Faur L45H / LxD2

jameshilton

jameshilton

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Hi guys -

I've had a bit of a thing about Romanian and Polish narrow gauge for about 6 months and one of the things I like it the pretty much omnipresent Faur L45H / LxD2 diesel hydraulic locomotive.

http://translate.google.com/transla...tf=1&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAUR_L45H < Link To http://translate.google.c...org%2Fwiki%2FFAUR_L45H

These chunky purposeful looking engines are very different to the usual German and Austrian locomotives I am used to reading about, or running on my line. I have almost bought one in HOe just so I can own and run one! However it now appears that someone has now brought out a kit in G-scale... (I believe this is pretty new)
http://www.blauturm.de/product_info.php?products_id=174 < Link To http://www.blauturm.de/pr...fo.php?products_id=174

It looks awesome but an eye watering ?695!

Anyone seen any other scratchbuilt examples, or know of any kit alternatives?
 
There's no escape, James, you'll just have to make one in G scale and show the rest of us how to do it....:bigsmile:







:impatient: Well, get on with it. What are you waiting for ?
 
86d586c2f95a4860aaf518250f29f6e5.jpg

You could re-work a Bachmann GE 45 tonner, plus some brass, and plastic sheet. Alyn. :clap::clap::clap:
 
It is a handsome machine, I have admired them since seeing photos of them on the childrens railway, a lottery win is the only thing keeping me from ordering one.
 
Gizzy, thought I'd seen one, yes I remember that one, I think it's based on a GP7, the cab is great but the bodyside is less convincing but it has smoke fitted I think too!

Garry, yes, although when you think it's about £600 delivered in kit form then it's not actually too bad compared to LGB models. It's just a shame no one has done one yet as it's a very widespread design across Europe... I suppose that rules LGB out as they normally opt for one off or small classes! Hehe.

I've got a scale drawing, initially I wondered about the Piko BR218 but it's too long and it's bogies are too long as well. I think the LGB V51 bogies are about right, but that's an expensive route in, and you've still got to build a body, making the fully complete kit with power units for £600 not had really...

The words 'pipe dream' spring to mind...

Just must stop myself getting a HOe one, the Czech outfit are doing custom ones for about £250 delivered.
 
I think they are a characterless locomotive but they do have one on the Ybbstalbahn Bergstrecke renumbered as 2099.01
http://www.lokalbahnen.at/bergstrecke/2099.html

Far nicer locomotives (760mm gauge) are the Czech T47's
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/cz/private/JHMD/JHMD_T47006_JH.jpg ,

and the Russian Tu2's
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/narrow_gauge/diesel/TU2/ua-TU2_274_shunting_at_Golovanevsk.jpg .

The Tu2's are all over the ex Eastern Block narrow gauge railways (Russia, Ukraine, etc).
 
Vanessa - I agree about the T47s, something quite pretty about them for a narrow gauge diesel... but I don't like the Tu2 - they look pig ugly to me.

Paul - that would be grand :)
 
vasim said:
Agreed, the Tu2's are pig ugly but it is what gives them character. They look like they were built from old baked bean tins and trimmed to shape with tin snips.
I heard that one was in a major collision and it looked so good afterwards that they left it as it was :rolf: but joking aside, one has been modernised and it looks ... well .... WORSE :clown:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/narrow_gauge/diesel/TU2/TU2-078_20060528_056.jpg
Click to expand...
They do look a bit better when painted in a brighter livery, like this one working a special charter in Lithuania for the Along Different Lines tour group back in 2005.........
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72399068@N08/6576068113/in/set-72157629504271595
or a brighter looking one in Latvia on the same trip
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72399068@N08/6576094603/in/photostream
 
I don't think you're going to get much better than a kit for £600 on this one to be honest.

