Two different LGB 20301 encountered

madsphix

madsphix

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While building my model train price comparison etc. website, I have encountered two different LGB 20301 models.

A while ago, I meet an orange beauty that's available in many shops, for example here LGB G 20301 2-Axle Steeplecab Electric - Sound and DCC -- Maintenance

But recently I have also seen a small train set with a steam locomotive that seems to have the same model number, i.e. LGB 20301. Here is the small train set on Ebay with a photo of the box clearly stating that this really is an LGB 20301 too Vintage LGB The Big Train Set 20301 Made In West Germany | eBay

What's up with the two different models have the same model numbers? :eek:
 
few things sprung to mind on this:
1 the orange steeple cab is a modern lgb model
2 the box is an old original box with 4 digits and the extra digit is 1 two starter set red and cream cars and a stainz
3 the contents in the box is an atlas loco from the toy train series and there is a flat car and a starter set caboose
4 2030 is a starter set, i'm not near my books of knowledge. Not two sure if it is an older stainz number. need to add it was a steeple car number
 
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Look to me like LGB have issued a new model without checking the item number had already been used! I checked in my LGB Kompendium and the starter set 20301 is listed, at least six versions were released.
 
Thanks a lot for the explanation - and scary stuff that the numbers get reused.

My website sort products by brand names and model numbers, so right now all the different LGB 20301 end up on the same page, LGB 20301 scale G electric locomotive - Model Train Prices

Not so fantastic :rolleyes: Now the big question is how to handle this? With 40,000+ products, manual sorting is not really an option, so I'm all ears if some of you have some ideas :clap:
 
madsphix said:
Thanks a lot for the explanation - and scary stuff that the numbers get reused.

My website sort products by brand names and model numbers, so right now all the different LGB 20301 end up on the same page, LGB 20301 scale G electric locomotive - Model Train Prices

Not so fantastic :rolleyes: Now the big question is how to handle this? With 40,000+ products, manual sorting is not really an option, so I'm all ears if some of you have some ideas :clap:
Click to expand...
Could you use the model number in these cases followed by the year of manufacture, or prefixed by it?
 
playmofire said:
Could you use the model number in these cases followed by the year of manufacture, or prefixed by it?
Click to expand...

I could make different pages, just like Wikipedia is doing it when there is a disambiguation. That's just some programming which I love to do :D


What troubles me the most is how to sort the products. New prices appear all the time, so sorting the prices will be a never ending job. It might also a really big job, as there are probably other products where different models share the same number, i.e. there might be hundreds or thousands of prices that need sorting.
 
There are other examples of LGB number duplication that I came across when I first start in G in 2018, trying to find parts for older models, sadly I can't recall which ones.
 
It was my understanding that product numbers for LGB locos started with a 2, coaches with a 3, and freight wagons with a 4 (though ToyTrain items of any type with a 9). That should avoid some of the reported duplications.. The only risk of duplication (or so I thought) was because sets were originally numbered starting with a 2 (so wagons or coaches in them might get referred to with the set number), and only later changed to start with a 7.

Or is my undertstanding not right, I wonder.

Cheers

David
 
Software Tools said:
It's a 20301US. The Lehman set numbering often had a suffix attached to represent a particular configuration.
Click to expand...
Which explains it, but doesn't help a 'bot', which can't tell a starter set from an orange steeple-cab.. :wondering: :nerd:

If there are only a small number of these anomalies, could they be flagged-up, for review? - Or perhaps a note added automatically to the entry, asking the user to report if it was wrong?
A 'help us make this better..' perhaps..

PhilP
 
Thanks a lot for the replies and the explanations :clap:

For now, I have added a warning to products with this model number issue. Like this:
1674205715214.png

Asking users to report if they see something that's wrong is a great idea. Only issue is that new prices appear every day, so it will be a never ending job for the users to report these.

But the product itself has been flagged, so I can keep it in mind if I implement some kind of manual sorting to support the existing product sorting bot :p
 
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