LGB 26842 Saxon Meyer

[beachdonkey]

Most recent purchase, thought I would do a quick review. Visited Glendale last Friday and scoped this sitting on display, the last one available of the 399 that were made.Comes presented in a nice wooden box complete with numbered certificate and a beer mat, not sure why a beer mat comes with it .
The loco visually is up to LGB's usual standards moulded in the green livery of the Zittau narrow gauge railway with brick red frames and numbered 145.
Out of the box the loco runs like a Swiss watch and the smoke unit produces copious amounts of smoke.The only downside to this version in my opinion is the MFX sound which has all the usual sounds,whistle,bell etc but the actual chuffs/cylinder beats sound rather electronic and are not as convincing as the MFX Spreewald or the excellent Zillertal U class.
At the end of the day this loco looks fantastic running around my track but if you only want a new Saxon IVK to play with then the standard black one soon to be released is better value I think.

 

[Neil Robinson]

Ooh, that's nice.
With two independent motor bogies and a total of four skates they are reliable performers.

I notice Marklin have changed a few details on your model and it now more closely matches the unrebuilt versions. The rounded dome top is one indicator and I see the safety valves, sand box, cab roof vents and feedwater clacks also differ.

An earlier change by either LGB or Marklin was to part of the valve gear. On my first production model circa 2000 (the date sticker is now illegible) the combination levers are too long so at some point in their travel the anchor link is below the horizontal and risks fouling trackside stuff. The relevant bits are shown ringed in yellow in the first image and the improvement may be seen in the second image on a black Marklin version produced a couple of years or so ago.

 

[Madman]

Beautiful loco, but I'd have to sell all of my other locos to afford one.....LOL

 

[stockers]

Very nice. i bet you love it. Shame about the sound. Is it actual digital recordings, like Massoth, or an electronics produced sound? .

 

[idlemarvel]

I have a 26841, black one, no sound and basic smoke generator which in my case was a bit feeble.
I have just been fitting a massoth pulsed smoke generator which is a very tight fit but much more authentic once you get the pulse timing right. Is the chuff sound on the 26842 synced to the wheels or is it an approximation based on the decoder load?

 

[beachdonkey]

Very nice. i bet you love it. Shame about the sound. Is it actual digital recordings, like Massoth, or an electronics produced sound? .

It sounds like an electronic sound compared to other LGB loco's. There are some vids on youtube that demonstrate the sound very well , just enter LGB 26842.

 

[beachdonkey]

I have a 26841, black one, no sound and basic smoke generator which in my case was a bit feeble.
I have just been fitting a massoth pulsed smoke generator which is a very tight fit but much more authentic once you get the pulse timing right. Is the chuff sound on the 26842 synced to the wheels or is it an approximation based on the decoder load?

The chuff is synced to the wheels, four beats per revolution.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

 

[stockers]

It sounds to me as though the chuff duration is too short. It stops before the next one starts. You can play around with this on a Massoth - I made quite a change to my factory fitted Wonky - but I have no idea if the MFX has the equivalent CVs.
It is CV197 and 198 on the massoth

Possibly due to the compounding - the exhaust beat on the full sized Mayer is actually quite muffled, not at all sharp.

 

[Zerogee]

Interesting to compare the sound in this vid of the new 145 with MFX decoder:

with this one of an older LGB IVk model with an ESU Loksound 4......

...and then this one is even more interesting, a direct comparison test side-by-side of the new MFX vs. one with a Zimo decoder...

Jon.

 

[beachdonkey]

Interesting to compare the sound in this vid of the new 145 with MFX decoder:

with this one of an older LGB IVk model with an ESU Loksound 4......

...and then this one is even more interesting, a direct comparison test side-by-side of the new MFX vs. one with a Zimo decoder...

Jon.

The Zimo decoder is more life like,I have the TL Mallett with Zimo sound which I love.

 

[Zerogee]

The Zimo decoder is more life like,I have the TL Mallett with Zimo sound which I love.

Yes, I'd agree - I have Zimo decoders in both my green 5902 Mallett and the new Pfiffi, and the 5901 black Mallett with a Massoth XLS which, although good enough, is certainly beaten by the Zimo sounds.
Never actually tried installing and setting up a Zimo myself, both of mine came factory-installed, and I'd be interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has fitted one from scratch?

Jon.

 

[PhilP]

The large-scale Zimo decoder is a little larger than an XLS (width-wise), but it is square, with similar connectors to the Massoth on all four sides..
You can do a LOT more with the Zimo.

