LGB Saxony VIK, 0-10-0

A bit of a review of the (fairly) new loco from Marklin/LGB.
It is not cheap, in fact it is the most I have spent on a loco, so I did a bit of ground work before committing my hard earned pounds.
I ended up buying from Modelllbahn- Lippe in Germany and I found their service, before and after ordering, very good.
I used their 'Premium' service which involves paying to join their 'club' but results in big savings when ordering a costly bit of kit.

Anyway- extremely well packed.
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But, on to the loco.
it comes with - to add yourself -
Driver figure
Fireman figure
Black lamp bezels
Brake hoses
Heberlian brake pulleys
Track magnets
smoke oil - but not a lot!

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Track magnets - was not expecting that. The whistle and bell can be activated by in track magnets - old technology but a nice addition. 2 magnets are included.
 
The loco - well packed as you would expect, in the usual polystyrene two part moulding.
It looks good - lots of detail. Much of the boiler pipework is separate metal fittings - nice.
Rivet detail on the cab side and tanks is very fine but clean and precise.
The original, full size. couplings are modelled and look pretty realistic.DSCF2465 (Small).JPG
 
Alan,

Great video plus some DR coaches:);). A majestic sight running round the garden.

Think your loco has already done more mileage than mine.....
 
The motion is grey rather than the silver of old - gives a better look. Comparing it to my photos of the original it all looks pretty correct and detailed.
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I cant see any bullets. I think Marklin may have re-invented the wheel, I cannot see any pick up bullets. It apparently has 10 wheel and 4 skate pick up - certainly runs perfectly.
The sound is excellent - the best chuffing i have owned. I don't say heard because i think you need to have time to play around with it to fully get full experience. the big difference is the chuff. On set off there is a brake release hiss and then the loco moves - very slowly, even if you whack the controller open. The first chuff comes right on cue with the wheel rotation (there is a wheel sensor) and steadily increases with speed. Once the speed chosen has been reached there is a noticeable reduction is volume and tone of the chuffing - this continues until you slow, then the chuffing stops but the back ground rumble keeps going and keeps pace with the speed reduction. This all stops with a brake squeal which stops exactly as the loco does. It really is the best so far. DCC rules when it is capable of this detail. Even the brake squeal changes as the loco slows to a halt.
 
Going back to it's looks. The original has a very chunky look - almost stunted, especially for a 10 wheeler. This model carries that off perfectly. the wheels look the right size (small) and the general speed of the loco is slower than many others.
 
Pulsed smoke, timed with the sound by wheel sensors. Also has the new idea of cylinder steam - which looks good, especially on start up. The smoke output of mine seems to vary quite a bit, sometimes loads, but at others rather more subdued, but one thing it does do is increase with the sound. If you accelerate the chuffing increases in tone and volume, as said before, but so does the volume of smoke - nice party piece.
Difficult to photo and i dont have a good piccy of this - so you will have to make do with this -


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It is certainly not a cheap loco and the 'toys' become a significant part of the price. It needs DCC to appreciate all those toys so a battery conversion would definitely reduce its appeal. Having said that, having seen the original thing, it certainly 'does it' for me - that's why I wanted one. Worth it - oh yus.

Nearly forgot, the individually switchable interior cab light, and the switchable firebox glow and the switchable work lights below the running board. Also - pulls like a - train.
 
I agree completely with your review. My VIK is by far the most expensive but most favourite loco in my fleet. As you say the sound and smoke synchronization is excellent, and although it does grind a bit going around R1 curves it doesn't look too bad thanks to the articulated chassis. As you say a good advert for DCC, and I very much like the Maerklin/Trix motor and sound decoder, lots of options for mixing and combining lights and sound. The only thing missing is automatic uncouplers. One day I will steel myself and open this beast up to see if I can retrofit one, but I'm guessing it's crammed full of electronics, wires and the pulsed smoke generator so I have this vision that I will never be able to get it back together again! (Has anyone tried this yet?) I can't wait for the VIIK to come out. Surely they must now they have a 10-wheel motor block.
 
stockers said:
It is certainly not a cheap loco and the 'toys' become a significant part of the price. It needs DCC to appreciate all those toys so a battery conversion would definitely reduce its appeal. Having said that, having seen the original thing, it certainly 'does it' for me - that's why I wanted one. Worth it - oh yus.

Nearly forgot, the individually switchable interior cab light, and the switchable firebox glow and the switchable work lights below the running board. Also - pulls like a - train.
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Superb review Alan, what a beast this loco is. Though in the distance in your large Garden it is almost like a Black Rungen 0-8-0. The diffrence become apparent as it comes closer into shot. How lovely to have such a long run. Can you watch the train from your comfy seat sipping a beer all the way round now that you have done the agent X job to your Garden?
 
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The motors are Buhler Dave - like most LGB.
I too anticipate a VIIK. Hope so anyway, but the bank manager doesn't.
 
idlemarvel said:
I agree completely with your review. My VIK is by far the most expensive but most favourite loco in my fleet. As you say the sound and smoke synchronization is excellent, and although it does grind a bit going around R1 curves it doesn't look too bad thanks to the articulated chassis. As you say a good advert for DCC, and I very much like the Maerklin/Trix motor and sound decoder, lots of options for mixing and combining lights and sound. The only thing missing is automatic uncouplers. One day I will steel myself and open this beast up to see if I can retrofit one, but I'm guessing it's crammed full of electronics, wires and the pulsed smoke generator so I have this vision that I will never be able to get it back together again! (Has anyone tried this yet?) I can't wait for the VIIK to come out. Surely they must now they have a 10-wheel motor block.
Click to expand...


Yep, I've been really pleased with mine since it arrived back in early December - my original review of it here:
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/santa-arrives-early.310103/

I much prefer the way M/LGB have articulated the 10-wheel chassis on this one, compared to the way they did it on the Harz 2-10-2 - the Harzbulle has the first six-wheel section rigidly mounted, then the last four wheels able to swing from side to side; on the new VIk, the chassis is treated as two centre-pivoted four-wheel "bogies" with a "floating" two-wheel section hung between them - a very much better solution in my view, as it greatly reduces the huge back-end swingout that the Harzbulle suffers from on curves.

Jon.
 
and, for the record, I had no problem chnaging the address number and I switched off Mfx in CV50.
I used my Massoth computer programmer and accessed one CV at a time because there is not a CV list for Mfx. on it.
 
If anyone has Lenz DCC kit I have a CV list for this decoder (msd) for use with the Lenz CV Editor.
 
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