The L35H/ L45H/LxD2 has always appealed to me as a prototype to 'do' commerically, but the short bogie became problematic as soon at the USAtrains 44tonner was discontinued. HLW do a 3 inch wheelbase unit that's almost bang-on in that dimension, but in 1:22.5, its wheels are actually a bit big for the 33.3mm needed. Another close option would be use a couple of stock LGB blocks from the V14 diesel, but unless you're very lucky that'll still cost you the best part of a couple of hundred quid. In the case of the kit, any reasonablt scale choice for running gear leaves £400 for the chassis, body, glazing, modest profit etc., which certainly isn't out of order if it's a one piece shell with add on details.

For a one-off scratchbuild model in 1:22.5, second hand donors that might be worth considering are :
USAtrains 44tonner (71.7mm wb/ 29.7mm wd - about 10% too short/to small wheels) - not cheap but maybe you could sell on the body with unpowered trucks as a dummy
Bachmann 45tonner (75mm wb / 41mm wd - almost right wheelbase, wheels 10mm too big, and you'd have to loose the rods too, but I think the mole can advise you on that) - with a bit of patience you can probably get a secondhand one for £100 or maybe a touch less.

Another thing worth noting on these is how small the actual loco is, particularly when built to true-scale compared to LGB's more rubber-ruler efforts - In 1:22.5 it's come out about 140mm tall and less that 100mm wide over body, smaller in profile than a starter set coach. It ought to tower over things like the U-class, but because they're oversale, the relationship would be very much the other way about.

You're obviously only looking at the one loco, so you could build 'true' or in 1:19 as suits your preference, but I always suspected that for a production kit, it's one you can't win - make it 1:22.5 and it'd look too small to half the buyers, make it oversize, and you'd have an expensive non-scale kit that didn't appeal to the other half. For the one-off, I'd be seriously tempted to do a full-size card mock-up first to check up how happy I was with it next to existing stock.

Jonathan
RDE
www.g-bits.co.uk
 
Lots of good advice there Jonathan - I've asked the guys in Germany for more details about their kit and will share their information here for any future interested parties.

I think I'd go for a comprimise and aim for it to look 'ok' to the other 750/760mm gauge stock (the 2091, 2095, U-class) and coaches - I've got a scale drawing so would start there...

When you say LGB V14, which is that? Do you mean the V51/V52 or the Schoema power unit (that was labelled up as a V14 by LGB IIRC?). I wondered if something could be done with the LGB V51/V52 as the power units are self contained.

Interesting to see photos of the other Eastern European diesels - but for me, it's got to be the Faur L45H, the others just don't do it for me - the Hungarian Mk48 looks a little 'weedy', the Czech T47s are good looking but just don't grab my interest as much and the Tu2s, well no matter that colour you paint it... it's just an ugly brute!
 
Just found this incredible resource on Polish narrow gauge...
http://www.tabor.wask.pl/typy.php? ...ock and locomotives... Perfect inspiration...
 
A Good Find James., I shall give it a good look after I return from the pub !
 
funny you should mention the V51 I've been looking at my recent buy and thinking L45 as it really doesn't fit the Harz layout as I have the rotcamel. Seems a shame to use only the trucks though! I'd certainly agree with considering sizing to match your other stock unless you intend having two distinct sets of stock. Then again with narrow gauge there are often odd size locos. I've three Romanian videos and the one with lots of L45's made me think the Austrian LGB bogie coach would make a good Romanian one too.
This is a good DVD http://www.ingr.co.uk/vids_dig2.html
 
Thanks Paul, yes I had thought that actually, the LGB Austrian bogie coach is actually closer to the photos of Romanian prototypes! I was thinking I could do a mock PKP/ CFR livery, and fit it with cast number plates with EJ&KLR on, so that I could use it with my other stock. I've put some of my OO stuff up for sale, if it sells I might get all this in HOe so I can concentrate the G scale stuff purely on Austrian outline...
 
jameshilton said:
Lots of good advice there Jonathan - I've asked the guys in Germany for more details about their kit and will share their information here for any future interested parties.

