Running a Stainz afer 35+ years...

Hard to believe that LGB sold track sections with Aluminuim rail, but they did! It was intended for use indoors. It was still available as late as 1976/7. My understanding is that the W suffixes seen on rail boxes etc indicated Weathproof, or as we know it BRASS!

Has this set got aluminium rail, or were aliminuim straights added as an extra?

James
 
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That is very rare indeed and commands respect. I am not how many sets they sold with aluminium rail, but I guess it was a cheaper option.

Obviously the growler mech in your set sdates your it to 1968/9, but I wonder if sets with aluminium rails were sold after the growler period?

James
 
Drift is a natural feature of threads - always seems to happen. even when its best not to!
 
James Day said:
That is very rare indeed and commands respect. I am not how many sets they sold with aluminium rail, but I guess it was a cheaper option.

Obviously the growler mech in your set sdates your it to 1968/9, but I wonder if sets with aluminium rails were sold after the growler period?

James
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As it's a 2040 they didn't get Clamshell mechs to 71, the fact the loco has bezels on the lamps dates it to 1970
 
a 2010 or a 2020 would have had clamshell mech slightly earier, there are some 2010's about with a clamshell mech and no pickup shoes, I have one, cab details as a 1968, but with a early clamshell mech and no shoes, no mouldings for shoes either
 
It shouldn't be possible the square vent wasn't released until 73/74, or so the guides say, but anything possible with LGB, I have a 2010 no1 with a round vent but on a later numbered chassis circa 1978, with later boiler details, it's a factory special run for a toy company and we know for special runs LGB used up anything sitting in the parts bin.
 
sparky230 said:
a 2010 or a 2020 would have had clamshell mech slightly earier, there are some 2010's about with a clamshell mech and no pickup shoes, I have one, cab details as a 1968, but with a early clamshell mech and no shoes, no mouldings for shoes either
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Sparky,

Another revelation! What interests me from this is the story of the evolution of the clamshell design. Clearly the noise from the early mech was seen of more of an issue than the intermittant current collection. I wonder how many of those early skateless clamshells reached the shops before the folks back at factory realised that had not yet got the full answer to the problem?

It would not just be the plastic moulding but the brass contact strips that would need re-designing to encapsulate the tops of the skates.

Some years ago I was researching the Playmobil track powered range and found that the earliest playmobil mechs had a bottom keeper plate that just clipped in place. Very quickly PM changed the design to make the plate longer to incorporate two screws to hold it securely in place. I wonder how many reports of locos with mechs that had burst when dropped were needed for that change to be introduced?

I would have hoped that all designs were thoroughly play tested and used in all imagineable ways before they are released, however my experiences with the Bachmann Large Scale Thomas series suggests that even today, play testing is just not done.

James
 
James Day said:
Sparky,

Another revelation! What interests me from this is the story of the evolution of the clamshell design. Clearly the noise from the early mech was seen of more of an issue than the intermittant current collection. I wonder how many of those early skateless clamshells reached the shops before the folks back at factory realised that had not yet got the full answer to the problem?

It would not just be the plastic moulding but the brass contact strips that would need re-designing to encapsulate the tops of the skates.

Some years ago I was researching the Playmobil track powered range and found that the earliest playmobil mechs had a bottom keeper plate that just clipped in place. Very quickly PM changed the design to make the plate longer to incorporate two screws to hold it securely in place. I wonder how many reports of locos with mechs that had burst when dropped were needed for that change to be introduced?

I would have hoped that all designs were thoroughly play tested and used in all imagineable ways before they are released, however my experiences with the Bachmann Large Scale Thomas series suggests that even today, play testing is just not done.

James
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A modern (and very expensive!) example of this is of course the Trainline45 Harz Mallet! Finally released after being literally years overdue, the first ones had gearbox problems where the worm gears on the motor didn't mesh properly with the axle gears..... this was quite quickly sorted with a revised gearbox bottom plate that had extra packing to lift the motor about a mm or so, and at the same time they put two extra screws into the new bottom plate - so if you ever examine a second-hand one, make sure it has four screws in each gearbox baseplate rather than two. To their credit I believe TL45 would supply new-type gearboxes to anyone who complained about having one of the first batch (I was lucky enough to have waited for the revised ones, both my Mallets are four-screw gearboxes), but I would guess it was an expensive error for them on a loco selling for around a grand.
I'm hoping that by the time the long-awaited "Pfiffi" finally makes an appearance, they will have learned from the Mallet and all will be good.....

Jon.
 
Aftrer the onslaught of revelations that this thread has contained, I went up to the attic and dug out my copies Greenburgs Guide To LGB and The Official History of LGB. They contain a lot of pretty pictures and lots of information about colour schemes, moulding variations, limited editons for LGB of America etc, but virtually nothing about the transition from Growler to Clam-Shell. Reading between the lines, the vagueness of the text allows a for clamshell without skates to exist, without actually mentioning it!

Maybe it is me, but books of this type about many makes of model trains, nearly always disappoint through the lack of technical detail, coupled with an obsession of having loads of lovely photos of locos, coaches and wagons, but hardly anything else. The worst by far is not either of the above titles but one about Wrenn Railways, which focuses almost entirely on boxes, with no technical details at all! As you may be able to tell, I have a few of these sort of books!

There are some that really made an effort in this area: Michael Foster's 'Hornby Dublo' and Pat Hammond's 'Tri-ang Railways Volume 1' were exceptional. Maybe the time is right for a decent 'all encompassing' history of LGB? There is clearly a lot more information available now, just a case of it being stitched together!

James
 
Yes, books can disappoint at times. And while I am not advocating Fahrenheit 451, it does seem that we are moving ever closer to the day when books will be obsolete. That will be a sad day indeed for obvious reasons.....1984.....

Now that I have moved off topic, let's get back to our beloved Stainz locos. I have three plus a 2015 loco-tender combination. I must say, they are my best runners along with my 2063 Caterpillar diesel. Almost indestructible, will pull a long string of wagons and run smoothly at all speeds.
 
Madman said:
Yes, books can disappoint at times. And while I am not advocating Fahrenheit 451, it does seem that we are moving ever closer to the day when books will be obsolete.
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And yet in the UK, sales of printed books are rising and those of e-books falling
 
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