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{{Toymaker|Lone_Star_logo.jpg}}
{{#SEO:|title=Lone Star Toys (part of Die Cast Machine Tools, DCMT), 1950-}}
{{Box|Lone_Star_Locos_leaflet,_front_and_back.jpg|1950s?: Lone Star Locos leaflet, exterior|380}}
{{Toymaker|Lone_Star_logo.jpg|Date1=1950}}
{{Box|Lone_Star_Locos_leaflet,_interior.jpg|1950s?: Lone Star Locos leaflet, centrespread|380}}
{{Box|Lone_Star_production_goes_up_and_up_(BPO_1955-10).jpg|1955: "Lone Star production goes up and up". Note the selection of toys around the page edge, mostly "Cowboys and Indians"-related |380}}
'''Lone Star Locos''' appeared in the late 1950s as a range of fairly basic 000-scale diecast miniature trains and track (similar-looking to the old Dinky Toys miniature push-along trains, but with clip-together diecast track), and were succeeded in the 1960s by "proper" motorised train sets.
{{Box|D-Day_Invasion_Set,_Lone_Star_Products_(MM_1964-12).jpg|1964: D-Day Invasion Set|380}}
The '''Die Cast Machine Tools Company''' ('''DCMT''' ~1939-1983), started out just before [[World War Two]], manufacturing  diecasting machines and equipment.  


==DCMT==
DCMT had initially manufactured some cast metal toys for [[Crescent]], and then started manufacturing in their own right. Since "DCMT" was slightly cryptic (and the full name was unhelpful for a toy brand), the company picked the name '''Lone Star''' as their toy brand, which (at eight letters plus a space) was still reasonably short and easy to letter on the base of small cast items.  
The toys were made by the '''Die Cast Machine Tools Company''' ('''DCMT''' ~1939-1983), which was started just before [[World War Two]]. DCMT had made some toy cars for Crescent, and children's enthusiasm for playing "Cowboys and Indians" after the war (fuelled by Hollywood films) created a demand for diecast toy cap-guns, which DCMT supplied under the "Lone Star" brand. When the company then started producing their range of diecast trains, and kept the name, it created a slightly odd situation in which a British company producing models of predominantly British trains had a name that conjured up images of Texas (nicknamed the "Lone Star" state, due to the state flag of Texas having a single star) and the Wild West.


The company went on to make rubber moulded trackside buildings and plastic scenery, and later produced a range of diecast cars, '''Impy Toys''' to compete with Corgi and Dinky.
{{BigPic|Lone_Star_factories,_Palmers_Green_and_Hatfield_(BPO_1955-10).jpg|Lone Star factories: Palmers Green Works and Hatfield}}


==The trains==
==The brand==
====Scale: 000-gauge ====
The "Lone Star" brand was tailored for "Wild West" - related toys – children's enthusiasm for playing "Cowboys and Indians" after the war (fuelled by Hollywood films) created a demand for diecast toy cap-firing guns, which DCMT was ideally placed to satisfy. While "Lone Star" was a reference to the single star on the state flag of Texas (the "lone star state"), it also resonated with "The Lone Ranger", and with the five-pointed star sheriff's badge that children would be familiar with from films and "cowboy" play costumes.
Apart from the cap-firing guns, the Lone Star name is often associated with the company's range of small diecast trains.  


With no existing "legacy" product line to support, DCMT seems to have decided to try to "leapfrog" the existing model train companies and produce a new, even smaller scale, 000. Where Gauge 0 had been introduced in around 1900 as a smaller alternative to gauge 1, and 00-gauge ("double-O") was half the size of gauge 0 (~16.5mm track spacing rather than just over ~32mm), 000 ("Treble-O") was in turn half the size of 00-gauge, with a spacing between the track rails, after accounting for clearance margins and rounding, of nine millimetres.
DCMT invested heavily in promoting their "Cowboys and Indians"-themed brandname, organising events and competitions and hiring '''Roy Green''' to play the cowboy "'''Steve Larrabee'''". This led to a strong enough brand recognition with toyshops that the company applied the brandname to their newer ranges of toys (such as model trains and cars) that were nothing to do with cowboys. This led to the slightly perplexing situation of a train set made by a British company with British-style locos and rolling stock being marketed to British families under an American-sounding name, causing many people to assume that the company must be American.  