 

[dunnyrail]

The large-scale Zimo decoder is a little larger than an XLS (width-wise), but it is square, with similar connectors to the Massoth on all four sides..
You can do a LOT more with the Zimo.

The Zimo is in my mind a super Decider. My 2nd Train Line Mallett is the Green one with a Zimo on board. It is the one that gets used most as I just love the Sound. Of course that is all dependant on what has been installed. To my mind the new Sachen has a "Hollownesss" in sound that suggests that the Speaker could perhaps do with a little imaginative Boxing up. There was recently in Model Railroader (May 2916 P58) an extremely interesting piece about Speakers. In effect we get the Sound from both sides and installing in a Sound Box will contain one of the routes for Sound. Thus can and does give a purer Sound as the two tend to be in conflict cancelling each other out. This is why home Audio Systems are in a Box with sometimes the rear of the Speaker encased in Foam.
JonD

 

[Zerogee]

The Zimo is in my mind a super Decider. My 2nd Train Line Mallett is the Green one with a Zimo on board. It is the one that gets used most as I just love the Sound. Of course that is all dependant on what has been installed. To my mind the new Sachen has a "Hollownesss" in sound that suggests that the Speaker could perhaps do with a little imaginative Boxing up. There was recently in Model Railroader (May 2916 P58) an extremely interesting piece about Speakers. In effect we get the Sound from both sides and installing in a Sound Box will contain one of the routes for Sound. Thus can and does give a purer Sound as the two tend to be in conflict cancelling each other out. This is why home Audio Systems are in a Box with sometimes the rear of the Speaker encased in Foam.
JonD

Yes, I'd agree that some sort of sound box certainly works well in most locos - if there is room and you're using a speaker of a suitable size (like the big Visaton FRS7), I find that the cap off a rattle-can of paint makes an excellent sound chamber if fixed over the back of the speaker with a ring of blu-tack or white-tack! I've done that in an old 2095 "whizzy-cranks" and in a V51/52 diesel, and the improvement in the sound is very noticeable.

Jon.

 

[beachdonkey]

Yes, I'd agree that some sort of sound box certainly works well in most locos - if there is room and you're using a speaker of a suitable size (like the big Visaton FRS7), I find that the cap off a rattle-can of paint makes an excellent sound chamber if fixed over the back of the speaker with a ring of blu-tack or white-tack! I've done that in an old 2095 "whizzy-cranks" and in a V51/52 diesel, and the improvement in the sound is very noticeable.

Jon.

Some sort of box or chamber is a must for for better sound but also the larger the magnet on the speaker the better it will be.I found this out when hi fi was my main interest and spent time playing around with transmission line speakers...another hobby that can rapidly empty your wallet.

 

[Zerogee]

Some sort of box or chamber is a must for for better sound but also the larger the magnet on the speaker the better it will be.I found this out when hi fi was my main interest and spent time playing around with transmission line speakers...another hobby that can rapidly empty your wallet.

Yes, If you have room in a loco to use something like an FRS5 or FRS7, they sound amazing (well, assuming you've got decent sound being produced by your decoder of course); sadly a lot of locos, even in G scale, only have room for something very much smaller - for example the LGB "Franzburg" will only take a tiny little 28mm visaton "flat" speaker.....

Jon.

 

[stockers]

the LGB "Franzburg" will only take a tiny little 28mm visaton "flat" speaker.....

Jon.

Yet the sound is pretty damn good.

 

[dunnyrail]

Yes, If you have room in a loco to use something like an FRS5 or FRS7, they sound amazing (well, assuming you've got decent sound being produced by your decoder of course); sadly a lot of locos, even in G scale, only have room for something very much smaller - for example the LGB "Franzburg" will only take a tiny little 28mm visaton "flat" speaker.....

Jon.

I wonder if the Bass Reflex Speakers so loved by 00 Modellers would be easier to fit in and make some improvement, providing of course they are ok for ohms. Also many of the smaller Round speakers appear to come with Sound Boxes. Ours do not as I see it. Perhaps our obsession with very Large Speakers is not the best way forwards. Though whether the smaller ones would work so well in the Garden could be open to debate.
JonD

 

[PhilP]

I would guess the smaller '00' speakers would all be rated at fractions of a watt??
As for in the garden.. I doubt you would hear them.. Not much air being moved by such a small device.