Picked up at the GBMR for £25, I rather liked the look of this little shunter. It could easily pass as an industrial British loco, even though the prototype never ran here as far as I can tell.
Looking for prototype information has, so far, proved fruitless. There's this page on the model, and one photo.
Not to worry, the model was cheap, I liked it, and I had nearly bought one when in Aachen. I didn't, because I spotted what looked like a pickup stud on the bottom, so I assumed it was an AC powered model.
Apparently not. The instructions tell me it's a Contacter and contact unit 6402 to perform electrical switching functions. Any clearer? Me neither, but the loco runs on 12v DC, and that's all that matters.
And run it does. Very sweetly too, thanks to that impressive gear train on the side of the pancake motor. The wheels might be chunky (not sure what to do about this at the moment), but I can't fault the mechanical side. OK, the motor can be seen in the can, but that's because it dates from the early 1960s - compare this to the horrible things we "enjoyed" in Britain at the same time.
The model weighs in 235g, thanks to some bonnet-filling weights. At the ends, the buffer beams are stamped metal, the rest of the model plastic.
I think it's really nice. Even the box says "quality".
7 comments:
I have used old Fleischmann loco chassis fitted with the stud on the bottom - it should be sprung loaded. I dealt with it by inverting the chassis, applying cyano to the shaft of the stud, and holding it down until the glue set.
Christopher Payne
I've recently been buying vintage (1950's & 60's) forrin stuff. Puts British stuff from the same era to shame. They even made them the right size to match the gauge of the track - heavens above - how dare they!!!
I always got the feeling that Fleischmann and Märklin each wanted to try to tie you in to their "systems"...Fleischmann, DC 2-rail, but their own couplings and control gear like that little button on the loco (both my more recent Fleischmann locos still have it) and Märklin 3-Rail AC with various unique features, though at least they used Euro standard couplings! I'm amazed by how popular Märklin still seems to be in Germany...you'd have thought 3-rail AC would have gone the same way as Hornby-Dublo.
I've had one of those little O&Ks, mine was a decent runner, particularly given its train set origin. Not sure what to suggest about wheels...someone, somewhere, may do replacements, you can certainly get them for European rolling stock.
Is the stud thing a magnet? If so it could be used with reed switches.
As for the wheels, are the gears part of the wheels or are they separate? If not then the wheels could be replaced with wagon wheels, if they are then maybe spin the wheels in a drill and file down the flanges. Or decide that the time to buy a lathe has come...
It's not a magnet, I'm not really sure how it works. And the gears are moulded into the back of the wheels. I am wondering how well they would survive a trip on a lathe...
Find me finescale O gauge in the US - it doesn't exist. They are perfectly happy with chunky 3-rail tinplate. When Rapido looked at producing a proper diesel model, the trade said it wouldn't sell, so the idea was dropped.
Many years ago my Dad picked up a Fleischman diesel with the same plunger. Following a Fleischman catalogue, he bought a Fleischman arm signal. When the loco passed over the metal ramp that came with it the signal changed from “all clear” to “danger”. I believe it stayed that way for a few moments then reset.
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