{{Quotation2|<h4>" OOO " Scale Details</h4>
==Product ranges==
TREBLE-O-LECTRIC SERIES LOCOMOTIVES and ROLLING STOCK are built to a scale of 2 mm. (5/64") to the foot and TREBLE-O-LECTRIC TRACK is 9mm gauge, that is to say, the measurement between the two inside edges of the rails, in any section of the track, is 9mm. (approximately  23/64). |Author=Lone Star|Publication=Treble 0 Lectric Railways Instruction Manual}}
While Lone Star continued producing a wide range of diecast metal toy guns (including, in later days, a licensed [[James Bond]] toy Walther PPK), and are mostly remembered nowadays as a maker of "cap guns", they seem to have taken a keen interest in what other diecast toymakers were doing, resulting in a product lineup that ranged from the slightly derivative/generic to the genuinely innnovative.


Treble- or triple-0 can be thought of as a predecessor to N gauge: while both used nine-millimeter track, 000 was a quarter of the old gauge 0 and half the H0 scales, of 8mm/foot and 4mm/foot, respectively. 000-gauge's 2mm/foot works out as a scale of 1:152.4 . N gauge is officially a scale of 1:160 (which is pretty close, but not ''quite'' the same, there's about a five percent, or one part in 20 difference).
====Trains====


====1950s: Lone Star Locos Series====
* '''[[Lone Star Locos]]''' appeared in the late 1950s as a range of fairly basic 000-scale diecast miniature trains and track (similar-looking to the old Dinky Toys miniature push-along trains, but with clip-together diecast track). Where '''gauge 0''' track was 32-and-a-bit-millimetres wide, "'''000'''" would be expected to be a quarter of this, or somewhere around eight-and-a-bit millimetres, and this Lone Star range used a size of about 8.5mm. 
The initial trains were simple push-along models with clip-together solid moulded track – although they were rather cute to look at, they had a tendency to "de-rail" when hauled around a track with "jumpy" joints by hand, which meant that for small children, the choice was between having to spend a certain amount of time putting pieces back onto the track, or ignoring the track and using the models as floor toys.
* The 1960s saw the appearance of the comparatively short-lived "'''[[Treble-O-Lectric]]'''" range of "proper" motorised 000-scale electric train sets, with a slightly larger 9mm gauge. This made Lone Star arguably the pioneers of commercial '''[[N gauge]]'''.


{{Quotation2|
====Cars====
All the locomotives, rolling stock and track items in the Lone Star Locos Series are accurate "000" Gauge and the scope of this exciting railway system increases as each new model is introduced. The Series will eventually include many American and Continental trains. The first of this new group, the famous American Diesel Loco, is now available. Layouts of an extensive and quite complicated nature can be built up and still occupy only a small area, easily accommodated on an ordinary table.
* '''[[Impy Toys]]''' were an attempt to compete with the diecast toy cars already being made by [[Dinky]] and [[Corgi]].
|Author="Lone Star"|Publication=Lone Star Locos leaflet}}
* '''[[Lone Star Flyers]]''' represented the company's attempt to update their Impy range to have low-friction axles to compete with the threat of Mattel's new (market-disrupting) '''Hot Wheels''' range.
* '''[[Roadmaster Majors]]''' were then the range of larger Impy vehicles – typically buses and lorries – which were not suitable for the "low friction, high speed" treatment. This also included a tractor, a Jeep and trailer, and (wierdly) a much larger-scale Jaguar sports car.
* '''[[Lone Star Commercials]]''' represented more modern versions of commercial vehicles – where the "Majors" tended to have long engine bonnets, the "Commercials" ''tended'' (with the exception of the tractors and the Number 31 Breakdown Truck) to have flat-fronted high-visibility cabs.
* '''[[Top Boy]]''' were "chunky" stylised vehicles aimed at the '''[[Tonka Toys]]''' market, and,
* '''[[Tuf-Tots]]''' were aimed at the market for smaller-sized cheaper toy vehicles, led by [[Matchbox]], which Corgi also tried to penetrate with their '''Husky/Corgi Juniors''' range. 


