., a subsidiary of Lines Bros. Rovex had been founded as a plastics company, but they began producing model trains after they were purchased by Lines Bros
• Tri-ang produced lines of models that were specific to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa
• One of Tri-ang's other successful products was Tri-ang Minic Motorways, a line of slot cars and other vehicles. These products were unique in that connector pieces, called MinicRail, were available to connect the slot car sets with the model railroad sets