ge 4/4iii v piko taurus

B

bazzer42

oo 80's, WW1, Rupert Bear, beer
I'm getting a hankering for a spot of overhead in the garden the LGB 4/4 iii looks fantastic and a price to go with it. The Piko taurus is a very cheap alternative but how does it compare? I recall recently one being offered up but had comments about reverse curves being problematical. Any views or opinions will be gratefully absorbed.

Is it a case of getting what you pay for?
 
sorry, but the short asnwer is yes...
 
Thanks for an honest view. Some of the feedback on the crocodile made me wonder. I never managed to control the urge in oo to buy more locos than I could ever hope to run. Perhaps I need to finally convince myself to go for quality over quantity
 
bazzer42 said:
I'm getting a hankering for a spot of overhead in the garden the LGB 4/4 iii looks fantastic and a price to go with it. The Piko taurus is a very cheap alternative but how does it compare? I recall recently one being offered up but had comments about reverse curves being problematical. Any views or opinions will be gratefully absorbed.
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I don't have either loco, but other owners' Piko Taurus and 218 locos have performed fine on Ruritanian Railways radius 1 return loops and the 1 in 20 gradient. I haven't seen one on R1 reverse curves, but LGB R3 (1200mm) are no problem. Are they as detailed as LGB? In my view, no. Do they work OK and pass the "six foot test"? Yes, as far as I can tell from the visiting locos. Value for money is a question that only you can answer.
Edit: You might want to PM DaveHub. He has both Piko locos and they get worked hard!
 
bazzer42 said:
Thanks for an honest view. Some of the feedback on the crocodile made me wonder. I never managed to control the urge in oo to buy more locos than I could ever hope to run. Perhaps I need to finally convince myself to go for quality over quantity
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have had 4 piko locos, 3 off the 219,and the railcar.. and a few lgb locos, ithink i can honestly say, you do get what you pay for..
if you can a ford a apiko, great.. but if you can get a lgb , and buy a piko, i think you might regreat it..imho
but what would i know:bigsmile:
 
They're also totally different models? The Ge4/4 III is a metre gauge swiss prototype, used only on the metre gauge system, with a central buffer. The Taurus is a standard gauge prototype used by a whole variety of operating companies across Europe, standard buffers and coupling gear - even a diesel version in a similar body shell IIRC?

As a result, the Ge4/4 III will always be more expensive as less have been made, and they are more sought after by Swiss outline modellers than the Taurus. Piko have flooded the market with this - some were available new for less than £150 last year.

Anyhow - what's it going to be used for? What's the rest of your rolling stock, do you have suitable coaches or wagons for either to pull?

Hopefully answering a few of these questions will help to make your mind up :)
 
jameshilton said:
They're also totally different models? The Ge4/4 III is a metre gauge swiss prototype, used only on the metre gauge system, with a central buffer. The Taurus is a standard gauge prototype used by a whole variety of operating companies across Europe, standard buffers and coupling gear - even a diesel version in a similar body shell IIRC?

As a result, the Ge4/4 III will always be more expensive as less have been made, and they are more sought after by Swiss outline modellers than the Taurus. Piko have flooded the market with this - some were available new for less than £150 last year.

Anyhow - what's it going to be used for? What's the rest of your rolling stock, do you have suitable coaches or wagons for either to pull?
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The LGB DB 101 Class loco that Mike posted a linky to is a Standard Gauge loco though and available for far less than the LGB Metre Gauge Ge 4/4 III?

It may be more worthwhile for Bazzer to compare the LGB DB 101 with the Piko Taurus on price and quality should he be interested.

I was wondering if there was anyone here running both these locos able to give their opinion...
 
I don't think the LGB standard guage electrics sold very well, dealers seem to have a lot of them left.

Ontacks currently have a sale on both the LGB 20313 and 22310 (Cargo version). They are available for £289.44 on their web site.

Make a dealer a cheap offer if you want one.
 
I've got a couple of 'Taurii', and am quite happy with them.

If you want to run from overhead power, then the plastic pantographs will need to be replaced. The originals are quite rugged, they've survived being caught by foliage, and simply clip back in.

The directional lighting is a bit poor, a single bulb shines through ( at full track voltage ) a complex moulding to appear as 3 lights. At low speeds, there is just a faint glow. There is a 'drop-in' Massoth board available which has white and red led's, much better. It's a bit pricey for what it is....two boards each with a few leds. A home made version is possible.

In at least one of my examples, the two bogies were not wired together, once this was done running did improve.

I've run mine on undulating track ( min rad 3ft ), and it's fairly happy. I would say it runs as well as most other Aristo/USA/LGB.

Longevity?..yet to be tested. But they are reasonably priced, so buy 1 to run, and 1 as a source of spares?

Malcolm
 
One of my favourite locos, Very nice.. :bigsmile:
097f51e8b9314b3f9ec8b63413ef4dd8.jpg

Even better double headed :thumbup:
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I think the Piko models are good value for the money, better so than the many LGB but you get more with LGB but not twice as much more for twice the price. The Piko motor blocks are also geared to run slower than some LGB types. Piko made some of the Toytrain range for the old LGB and the quality is more at that level than the red box LGB.
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
Ontrack show a lot on the website, but generally most seems out of stock, as Mike said Paul at P&S York fantastic service, the guys a walking LGB encyclopedia and he only sells 'good stuff'
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Sure Ontrack is just a box shifter, and you may have to wait for the items to be sent to Ontrack from the UK importer. They don't usually have good deals, but this one does seem to be quite good, if a cheap price is desired maybe this is the way to go. I can't imagine they would send 'bad stuff', and if they did just send it back and get a refund.

Probably other UK dealers would match the price anyway.
 
If your budget stretches far enough go for the GE44 111. I've got six of them and don't forget the catenary
 
Philbahn said:
. I've got six of them and don't forget the catenary
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Shurly some mistate mister.........

You have 5 and:onphone::onphone::onphone:












im lending you 1:bigsmile::thumbup:
 
Quite right .Ed . When would you like it back?:laugh::laugh::laugh::crying::crying::crying:
Oh I also have two spare bodys
 
I've got spare tyres but no spare bodies.
Obviously all the money is up in the North West, my meagre public sector pension can't come soon enough.
IF I hadn't bought the December continental modeller and IF I hadn't seen the article on Swiss signalling this might not be happening... I think I've rushed into LGB from American outline without the common thread that James suggests. Would the MOB at Bay6 fit in with Rhb?
Like the idea of a loco lending library - where do I sign up!
 
Very good Mel. Unfortunately it's the one I was given
yb281 said:
Philbahn said:
Oh I also have two spare bodys
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So why are you using that one then? :rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf:
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Your railway your rules. The blue and cream MOB coches look nicer
Nobody comes here and says that never ran with that. My railway my rules:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
bazzer42 said:
I've got spare tyres but no spare bodies.
Obviously all the money is up in the North West, my meagre public sector pension can't come soon enough.
IF I hadn't bought the December continental modeller and IF I hadn't seen the article on Swiss signalling this might not be happening... I think I've rushed into LGB from American outline without the common thread that James suggests. Would the MOB at Bay6 fit in with Rhb?
Like the idea of a loco lending library - where do I sign up!
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