====1960s: "Treble-O-Lectric"====
====Other====
Technical matters improved in around ~1960 with the company's next generation of "000" trains, which managed the feat of including electric motors in the tiny locomotives. This was quite an achievement considering that none of the larger manufacturers producing 00-gauge had yet attempted to produce a motorised system anywhere near this scale ("[[N gauge]]" appeared somewhat later).
The company also made other toys that didn't easily fit into a range, such as the 1210 Giant Construction Crane, and there was an "International Peace Force" range of pretty standard army vehicle types, but finished in "United Nations" blue rather than drab green, and with odd silver detailing.
{{BigPic|Treble0Lectric_logo.jpg|Treble-O-Lectric logo}}
Lone Star managed this by adopting a slightly unconventional approach that borrowed from the method used to provide centralised power to multiple machine tools in Victorian factories - a central powered overhead driveshaft connected to the smaller units by drivebands. In the case of Lone Star locos, this meant a central horizontal electric motor driving a horizontal shaft extending the length of the loco, with multiple rubber bands looped around the shaft, and twisting though 90 degrees to also loop around individual wheel axles.  


Lone Star's system avoided the need for high-precision engineered and lubricated gears. Predictably, the system was prone to slippage, which was partly compensated for by the amount for redundancy (each axle being independently driven from the same shaft), but the downside was that the locomotives were fiddly to service when the rubber bands needed adjusting.  
==1955 trade promotional text:==
{{Quotation2|A new factory has been built at Hatfield, Herts, England. This will enable us to increase production of Lone Star products, and to introduce even more new lines to our ever popular range of toys.  
Lone Star products are backed right through to the public to help increase your sales. As part of our Dealer-aid Service we are continuing to organize throughout the country such attractions as road shows, nation-wide competitions for children, and special store displays. The Lone Star Magazine with its national circulation, provides valuable publicity from which you and we benefit. |Author=Lone Star|Publication=[[British Playthings Overseas]]|Date=1955}}


The public were dubious about buying a very small cheap system in a non-standard format from a company that they might not have heard of, and the Lone Star 000 electric system is supposed to have disappeared by the mid-1960s (although [[Beatties]] still seemed to have some stock in 1967).    
==1963 promo text:==
{{Quotation2|<h4>Lone Star</h4>
In 1963 Lone Star will be concentrating on improving their Treblolectric rolling stock, both passenger and goods. They will be diecast and have greater detail, with nylon bearings as well as axles, thus reducing the friction. All locomotives will be tested to pull not less than four coaches, but up to twenty-five coaches have been hauled by one locomotive on their test track. A new improved controller and a range of structures, motor vehicles and figures are also in preparation.
|Author=-|Publication=Railway Modeller|Date=January 1963}}
 
==Factory photos:==
''photos supplied by Jonathan Thorpe''
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights=160px align=left>
Image:Original_pattern_and_final_Lotus_toy_car_(Lone_Star).jpg|[[Media:Original_pattern_and_final_Lotus_toy_car_(Lone_Star).jpg|Original pattern and final Lotus toy car]]
Image:Diecast_toy_car_production_line_(Lone_Star).jpg|[[Media:Diecast_toy_car_production_line_(Lone_Star).jpg|Diecast toy car production line]]
Image:Accessory_packing_section_(Lone_Star_Treble-O-Lectric).jpg|[[Media:Accessory_packing_section_(Lone_Star_Treble-O-Lectric).jpg|Accessory packing, Treble-O-Lectric]]
Image:Eric_Eastwell_and_AR_Mills,_Lone_Star_(circa_1950).jpg|[[Media:Eric_Eastwell_and_AR_Mills,_Lone_Star_(circa_1950).jpg|Eric Eastwell and A.R. Mills inspect a Buccaneer pirate gun]]
Image:Publicity_photos_of_a_child_surrounded_by_diecast_toy_cars_(Lone_Star).jpg|[[Media:Publicity_photos_of_a_child_surrounded_by_diecast_toy_cars_(Lone_Star).jpg|Lots of Lone Star cars!]]
Image:Competition_winner_visits_the_Palmers_Green_factory_(Lone_Star).jpg|[[Media:Competition_winner_visits_the_Palmers_Green_factory_(Lone_Star).jpg|A competition winner meets "Steve Larrabee"]]
</gallery>
 
