Lgb Slider Brackets In The Wrong Way Round?

[James Day]

Weird one this....

I am acustomed to 'modellers' removing the skates from LGB locos as they alledgedly 'look wrong' but this is a new one on me....

Just before Xmas I was lucky enough to purchase an excellent boxed LGB 20th Anniversary Tram Set. It is pristine, complete and barely used. No wear at all on the wheels and hardly any on the sliders. The sliders were still there by the way!

I have run it a few times and was surprised to find that it was only picking up through the wheels. Not through the sliders at all!

When the keeper plate was dropped it revealed that the two brass brackets that support the sliders had both been inserted the wrong way round, so the long peice was facing up towards the body and the short bit was facing towards the bus bar, but was not reaching it, as they was too short.

Here is an image I scavenged from the internet that shows the brackets inserted correctly:



When inserted the other way round the bracket is too short to make contact with the bus bar.

Easily remedied of course, but why would somebody do this?

The tram is still immaculate and does not look like it has been tinkered with at all, although it is imposible to be 100% certain. I bought it from a non LGB enthusiast who had barely used it I am wondering if this was an assembly fault that has only been spotted and corrected 28 years later!

Has anybody else ever encountered this?

James

 

[Nodrog1826]

Could well be one of those early Monday late Friday assembly ones.

As for removing the skates, some have done so, even going as far as changing the traction tyre wheelset, in order to get four decent rail head contacts.

On a personal note, if I were to remove the skates, I would plug the hole left with something to prevent unwanted dirt/damp ingress to the motor, but something that could be removed if the skates had to go back on.

 

[PhilP]

I have opened 'blocks to find allsorts of things in the wrong place..
The long flat strips are a common one.. If it is an older loco with signs of wear, I put it down to 'user error', at some point in its' life..

I have had brand new items with problems, and those which although old, I did not think had been apart. - Not seen that particular problem with the skates though.

 

[James Day]

Thanks Guys,

Perhaps I have been lucky, but after buying LGB stuff for around 39 years I have never had anything new that was faulty, except perhaps one trackside cable clip that was not fully moulded!

The guy who sold me the Tram says he bought it second hand from Train Shop in New Jersey around ten years ago. If this modification was something that was done by the user, it is likely to have happend sometime before then.

The oddest thing that I have ever found inside a motor block was a huge dead insect. This was a Playmobil motor block from one of the small western 0-4-0 locos which had come direct to me from USA. These have a small 'breather' hole on the underside. Again the motor showed no sign of ever having been tinkered with. Maybe the poor creature crawled in when small and then grew too large to leave by eating the lubricating grease?

Mysteries!

James