February 20, 2011
Roco has released yet another model of a NOHAB class MY. This time the prototype is a locomotive from the company Strabag Rail in Germany. The locomotive is well known for its very daring colour scheme.
The Prototype
When the Danish State Railways (DSB) in early 1950’es needed new engines to replace the expensive steam locomotives they turned to the Swedish manufacturer Nydqvist & Holm Aktiebolag (NOHAB) for a prototype of a locomotive fit for the job. The result was the class MY. NOHAB delivered the first MY in 1958 and continuously delivered them until the mid 60’es. The class MY quickly became a legend on the DSB network and the distinctive rounded look appealed to many people. NOHAB also produced locomotives for other European railway operators, whereas the Belgium State Railways are one of the well known customers as well as the Norwegian State Railways (NSB).
In Denmark the class MY received numbers from 1101 to 1159. The MY locomotive is driven by a 16 cylinder engine from General Motors built by NOHAB on a license. The locomotives from 1101 to 1105 were driven by the 1,500 hp 567B engine and from 1106 the locomotives were driven by the 1,700 hp 567C engine. From 1145 the engine was replaced with the 1,950 hp 567D engine. The top speed lies around 133 km/h and a total of 59 locomotives were delivered from 1954 to 1965.
The construction of the locomotive took place in Sweden and Denmark. The Danish train manufacturer FRICHS in Aarhus produced the frame and the bogies. MY 1125 was the first locomotive with its number painted on the front, until then, locomotives only had their number on the sides.
On Saturday August 17, 1957, MY 1125 arrived at Helsingør harbor and started doing service on the island of Sealand from 1957 until 1984. In 1984 it received the legendary design paint scheme (Red/Black) and was transferred to the Jutland peninsula where it remained until 1994. In 1994 it got an environmental overhaul and was transferred back to Sealand and named “Ketty”. The following years it went back and forth and ended up in Jutland in 1997/1998 until it was finally sold to Eichholz in 1999. Eichholz later became Strabag Rail.
During its period at Strabag it received the Santa Fe paint scheme. Late 2010 MY 1125 was sold to a private person in Hungary. A Strabag owned MY is often seen in front of freight trains and often with freight cars from the Dutch wagon rental firm RailPro.
The Model
Roco has done a well job in creating the model of the class MY. The model molds are not entirely new as there have been several MY models during the past years, but this has no influence at all on the look of the model.
Although there are some noticeable differences from the prototype, especially around the nose and windows, they are not eye-jumping. The side windows are a bit longer in reality. On the front of the prototype the headlights are smaller than the top lantern, on the model; this is also the case, but due to the way the light glass is fitted in the model, it looks as if they are all the same size. Nothing that I mind though, but I know, that some of my fellow model railroaders see this as a huge mistake.
The boggies are very well detailed and so is the printing on the model. The NOHAB factory plate is in place, mounted next to the driver stand door. This is a fine little detail. There were only little attachable parts, which is good, you can take the model from the box and put it straight on the track. I personally prefer to give it a bit of light weathering as it is kind of bright and shiny, but because of the very fine paint scheme I will only weather it very light.
The Technique
The model is constructed on a die cast metal frame it is very heavy, which gives it good running characteristics. The locomotive has all six axles powered by a standard Roco engine five-pole engine with a fly-wheel as found in all other locomotives of the same size. The headlights will change from white to red with the direction of travel.
Flipping the model bottom up shows us that the cog wheels in the gear box lives in an enclosed space. This is very good - an of course - typical for a Roco model. An enclosed gear box prevents the cog wheels from picking up dirt and dust from the layout and they need far less cleaning and oil.
The engine is fitted with a 8-pin decoder plug and has short coupler kinematics. Unfortunately no PluX plug or LED lighting.
Running Characteristics
The running characteristics are typical Roco, which means extremely good. The model slides silently around on the layout without any noticeable engine sound. This is particularly good if you later want to put in a sound decoder, then you can keep the decoder volume at a minimum because you do not need to drown out the engine noise. I have replaced the couplers on my model with my coupler of choise, the Roco Universal coupler.
Prototype photos: Søren M. Andersen. Model photos: Bahnfan.net. For this article I am still looking for pictures of MY 1125 that I can borrow and put in the article. Especially in DSB livery.
January 19, 2011
Almost all the manufacturers have revealed their new items for 2011. In this article I will let you know what items I find interesting for my collection.
This year my two eras, era V and VI, receives a lot of attention from the manufacturers. This is great, I now have something to choose from. I normally go for the mainstream models that you would see if you went down to a station or freight yard, but I also tend to buy specialties like Era V museum models of steamers and stuff.
