Response to soft emultion in Tri X

My guess is that Tri-X has a thicker emulsion layer than most modern films, and it's the extra thickness of the swollen gelatin that gives the impression of being softer. How do you know the emulsion is softer during processing? Nobody is feeling it, I hope!
If the films are being processed in proper holders, and kept out of contact with each other, then some softening during processing shouldn't be a problem.
What temperature are you processing at? Higher than the recommended 68 to 75 Farenheit to get more throughput?

Some old research by Ilford suggests that soft water causes more swelling of the emulsion than hard water, and that the maximum water uptake happens if a plain water rinse and not a stop bath are used between the developer and the fixer. The water uptake is also reduced by dissolved salts, so a metabisulphite stop bath instead of Acetic acid should lessen the problem.
You may still have to use a hardener, and offset its use with a Hypo clearing agent to speed up the final wash.

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