Lone Star Toys

From TrainSpottingWorld, for Rail fans everywhere

Lone Star was the name used by British company Die Casting Machine Tools Ltd (DCMT) for its toy products.

Starting in 1949, the company manufactured die cast toys for children. The 'Lone Star' name was chosen because the big demand at the time was for toy guns and rifles driven by the Western films in cinemas all over Britain. Other early models included large numbers of hand painted figures, mostly military, with some cowboy and Native American figures. Other figures were licensed from children's series and included Noddy, Popeye and Zorro.

Lone Star began producing toy cars in 1960 with a rapidly expanding range of metal die cast cars under names like "Lone Star Flyers".

Under the "Lone Star Locos" and "Treble-0" names, they produced very small (N scale) British and American model push along trains in 1961, followed shortly after by electrically powered working models of two British diesel locomotives under the "Treble-0-Lectric" name. These were accompanied by track, scenic items and other accessories. The electric train models coincided with the introduction of Scalextric and never sold well enough to pay back the investment. In 1964 production ceased, although push-along trains continued to be made for far longer.