Roco
72750 Class 218 diesel locomotive from DB AG. Completely new tooling. Just one moment... WOOHOOO! Finally! I have been waiting for this to happen. Until now we have only seen sad cheap looking, start-set versions of this locomotive. Märklin and Trix have had really cool models, but not in era V livery. The model is delivered with PluX decoder plug and LED lighting. Unfortunately no picture is currently available, so here is one of my own. It is from Ulm Hbf in the summer 2010.
62709 Class 185.2 electric locomotive from DB AG. This is a Scandinavian version of the DB class 185.2 in traffic red livery, but with the grey sides stating "DB Schenker in association with Green Cargo". The locomotive runs from Sweden through Denmark and into Germany. Perfect for my collection, which is very roughly "North Germany"-themed.
62403 Class 111 electric locomotive from DB AG. Roco is also releasing new model of class 111. Also a good locomotive, which I own a few of already. This one has got a new number, of course. Unfortunately no picture is available, but here is one of my other class 111 with coaches. The number on the new locomotive will be 111 066-7.
64071 Set with 3 Silberlinge. The set contains two coaches and a driving trailer coach. This is very similar to a set I already own, but with DB Regio logos and different running numbers.
45369 Expansion coach for the Silberlinge set. An extra coach is available as an expansion for the Silberlinge set. This is a standard 2nd class coach.
62945 Class 204 diesel locomotive from DB Bahnbau. An all-round locomotive for rail maintenance purposes and transporting material and other rail-related stuff. I think such a locomotive would do good in my collection. I have a weakness for the old DDR locomotives.
Trix
22972 Class 701 diesel locmotive from DB AG. This is a very welcome era V version of the overhead wire maintenance car. A little locomotive based on the famous VT 98 railbus. It is fairly priced and without all the fancy features of the first release. I do not mind, as I am only looking for a model. There are some differences besides the paintjob. Trix has changed the pantograph to an Einholm power pickup. Otherwise the model looks the same. I will most certainly consider this one. Guys, please, if you buy this one, remember it runs on diesel! It is an "overhead wire maintenance car" the pantograph is for testing purposes.
22235 Class 218 diesel locomotive from DB AG. This model is based on the Märklin model of the same class. The model is highly detailed and with warm-white LED lighting. The model comes with a 21-pin decoder socket. Hopefully some day Trix will start releasing versions with the PluX plug instead. The model comes with a center motor and all four axles powered through cardan shifts. Thumbs up, Trix! This must be the year of the class 218. I do not know yet, but I am almost sure that Roco wins my money on the class 218 question. Because of the PluX decoder plug. I am sorry Trix, but that's what happens.
22154 Class 150 electric locomotive from DB AG. This model was in the new items 2009 as well, but got cancelled due to the financial problems with the Märklin company. The model is really great looking and very detailed. It has a center engine with four axles powered through a cardan shaft. I have thought about buying this model when it was first announced, since it is really cool. Unfortunately it comes with a built-in decoder of unknown origin and the massive looking automatic couplers from Märklin. I can live with this, but I will have to test it before buying it. If I get a chance to put my hands on it, I will take it for a test.
Otherwise there are not really anything besides locomotives in the Trix new items brochure. They have started to produce some new start sets, which I think is a good idea. The era V start set contains a Metronom train from the Hamburg area. The locomotive is not the previously released hobby model, but the really cool model based on the excellent class 185.2 model. It has warm white LED and all axles powered. The coaches are the standard Märklin 1:100 double decker coaches from the Hobby program. The driving trailer coach is of the wrong kind. Metronom never used this coach. I think the set is a bit boring, as I would much rather start out with a freight train set.
PIKO
75656 Driving trailer coach, karlsruhe kopf from DB AG. PIKO is releasing a set of era V silberlinge. The same as the ones Roco releases, but PIKO comes with a different driving trailer coach (karlsruhe kopf). This model is very interesting as it has not been available in exact 1:87 scale for a while. I might go for it.
Märklin
48026 freight car set. Märklin releases quite a few era V and VI models. Although I run two-rail I always look in the Märklin new items brochure for interesting models. One of them is this swiss freight car set. I think it looks really cool and I have a few of the same cars in my collection already. Remember that your Märklin dealer will change the AC wheels with DC wheels for free!
37011 Class 110.3 from DB AG. A mid Era V model of the well known TEE locomotive. Nothing special except for the colour, TEE livery, but with DB AG logo. I find these models interesting.
