Very old, though this one looks in outwardly pristine condition; I'd be concerned about possible perished rubber parts, seals etc, on a loco of this age that has never been run. Certainly a pretty little thing. I understand that Tom Cooper (Merlin) started his first loco business importing these from Germany, sometime in the early 1980s I think? The little Anna 0-4-0 was followed by "Helene", which is an 0-6-2 loosely based on a U class (Austrian).
OK, further to the above, I've just dug out my copy of Mark Horovitz's "A Passion for Steam", which has a page on the Anna; summarising what he says, the loco was loosely patterned on a Krauss Maffei design, and was made in green or black. They were designed very much as a beginner's loco, and made to be easy to operate - a gas control valve sticks out from the front of the right hand tank, where the gas tank is located, the only other control being a regulator knob on the side of the steam dome - so no fiddling with controls inside the cab! There is a very oversize pressure gauge readable through the back of the cab, and there is a backhead glass for the water level as on the LGB/Aster Frank S. Horovitz describes it as "little more than a toy, albeit a pretty good one.....heavily and robustly built..." It has two double-acting cylinders with slip eccentric reversing gear.
Beck apparently folded in 1981 (the Anna was first made around 1979) and Tom Cooper bought their remaining inventory of locos and parts; again according to Horovitz, the last of the parts eventually passed to Roundhouse, who made a final batch of Annas in 1990 using Roundhouse cylinders - these hybrids (apparently much better than the Beck originals) are very scarce - given that the box for the one on eBay is obviously a German original, I'd assume this is NOT one of those, so this probably dates from 1979/1980.
Horovitz notes that although the Anna was produced with LGB rolling stock very much in mind, hence the LGB-style loop couplings, the wheels are not insulated so it can't be run on powered track.
Looks like a nice little buy if it doesn't go too silly on the price - but given the age I'd be inclined to give it an overhaul before trying to fire it up.....
Jon.