==See also:==
* '''[[Lone Star Locos]]'''
* '''[[Lone Star Treble-O-Lectric]]'''


{{Links}}
{{Links}}
* [http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1313716/lone-star-locos-model-railway-bridge-lone-star-products/ V&A: Lone Star Locos (collections.vam.ac.uk)]
 
* [http://www.garyscars.co.uk/dcmt/locos/index.htm Lone Star Locos (garyscars.co.uk)]
* [http://www.planetdiecast.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&id=96&catid=91&Itemid=2455 Discussion: Lone Star "OOO"-gauge Trains, scale 2mm to the foot (planetdiecast.com)]
 
* [http://www.lone-star-diecast-bk.com/OpenDay.html Lone Star' Collectors' Exhibitions, Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Enfield (lone-star-diecast-bk.com)]
* [http://www.lone-star-diecast-bk.com/OpenDay.html Lone Star' Collectors' Exhibitions, Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Enfield (lone-star-diecast-bk.com)]
* [http://www.vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk/3index/trains.htm Lone Star Locos (vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk)]
* [http://www.vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk/3index/trains.htm Lone Star Locos (vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk)]
* [http://www.irwinsjournal.com/a1g/a1glocos/TrebleO.html Lone Star Treble-O-Lectric Trains (irwinsjournal.com)]


* [http://www.planetdiecast.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&id=96&catid=91&Itemid=2455 Discussion: Lone Star "OOO"-gauge Trains, scale 2mm to the foot (planetdiecast.com)]
* [https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=Lone%20Star%20Products%20Ltd Lone Star Products Ltd. (collections.vam.ac.uk)]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Star_Toys Lone Star Toys (wikipedia.org)]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Star_Toys Lone Star Toys (wikipedia.org)]
{{Crescent}}
{{JackOdell}}
{{NorthLondon}}
{{Diecast}}

Latest revision as of 16:15, 18 April 2024

Toy Brands and Manufacturers

Lone Star logo.jpg

Lone Star

1950 -     
1955: "Lone Star production goes up and up". Note the selection of toys around the page edge, mostly "Cowboys and Indians"-related

1955: "Lone Star production goes up and up". Note the selection of toys around the page edge, mostly "Cowboys and Indians"-related [image info]

1964: D-Day Invasion Set

1964: D-Day Invasion Set [image info]

The Die Cast Machine Tools Company (DCMT ~1939-1983), started out just before World War Two, manufacturing diecasting machines and equipment.

DCMT had initially manufactured some cast metal toys for Crescent, and then started manufacturing in their own right. Since "DCMT" was slightly cryptic (and the full name was unhelpful for a toy brand), the company picked the name Lone Star as their toy brand, which (at eight letters plus a space) was still reasonably short and easy to letter on the base of small cast items.

Lone Star factories: Palmers Green Works and Hatfield


The brand

The "Lone Star" brand was tailored for "Wild West" - related toys – children's enthusiasm for playing "Cowboys and Indians" after the war (fuelled by Hollywood films) created a demand for diecast toy cap-firing guns, which DCMT was ideally placed to satisfy. While "Lone Star" was a reference to the single star on the state flag of Texas (the "lone star state"), it also resonated with "The Lone Ranger", and with the five-pointed star sheriff's badge that children would be familiar with from films and "cowboy" play costumes.

