German retailers are now shipping LGB's 70580 starter set and several are willing to split the 0-6-0 Wangerooge shunting loco from it. Mine came from http://www.modell-land.de/ < Link To www.modell-land.de for Euros 199 (plus Euros 18 P&P to most of Western Europe). About GBP179 at today's exchange rate of Euros 1.21 to the pound. Until this set, the shunter has only been available in digital form with a price tag of around GBP400. So possibly a bargain to be had! Here's a brief review of what you get.
First impressions are very positive. The loco is beautifully finished with crisp, clean printing throughout.
The driver's cab contains a detailed control stand and the usual analogue lights/motor control switch, accessed through the left-hand side door.
Detail parts, such as hand holds and the wheel counterweights can only be described as exquisite. Just look at the mouldings for the bearing oil top-up port on the connecting rods! I was very impressed
That said, both the tool boxes appeared to be slightly out of line with the hood's sides and one of the front lights needed to be pushed home into its housing. Easily rectified by gentle hand pressure. In addition, the front coupler loop (there is no facility to attach a hook at this end) was rather "floppy", suggesting a screw which needs further tightening. All minor stuff, but perhaps indicative of less than perfect quality control as we will see in a while.
Turning the loco over, the mechanism is immediately recognisable as that first developed for the LGB 2062 series of 0-6-0 shunters, but with an extension piece for the Wangerooge's jackshaft drive.
Someone has gone to the trouble of milling out the baseplate mould to erase most, but not all, traces of its LGB origins!
On analogue, the loco ran OK though a little stiffly. We'll come back to that too. Directional lighting is provided, plus a cab light which is on irrepsective of which headlights are on. If analogue is all you need, the loco would be perfectly usable immediately, but I'd recommend you read on as this is where things start to get interesting!
First impressions are very positive. The loco is beautifully finished with crisp, clean printing throughout.
The driver's cab contains a detailed control stand and the usual analogue lights/motor control switch, accessed through the left-hand side door.
Detail parts, such as hand holds and the wheel counterweights can only be described as exquisite. Just look at the mouldings for the bearing oil top-up port on the connecting rods! I was very impressed
That said, both the tool boxes appeared to be slightly out of line with the hood's sides and one of the front lights needed to be pushed home into its housing. Easily rectified by gentle hand pressure. In addition, the front coupler loop (there is no facility to attach a hook at this end) was rather "floppy", suggesting a screw which needs further tightening. All minor stuff, but perhaps indicative of less than perfect quality control as we will see in a while.
Turning the loco over, the mechanism is immediately recognisable as that first developed for the LGB 2062 series of 0-6-0 shunters, but with an extension piece for the Wangerooge's jackshaft drive.
Someone has gone to the trouble of milling out the baseplate mould to erase most, but not all, traces of its LGB origins!
On analogue, the loco ran OK though a little stiffly. We'll come back to that too. Directional lighting is provided, plus a cab light which is on irrepsective of which headlights are on. If analogue is all you need, the loco would be perfectly usable immediately, but I'd recommend you read on as this is where things start to get interesting!
