The Tri-ang Girder Bridge (R.78) by Dave Coddington

 The girder bridge first appeared in 1954 and was illustrated in the first edition of the Tri-ang catalogue remaining in the catalogues until the 18^th edition, the final Tri-ang Hornby catalogue.

The girder bridge first changed slightly from 1960, with the removal of the four square ends. This change continued throughout the remainder of its life. The next change was the removal of the moulded supports located at the top girder corner plates & sections of the slot into which the wooden base was located. The next moulding change was the removal of the Rovex Scale Models symbol. It was released as a brown plastic version, sold in Canada in the early 1970s.

To date I have discovered six different moulded versions of the girder bridge, but who knows, other versions may come to light.

Different colour versions of the grey plastic also exist including a dark green version, but are not listed here, only moulding differences.

These are the six versions:-

1. Girder Bridge as per catalogues 1 to 5, complete with square ends moulded on the girders & two moulded supports for the wooden base.

                                    Version 1

2. As version 1 but with the square ends removed

                                     Version 2

3. The moulded supports for the wooden base now with four sections on each side of the mould removed. In addition the mouldings behind the six top girder plates have also been removed.

                                     Version 3

4. As version 3 but with the Rovex Scale Models & L emblem removed.

                                  Version 4.

5. R78c as version 4 but in brown plastic. (Canada)

                                   Version 5.

6. RV308 Big Big version in blue plastic complete with signals.

                Version 6.