Trillium Manufacturers = Confusing

[GPJ]

And Get-Away RV in Abbotsford, British Columbia has a Trillium 4500 listed as sold and a Trillium 1300 available for sale on their website (listed under "Other Brands"): New and Used Other Brands RV Sales | Get-Away RV Centre - RV Dealership

[Roger C H]

There were trailers inside and outside of the small building. Tom said that the building was too small. He also had a cold, so we didn't hang around long. There were about four employees, maybe more. He was building mainly 4500's if I recall. I didn't take any photos.

I think the building used to house the impound yard for local law enforcement.

Florence, AZ - Google Maps

It is located where hwy 79 and 287 diverge south of town, just SE of the 'river' crossing before the intersection, in the triangle shaped piece of land - the only building there. The Google satellite view doesn't show any trailers. but is probably several years old.
Enter this in Google Maps:

15051 N. Hwy 79 Florence, Arizona

[reetired]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

One such dealer is in Pleasanton CA (Bay Area).

2014 TRILLIUM 4500 JUST ARRIVED - Inventory | The RV Store at Alameda County Fairgrounds |RV, Motorhome, travel trailer, toy hauler, class A, class B, class C, new RV

I think I recently saw that Trilliums were also at an RV dealer outside of Portland OR.

I was out there in May. Wanted to look at the 4500 model with the shower. Said that model is due in July.

I personally didn't like the "wayward seat" at the entrance. Space could have been used more effectively.

Personal preference.....oh well.

[David Tilston]

Umm.... Tom Young told me that they have not yet made the full front bath room option. I guess the one due in July would be the first. I would love to see it. Please post pictures when you see it.

[reetired]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Umm.... Tom Young told me that they have not yet made the full front bath room option. I guess the one due in July would be the first. I would love to see it. Please post pictures when you see it.

Hmm...maybe he was pulling my leg. I won't go back to CA for another 6 months-1 year. It will probably be on their website.

[LeonardS]

Yeah, that corner bathroom model they had was weird. There still was the big window in front, shared by the bathroom and that horrible corner seat. So there was a wall intersecting the window. Kind of crude looking.

[David Tilston]

I have a corner bathroom Trillium 1300. It is unusable for normal sized people. It would make a good closet for those who need two closets. I thought that a 4500 with a corner closet would be more useful, since the gaucho on the classic 4500 is wider then the gaucho on the 1300. The trouble is, Tom Young uses the gaucho from the 1300 on the 4500. This give the new 4500 a larger dinette bed then the old 4500, and much larger then the 1300. It also means that the bathroom on the 4500 would be just as small as the 1300.

[MSHYYC]

Thought I would sum up and "de-confuse" people on what I have determined about Trillium:

Trillium Trailers was founded originally in Ontario. Trillium is the name of the official flower for the province of Ontario--and the logo resembles the flower (Crown-owned businesses in Ontario often use a similar logo though they don't call their businesses Trillium).

Trillium eventually went bankrupt during the economic downturn of the late 1970s and early 1980s. For some time no Trilliums were made at all, but someone acquired the molds and other businesses continued to support and repair and restore the units.

Some time later (1990s some time) A company in Alberta called "Ramblin Industries" used the original molds to create a few new Trilliums. By the turn of this century they went bankrupt however.

Joe Thoen owns a business in Calgary, Alberta that has long specialised in repairing and restoring fibreglass RVs and was basically the "go-to guy" for getting your Trillium fixed in the region. He acquired the molds and picked up where Ramblin left off, making the Trillium Outback starting in around 2002. They still make them in Calgary today (I have one on order in the process of being made).

Three or 4 years later (2005 or 2006) Tom Young, the former VP of operations for the very first Trillium company in Ontario, who by then lived in California, decided to revive the Trillium brand in the US. Calfornia is very hostile to new business startups if they are pretty much anything but internet startups--the expense and environmental regulations involved in setting up a fibreglass shop there prevented him from making them there. Plus Tom did not have one of the original molds yet. So, Tom had Joe make the trailers in Calgary to a partially complete state, and the interiors, trim, windows, etc. would be completed in California, so for awhile Trillium==Outback for the most part (kind of like how Ford makes the Transit delivery van in Turkey then re-does the interior in the US to avoid the ridiculous "chicken tax" tariff in the US).

Eventually Tom bought a mold or two (from Joe I think) so they played nice for awhile at least but parted ways for some reason. Still, Tom could not get a factory set up cost effectively in California, so he tried to set up in Nevada but that didn't last either. So, to make use of his mold(s) he had the Escape guys use that mold to do what Joe/Outback were doing before. Now Tom of TrilliumRV seems to finally have his own digs in Arizona where he can use his mold(s) to make the Trillium all by himself.

In the meantime Joe of "Outback Custom Liteweights" in Calgary still does a thriving business serving the Canadian market (there is only one dealer of the "other Trillium" in Canada--in BC--that moves less units than Outbacks sell here). The Calgary operation mostly makes new Trilliums from scratch but they also still restoring old egg trailers of all makes. They also have another business that repairs RVs in general.

So which ones are "real Trilliums"? I'd say they ALL are! They are all made with the same mold and use the same general design--they do have a lot of interchangeable parts, etc. and the owners of both operations have past connections with the original company. Tom may have been a VP with the original company, and own the Trillium trademark (in the US only as far as I can tell though), but Outback is made in the same country as the original Trillium and that company started a few years before the US company. So, maybe Tom can legitimately claim to be the "direct descendant of the original company", given that Outback started making them first and even helped the US company make theirs they are also a direct descendant--maybe "squabbling siblings"

I joke about the squabbling part--I haven't seen any evidence they have or had squabbled beyond some saying there may have been a trademark dispute in court at one point. Anyways maybe others can help out more. I know that both comapnies have representatives on this forum so I hope they can correct any mistakes if they see this. For my part I think they both sell quality products, but since Outback is local to me (as I am from Calgary) and proved very friendly to deal with I went with them.

[Roy in TO]

Mark,
Apparently there is a little bit more that has been happening recently with the situation you described. Best to let Tom post something when he can.

[Mikmay]

To make things more confusing I spoke with tom at the bolerama meet and he said he may be moving the production of the 4500 to Manitoba .it will be built at a plant that manufactures camper vans

[Roger C H]

Strangely, the logo on the trailer itself is Out Back, but everywhere in the literature on the website it is Outback. (If you look at the Trillium logo, it is spelled trillium with a LC "t".)



The picture shows that the Trillium logo is no longer on the door.
(I flipped the picture R-L so the door is on the correct side. Either this was done for aesthetic reasons, or Outback is making trailers for the right hand drive market.)

However, the price is still quoted as October 1, 2010.

The Outback has a separate two burner stove and sink.
The Trillium has a combination three burner stove and sink with folding glass covers.

The Outback has right and left sliding windows with solid front and back windows.
The Trillium has opening jalousie type windows on all four sides. For some reason, most Outback pictures seem to have been taken without windows installed.

Hey, I sit in that seat. I find it quite convenient. My wife sits in the left front corner seat so I have access to the stove/sink for cooking.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Mikmay

To make things more confusing I spoke with tom at the bolerama meet and he said he may be moving the production of the 4500 to Manitoba .it will be built at a plant that manufactures camper vans

That explains this. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ale-60511.html