I think I'd go for a comprimise and aim for it to look 'ok' to the other 750/760mm gauge stock (the 2091, 2095, U-class) and coaches - I've got a scale drawing so would start there...

When you say LGB V14, which is that? Do you mean the V51/V52 or the Schoema power unit (that was labelled up as a V14 by LGB IIRC?). I wondered if something could be done with the LGB V51/V52 as the power units are self contained.

Interesting to see photos of the other Eastern European diesels - but for me, it's got to be the Faur L45H, the others just don't do it for me - the Hungarian Mk48 looks a little 'weedy', the Czech T47s are good looking but just don't grab my interest as much and the Tu2s, well no matter that colour you paint it... it's just an ugly brute!
Click to expand...

This 'un - and its schoema mates in every other colour under the sun
http://www.champex-linden.de/lgb_pr...0467cf6/d39fe91af13ac552c1256aef00543b03.html < Link To http://www.champex-linden...2c1256aef00543b03.html
If memory serves, the core of the block mechanically is basically a stainz without cylinders, rods and valve gear. Got a feeling that the V51/V52 block (at least in the later versions) is pretty also much identical except where it's designed to take the bogie pivot and hold the sideframes instead of just bolting in to the chassis.

All that means of course that another alternative is to go looking for a couple of suitably bashed stainzes to strip the blocks from.

Be interested to see what scale you go for in the end - my gut feeling was that the things would look about right at 15mm/ft (1:20.3) - height would then be 153mm (about the same as LGB's 2095 diesel) and width excluding handrails 108mm (about the same a most LGB four wheelers) . Of course in moving from 13.5mm/ft to 15mm/ft, all the above blocks wind up slightly undersize on the wheelbase again, though the previously overlarge wheels are now more or less right. In 15mm/ft, the USAtrains NW2/S4 block has virtually the right wheelbase, but its wheels are about 20% too small (and not easy/cheap to change).

http://www.g-bits.co.uk/datasheet/161-0020PowerTruckDatasheet.pdf < Link To http://www.g-bits.co.uk/d...owerTruckDatasheet.pdf

I've got a(nother) gut feeling that this loco
http://gbdb.info/details.php?image_id=2108&sessionid=37a9b8c30f5ec6472c7a676fd369d5cf&l=english < Link To http://gbdb.info/details....d369d5cf&l=english
http://hsb-gartenbahn.de.to/mein-fuhrpark.html (scan down)
is based on an NW2, complete with original sideframes, and possibly the original running plate buried somewhere under the new body. Difficult to say what scale it's been built to without anything next to it for scale.

I'm sure I've also seen a very nice scratchbuilt model with LGB bogies - presumably off the V51/V52, but can't find the link for that at the moment.

Oh, and you're 100% right on the L45H being the nicest, which is a pity, because a 'true' 1:22.5 G-scale model of either a Tu2 (not sure if they actually came in wider gauges than 785mm) or a Tu7 is actually relatively easily do-able, and would be big enough on their own to mix it with LGB stock. The L45H, incidentally, also runs in Hungary as the Mk45, and was available on every gauge from 750mm through to metre, but sadly doesn't every seem to have been operated in lashups (either trully in multiple, or just double heading with a driver for each loco) with the Mk48's (or with Tu47/ Mk47's...), which would make for an interesting train. The children's railway in budapest had another related type of double ended cab unit, the MK49
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/narrow_gauge/MAV_Budapest/diesel/P00178.jpg < Link To http://www.railfaneurope....pest/diesel/P00178.jpg
http://gigant.chem.elte.hu/pic/hu/diesel/narrow_gauge/mk45mk49.JPG < Link To http://gigant.chem.elte.h...row_gauge/mk45mk49.JPG
which preceeded the MK45's into service, and I think amounted to a less than successful prototype batch that was repalced in production by one of the other types, but I can't find my notes....

Jonathan
RDE
http://www.g-bits.co.uk < Link To www.g-bits.co.uk
[edited to correct typo's and put reference to MK49's once I'd remembered what they were called]
 
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