Märklin Mobile Station App
This year Märklin has developed an app for the iPhone. This app turns your iPhone (or iPod Touch) into a true Mobile Station! This is really, really cool and something every Märklin modeller with an iPhone would want. For only 5 € you can get a wireless controller for your Central Station based layout. Really nice. It does not say so in the brochure, but since it remotes the Central Station, I would bet it works with DCC as well. Thumbs up for this one Märklin!
In general Märklin is very good at releasing era V and VI stuff. Unfortunately, a lot of this is hobby stuff with yellow LEDs and low performance engines.
Happy modelling!
PS: Märklin, if you read this, get rid of the yellow LEDs!
PS: Roco, if you read this, please create a 1:87 version of the ICE 1, 2 or 3 (I don't care, just pick one and go with it)
Photos: Roco, Trix, Märklin, PIKO, Søren M. Andersen and Bahnfan.net
November 27, 2010
Kolding Modeljernbaneklub uses the FREMO standard as a base for their model railway layout. I visited the club on a day where era IV was the theme.
Spirit of Denmark
I had the opportunity to visit Kolding Modeljernbaneklub (Kolding Model Railway Club) in the city of Kolding, Denmark. The club uses the FREMO standard as base for their modular layout inspired by the Danish railway. The meeting was situated around an era IV theme with the locomotives running in the prototypical Danish red/black livery of the time. It was particularly fun for me, because I am a fan of the modern railway.
The modules are of very high quality and some of them reflect real Danish stations, like the picture above, which is from the station of Trustrup. Today the prototype station is no more than a single track, but in the old days it was a living station with a connection to a private railway. All this is gone now, but story lives on in the model.
The engine in the engine shed is a typical Danish all-purpose locomotive. Because of its shape, it is nick named the "Marcipanbrød" (loosely translated into Marzipan Bar) and was used for all kinds of purposes on the small private railways throughout the country. A model is of course to be found on the layout, it has never been produced by the manufacturers, so the one on the picture is a home built model. A very good looking one, I may add.
The landscape is typical Danish and - like any other FREMO layout - you will find a lot of bridges. ;-)
Most of the bridges are of the typical Danish bridge design that you will find on any Danish railway line. Many of the old railway bridges in the country side are still in use today. Though many have dissappeared, some of the bridges on the abandoned railway lines still stands as monuments of an era long gone. Great for the railway modellers who comes along to take measures for their next module.
Bridges over small creeks can be found everywhere in Denmark, and of course on the layout as well.
A standard Danish road bridge over a railway line. Notice the detail with the bridge being prepared for the double track line that was never built. I really love details like this.
Freight transport plays an important role in the real railway. Of course this has to be modelled on the model railway as well. Removable cargo plays a role in the FREMO traffic game and you can find all sorts of impressing models of cargo. When a freight car arrives at its destination, the cargo is taken off so the freight car can be used for other purposes.
An impressing pile of wood could be found at the harbour. One of the larger modules in Kolding is a large harbour, still under heavy construction, but the finished project will be something to see, and definitely worth an article in itself.
The above overview of the harbour module should give you an idea of the scale. At the far left is the engine shed with a turn table coming along and in the middle the passenger station. The lower level is the freight station and in the far background, to the right, is the ferry dock.
A coal train destined for Herningværket passes the station of Vamdrup at high speed. On the Kolding layout Vamdrup is the border station between Denmark and Germany. From here a line goes to Leenzer Bach, which is the only German station on the layout - more on that station in a later article.
Happy Modelling
Links
October 22, 2010
FREMO NL celebrated their 20th anniversary at Zuidbroek in the Netherlands. I attended the meeting which was one of the largest FREMO meetings ever.
Less is more!
But if less is more, imagine how much more, more would be. This must have been the main idea behind the FREMO meeting at Zuidbroek. Around 6000 square meters (that is 64 583 square feet) was the size of one of the largest FREMO meetings ever. H0-scale, N-scale and large-scales all together at Eurohal Zuidbroek in the Netherlands. And I was there, right in the middle of it to take some pictures for you to enjoy. :-)
The FREMO concept is modular - you build your own little module or perhaps a station and connect it to the modules of the other members. Very simple indeed. The module end pieces are standardized so everything works together, but you decide what is going to be the theme of your module. To keep a clean look of the layout the general theme is a sunny summer day, but that is about it.
The FREMO modules are normally of extremely high quality. The detailing is incredible and some of the module series are entire small layouts. This makes FREMO particular and fun. You decide how much you want to build, but when you connect it to a FREMO layout, your module becomes part of an entire world. At the meeting in Zuidbroek there were members from Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. The modules are put together, so they represent the European country layout. You drive from Norway through Sweden and Denmark into Germany and so on.
