Special Train Sets

Since Canada was such a vast country, it meant that it was impracticable for salesmen to cover it by travelling from town to town.  It made more economic sense to deal with the department store chains and mail order companies.  The high discounts demanded by these companies were offset by the savings in marketing costs but offered little profit to the manufacturer.

Some brief notes about the companies:
​Department Stores and Home Shopping / Mail Order Catalogues
Picture
Picture
The first recorded example of a Tri-ang Railways Special Train Set produced exclusively for the Canadian market dates from Spring 1957.  It was produced for Simpsons-Sears.

As with Eaton's, Simpsons-Sears sold many Tri-ang Railways models and train sets directly through their department stores.

The only examples, that have so far been discovered, of Tri-ang train sets being sold via home-shopping / mail order were advertised only in their Christmas Catalogues / Wish Books.  Tri-ang Railways train sets were featured in 1957, 1959 and every year from 1966 through to 1970.

No further Tri-ang Railways train sets were illustrated in Simpsons-Sears catalogues after 1970.  By 1971 they had been replaced by Tyco sets.
Vertical Divider
The operating name of the company was Simpson's, which was headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.  But, Simpson's had also partnered with Sears, Roebuck and Company, a U.S. department store chain, to create Simpsons-Sears Limited. The purpose of the joint-venture was to take over the existing Simpson's catalogue operations, and to build new stores in markets that were not already served by existing Simpson's stores.

Tri-ang had been making up Special Sets for Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears since at least the Spring of 1957.  As with Eaton's, this continued for many years through to the early 1970's.

From 1969 their Special Sets carried the famous white and blue label on the box lids.
Interestingly, the competition between the Simpson's and Eaton’s department stores, facing each other across Queen Street West, became one of Toronto’s great business rivalries.
For a complete listing of all the advertisements for Tri-ang Railways which appeared in the Christmas Catalogues / Wish Books from 1957 until 1970 please click on the button below
Picture
Tri-ang Railways models and train sets were sold directly through Eaton's department stores as well as through their home shopping / mail order catalogues.

Thanks to research by Terry Walker in Canada, it is known that any Tri-ang train sets sold through Eaton's catalogues during the period 1956-1964 would have only been advertised in their Christmas Catalogues - not in their Spring and Summer or Fall and Winter Catalogues.

T. Eaton Co. Limited was a Toronto based retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country and a catalogue that found itself in the homes of most Canadians.  Eaton's was once Canada's largest department store retailer and had been selling Tri-ang sets since the mid-1950's.
Vertical Divider
A number of Special Canadian Sets were made for Eaton's as early as 1960 and every year from 1965 right through to the end of 1971.

The majority of these Tri-ang Railways Special Sets were featured in the Eaton's Christmas Catalogues / Wish Books.  Although some were only sold directly through their retail stores.
 
For a complete listing of all the advertisements for Tri-ang Railways which appeared in the Christmas Catalogues / Wish Books from 1960 until 1971 please click on the button below
From 1969 up until the end of 1971 Special Sets made for Eaton's carried their famous blue label on the box lids.
Department Stores
Picture
"I can remember quite clearly going to one of my favourite places, Woodward's department store, "Toyland" (in Vancouver) and there seeing for the first time, a Tri-ang CN engine... I could hardly believe it!  They were at last making trains to represent REAL railways..!  It was an R.55, and for Christmas I received it, and several CN freight cars to go with it."  (from correspondence with Terry Walker)
Vertical Divider
Woodward's was established in 1892.  Its head office was based in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Woodward’s operated a chain of department stores across British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.  It also produced Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter catalogues for home-shopping as well as an ‘Xmas Gift Book’ which featured many children‘s toys including, historically, trains from a variety of manufacturers, Dinky Toys and Meccano.

Though, during the period 1956-1973, when Tri-ang Railways were produced for the Canadian market, the use of home-shopping/mail order catalogues by Wooodward's had ceased.  Therefore, all sales were through the department store outlets.
Picture
HUDSON'S BAY CO.
 
The Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated by Engish royal charter in 1670 and is the oldest commercial corporation in North America.  In 1964, the Ontario stores were converted into the new name 'the Bay'.

The Hudson's Bay Company was not involved in mail order catalogue sales during the 1950s or the 1960s therefore any Tri-ang Railways sales would have only been marketed through the department stores and retail outlets themselves.
Picture
Vertical Divider
The earliest known Special Set made exclusively for the Hudson's Bay Company dates from 1962
The white and deep yellow box lid label for 'the Bay' dates from 1969.
Morgan's was a Montreal-based Canadian department store chain.  At its peak, the company had stores in Quebec and Ontario.  Morgan's was purchased in 1960 by the Hudson's Bay Company.

It is known that Special Canadian Sets were made and marketed under 'the Bay' and 'the Bay & Morgan's labels right through to the early 1970's.
Picture
The later sets, from 1970 onwards, carried the company's white and red label on the box lids.
Supermarkets
Miracle Mart had at least 26 retail outlets in Quebec and a further 22 retail outlets in Ontario provinces.

Miracle Mart is known to have retailed Tri-ang Railways Sets and at least one set (Set No. 911) is believed to have been produced exclusively for them in 1969.
Miracle Mart was founded in 1960 by Montreal-based grocery chain Steinberg's (established 1917) and its first store opened in 1961.  Miracle Mart was initially supposed to operate under the name Steinberg-Woodward as part of a joint venture between Steinberg's and the Vancouver-based department store Woodward's but the partnership rapidly ended.
 
Miracle Mart operated at mid-level and competed with the likes of Kmart, Woolco, Towers/Bonimart and  Zellers.  There was also a similarly named grocery chain, Miracle Food Mart that operated exclusively in Ontario (Steinberg's rebranded all of their Ontario grocery stores to Miracle Food Marts starting in 1969).  Often found together, some locations with both a grocery and a department store became Steinberg Beaucoups or Miracle Beaucoups.