The “AS” toy and model train business was established in 1980 by Messrs Pierre Adenot and Rène Sennedot deriving the trading name and trademark from the first letter of their last names. These two gentlemen had previously, in 1962,started in Paris, the company “L'emboutissage" (translating to “Stamping”or “Pressing”) which made outsourced automobile parts (Ref. 2, page 28). Advertisements for AS trains sometimes list AS trains as a ”product of L'emboutissage”.
Initially AS made ‘0’ gauge tinplate, lithographed passenger coaches with their first locomotive, a tinplate, 3-rail, 222 Tank locomotive catalogued in 1982. In 1982 the company also began a range of HO trains that were primarily models of French railcars or “autorails”. (These HO trains will not be addressed in this article.) In the decade starting in 1980, AS made a wide variety of ‘0’ gauge tinplate, lithographed passenger related coaches, models of Paris “Metro” trains, and six different steam outline locomotives in 21 different liveries culminating in 1990 with a near scale model of the famous Pacific 231K8. This article will focus on these trains produced from 1980 to 1990.
However, from the collector’s/operator’s perspective, “AS” trains were being produced to 1997 and later. Like many toy train companies, AS went through a series of changes in partners, ownership, financial stability, a near bankruptcy, different corporate forms, and company name changes. The original business, under changed ownership, traded as “La Rotonde” (the Roundhouse), which produced modern electric outline models and near scale steam locomotives. Separately, one of the original partners, Pierre Adenot, founded Europe Train Retro, “ETR”, with two new associates, and they produced freight wagons. The “AS” trademark continued to be used throughout most of the seventeen year period from 1980 with some overlap between La Rotonde and ETR, but not every La Rotonde or ETR product carries the AS name as well. Even as late as 2005 the name R. Sennedot was associated with a small firm called RVZero which produced a few 0 gauge items. Several of the models from these companies will be briefly addressed in this article as well.
AS trains are very much tinplate trains. Made of stamped, folded, rolled, and embossed metal, with tab-in-slot construction, details , such as piping, valves, and pumps, were frequently applied through seriography. Windows were added to coaches with seriography as well. There were few die cast detail parts applied. The scale was intended to be 1/43.5. They are good looking ‘0’ gauge, 3-rail trains that capture the look of their prototypes well. The later locomotives were good examples of what today we call “coarse scale” trains. AS trains have been confused with the British ACE trains even though ACE started their production in 1996. Maybe it is just the similar sounding names of AS and ACE. Never-the-less, in his book “Brillantly Old Fashioned, The Story of ACE O Gauge Trains”, Allen Levy notes that ACE trains were “… a worthy successor to the AS Trains of France...” (Ref. 3 Page 17 )
Tinplate sheet for the Rheingold cars. Note the
tabs.
(Photo courtesy of Michel Fort)
The trains were made in limited numbers, 200 units would be big production run for a locomotive. But they were sold in Great Briton, the Netherlands, and Germany as well as France. They are not as rare as one might expect although they can be expensive. AS products frequently show up on the French eBay site and can be found in major European toy train auctions such as the annual “Trains Galore” auction conducted by Special Auction Services each December.
Next: The AS 222T tank Loco
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