I personally found the Norwegian modules to be among the most beautifull modules. But the German modules were also very nice. Some of the modules have become legendary amongst the members because they can be found at FREMO meetings the last 15 years or more.
Given the different nationalities the modules were very different and very often reflect the nationality of the builder. The module below is representation of a typical Dutch town with a canal.
FREMO uses its own hand controller called FRED. It is the only control allowed at a FREMO meeting. Every locomotive has its own FRED, so no one can accidentally take over another locomotive. This is very important when running a 3000 square meter layout, which was the size of the European layout at Zuidbroek.
It can be a busy day at the engine shed. In FREMO every locomotive and every wagon or passenger coach must have its own unique number. This is necessary when running the layout following a schedule. Just as it would be in the real world. FREMO copies the real world to the outmost detail.
But of course, there are room for fun and jokes. This particular freight car will recall memories at especially Danish, German and Norwegian members. You could find this in a freight train running from Denmark to Norway and back to Zürich.
Some of the station modules are huge. Since overhead wire is very difficult to reproduce on a modular layout, most places the overhead wire is indicated only by the free stading masts. This actually works quite well and your imagination will fill in the gaps.
The FREMO concept is build around the late Era III even though some stations represent a more modern look. To me, this does not matter - afterall I am a modern person. :-)
Some modules are build in series with a theme. The line below was a 12 meter (approx. 40 feet) long open area with fields and forests. Very typical terrain of Northern Europe.
Signals are of course part of any layout. In FREMO, due to the nature of a modular layout, they are mostly found at stations. But some modules represents small signal posts which are then remote controlled from the nearest station.
This was my little review on the FREMO meeting at Zuidbroek. A fantastic experience and I was happy to be there. At the end of the weekend you are tired of looking at model trains, which makes FREMO good for me, afterall, these meetings only comes around every once in a year. Of course, there are small local meetings all over Europe every weekend, which should be enough to keep the most fanatic enthusiast busy. :-)
Happy Modelling!
Here is a video from a local TV station. The language is Dutch.
October 20, 2010
Finally ESU has announced the new version of their prime decoder, LokPilot. This new version will have several improvements, but first of all it will support the new PluX plug. This is good news for all Roco fans.
The Swiss Knife of Decoders
The new LokPilot is a welcome product on the decoder market. Even though the predecessor does not leave much more to wish for, ESU has improved the new version on several fronts. One very good thing is the better control of 3-poled engines, which is found in several cheap beginner models from PIKO and Märklin and on a lot of older models.
The new features includes
- ABC breaking system from Lenz
- PowerPack capacity for stutterless running on dirty tracks
- The decoder is 9% smaller than the predecessor
- New version of the load control for a more clean and jerk-free slow driving
The general specs are the same as the good old LokPilot 3.0. It comes in a multi protocol version and in a DCC only version.
From the LokPilot commercial flyer: "The LokPilot 4.0 supports all common braking sections such as Zimo® HLU, Märklin® or Selectrix® diode braking sections. A new feature is the ABC braking mode. Introduced by Lenz®, it simplifies stoppage in front of the signal thanks to its asymmetrical DCC signal. The LokPilot V4.0 also fully supports the RailCom® standard and can be programmed with all current digital command stations. Also new is the additional connection facility for an external „Power Pack". This optionally (coming in 2011) available energy store is able to energize the motor up to 2 seconds if the power supply is interrupted and makes you finally forget dirty tracks!"
The power pack will act as a little battery for your locomotive, so it will be less sensitive on dirty tracks. Of course cleaning the tracks regularly will reduce the use for the power pack, but for some users this feature is still quite nice. And since it is optional, you decide if you will use it or not.
The fifth generation load control software will make the LokPilot 4.0 manage your old 3-pole engines even better than before. This is a welcome feature for the users of PIKO hobby line and TRIX/Märklin hobby locomotives. These locomotives have 3-pole engines and often suffer from bad running characteristics. I am personally looking forward to try the LokPilot 4.0 on one of these models.
The LokPilot 4.0 will be available in all the known plugs including NEM 652 (8 pin), NEM 651 (6-pin), 21 pin MTC and the all new PluX12. PluX is the new NEM standard for decoder plugs which is currently being adapted by a lot of 2-rail manufacturers including Roco. From now on you will be able to put a LokPilot in your new Roco models.
Thank you for that ESU - I am looking forward to try this new product. If you use the LokProgrammer, brand new software is available for use with the LokPilot 4.0.
You can read more and check out the specs in the commercial flyer: LokPilot_V4.0_Flyer_2010_ESU_KG_EN.pdf (1.15 mb)
Happy modelling!
Pictures by ESU