DCMT invested heavily in promoting their "Cowboys and Indians"-themed brandname, organising events and competitions and hiring Roy Green to play the cowboy "Steve Larrabee". This led to a strong enough brand recognition with toyshops that the company applied the brandname to their newer ranges of toys (such as model trains and cars) that were nothing to do with cowboys. This led to the slightly perplexing situation of a train set made by a British company with British-style locos and rolling stock being marketed to British families under an American-sounding name, causing many people to assume that the company must be American.

Product ranges

While Lone Star continued producing a wide range of diecast metal toy guns (including, in later days, a licensed James Bond toy Walther PPK), and are mostly remembered nowadays as a maker of "cap guns", they seem to have taken a keen interest in what other diecast toymakers were doing, resulting in a product lineup that ranged from the slightly derivative/generic to the genuinely innnovative.

Trains

  • Lone Star Locos appeared in the late 1950s as a range of fairly basic 000-scale diecast miniature trains and track (similar-looking to the old Dinky Toys miniature push-along trains, but with clip-together diecast track). Where gauge 0 track was 32-and-a-bit-millimetres wide, "000" would be expected to be a quarter of this, or somewhere around eight-and-a-bit millimetres, and this Lone Star range used a size of about 8.5mm.
  • The 1960s saw the appearance of the comparatively short-lived "Treble-O-Lectric" range of "proper" motorised 000-scale electric train sets, with a slightly larger 9mm gauge. This made Lone Star arguably the pioneers of commercial N gauge.

Cars

  • Impy Toys were an attempt to compete with the diecast toy cars already being made by Dinky and Corgi.
  • Lone Star Flyers represented the company's attempt to update their Impy range to have low-friction axles to compete with the threat of Mattel's new (market-disrupting) Hot Wheels range.
  • Roadmaster Majors were then the range of larger Impy vehicles – typically buses and lorries – which were not suitable for the "low friction, high speed" treatment. This also included a tractor, a Jeep and trailer, and (wierdly) a much larger-scale Jaguar sports car.
  • Lone Star Commercials represented more modern versions of commercial vehicles – where the "Majors" tended to have long engine bonnets, the "Commercials" tended (with the exception of the tractors and the Number 31 Breakdown Truck) to have flat-fronted high-visibility cabs.
  • Top Boy were "chunky" stylised vehicles aimed at the Tonka Toys market, and,
  • Tuf-Tots were aimed at the market for smaller-sized cheaper toy vehicles, led by Matchbox, which Corgi also tried to penetrate with their Husky/Corgi Juniors range.

Other

The company also made other toys that didn't easily fit into a range, such as the 1210 Giant Construction Crane, and there was an "International Peace Force" range of pretty standard army vehicle types, but finished in "United Nations" blue rather than drab green, and with odd silver detailing.

1955 trade promotional text:

A new factory has been built at Hatfield, Herts, England. This will enable us to increase production of Lone Star products, and to introduce even more new lines to our ever popular range of toys.

Lone Star products are backed right through to the public to help increase your sales. As part of our Dealer-aid Service we are continuing to organize throughout the country such attractions as road shows, nation-wide competitions for children, and special store displays. The Lone Star Magazine with its national circulation, provides valuable publicity from which you and we benefit.

— , Lone Star, , British Playthings Overseas, , 1955

1963 promo text:

Lone Star

In 1963 Lone Star will be concentrating on improving their Treblolectric rolling stock, both passenger and goods. They will be diecast and have greater detail, with nylon bearings as well as axles, thus reducing the friction. All locomotives will be tested to pull not less than four coaches, but up to twenty-five coaches have been hauled by one locomotive on their test track. A new improved controller and a range of structures, motor vehicles and figures are also in preparation.

— , -, , Railway Modeller, , January 1963

Factory photos:

photos supplied by Jonathan Thorpe

See also:

External links

Subcategories

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