G Scale Tram Project

[PhilP]

If a 'toggle' switch, then not original..
*Though I stand to be corrected.

A slide-switch (or possibly two) would be a different story..

PhilP

 

[DafyddElvy]

If a 'toggle' switch, then not original..
*Though I stand to be corrected.

A slide-switch (or possibly two) would be a different story..

PhilP

The switch in the LGB tram looking through the front window.

 

[PhilP]

The switch in the LGB tram looking through the front window.

No-way, that is an OEM switch..

Interesting..
PhilP

 

[FatherMcD]

No-way, that is an OEM switch..

Interesting..
PhilP

Meaning it is an OEM switch or "No-way that is an OEM switch" meaning it is not an OEM switch? (commas matter) I'm not familiar enough with LGB stock to have an opinion one way or the other.

 

[SevenOfDiamonds]

please advise what the toggle switch inside the body is for?

Definitely not original, so anybody's guess unless the destination of the wires tells the story.

I see you bought it off ebay from Footplate Trains. One of the photos on the listing shows the underside of that switch (and much butchery of plastic - maybe to fit a non-LGB motor block?) . . .



. . . whereas it should l;ok more like this . . .



The switch looks to have been installed where there was originally a curved slot . .



. . . that (with a rotary switch?) allowed the power to be taken only from the rails (standard two-rail operation), or from the catenary (with both rails as the common return?). Maybe the switch was installed for the same purpose on a different motor block.

Best wishes

David

 

[Paul M]

can now satisfy myself that unless another LGB tram came up for sale equally cheaply I have zero interest in getting another. The model is about as basic as it can get and needs a fair bit of detailing work.

I think you may be being a bit unfair on LGB, they build their stuff for robustness, which is why they are such a popular product for starting out with, so details sometimes take the back seat. Plus of course any details you want to add would probably be superior to what they would provide.

 

[DafyddElvy]

Can anyone suggest how I remove the roof from the LGB tram, I need to get inside to fit a new floor at some point.

 

[PhilP]

Leave the comma, add an extra 'that'.

Not an OEM switch.
Possibly, for directional lights?
Possibly, to park it up, with lights? - As the original wiring has been removed.
Possibly, 'forward/off/reverse' or 'run/off/charge'..

We will probably never know..

PhilP

 

[DafyddElvy]

Definitely not original, so anybody's guess unless the destination of the wires tells the story.

I see you bought it off ebay from Footplate Trains. One of the photos on the listing shows the underside of that switch (and much butchery of plastic - maybe to fit a non-LGB motor block?) . . .

View attachment 309668

. . . whereas it should l;ok more like this . . .

View attachment 309667

The switch looks to have been installed where there was originally a curved slot . .

View attachment 309669

. . . that (with a rotary switch?) allowed the power to be taken only from the rails (standard two-rail operation), or from the catenary (with both rails as the common return?). Maybe the switch was installed for the same purpose on a different motor block.

Best wishes

David

A fair bit more of the underside which protrudes into the interior of the tram will be removed before I'm finished, I just need to see where and how the batteries will be fitted, along with a few more things.

 

[DafyddElvy]

I think you may be being a bit unfair on LGB, they build their stuff for robustness, which is why they are such a popular product for starting out with, so details sometimes take the back seat. Plus of course any details you want to add would probably be superior to what they would provide.

In my defence I did say they are models to be seen operating from a distance, aye they are robust looking models with potential to build in to a more detailed model, and yes they would make a good starting model for someone just getting in to tramway modelling.

My point was more about the price they reach/sell for and what you get for your money. Granted I believe the motor truck in the LGB tram is superior to the Bachmann model, but to my mind I still think they are pricey for what they are.
Would I buy another LGB tram for a similar price, quite possibly but I wouldn't spend the money buying one with a motor unit fitted when I'd be disposing of the motor unit.

 

[DafyddElvy]

Lucky lucky, the Melbourne traction motors are a perfect fit for the LGB tram, and it looks like I'll be able to fit some batteries under the longitudinal seats once I cut away the protrusion in to the interior.

 

[SevenOfDiamonds]

Can anyone suggest how I remove the roof from the LGB tram, I need to get inside to fit a new floor at some point.

To access the inside (for fitting figures, or changing bulbs, anyway), only the raised part of the roof (clerestory?) needs to be removed. This is held to the rest of the roof by clips at each end. It's easy to demonstrate, but harder to adequately put into words, but if you apply light pressure at each end of the clerestory as you lift, it pops off. Maybe this helps a little . . .



As you can see, on LGB trams which are fitted with windscreens, the main roof is screwed onto the windscreen frames at each ends (so you would have to separate the body from the running plate to access the screws) . . . which makes me wonder how it is fixed on LGB trams that don't have windscreens! The "exploded diagram" for your 21355 suggests it clips onto the upper bodywork (links "N" and "O") . . .

http://www.gbdb.info/data/zeichnung/LGB/21355.pdf

I hope this helps.

Best wishes

David

 

[schienenkönig]

Good morning David,
this morning I got a message from ebahh that I had watched a lgb tram, it was the one I see here in the forum now.

Here are a few pictures of how you can open the tram. When you opend the upper roof section, than push the side windows a bit outside, The lower roof is now ready to take away For working on the frame I think it is easier to remove the frame. It is fixed with four screws at the edges of the body. The screws fit inside the body into the seats. So it hold the body as well to the frame.

By the way.
I once had a Bachmann tram. Its running characteristics were very, very bad. In addition, this the really fit in with the look of trams in Germany. So I used a few small parts for conversions. Then it lay unused in the corner for more than 10 years. At some point someone from England was looking for such a wreck for his own conversion. So it found a new purpose. From 1987 I had two LGb tram trains. I quickly rebuilt one train in an amateurish way. It still runs today, but had to be adapted again. Then I started to collect these trams. I have almost all of them. They also went to exhibitions. Again and again I was able to buy very inexpensive LGB trams. A trailer like that cost about 40.00 euros. With a motor it cost a maximum of 75,00 Euro. Unimaginable today. I then converted these into work wagons. I still have 10 complete tram bodies here for conversion. I will probably sell them. At some point I got a kit for a completely different tram. Since then, I only build prototypical trams. In the meantime, I have so many self-built trams that the original LGB trams are no longer needed. I want to buy an e-bike with them or may be I should have other kits made....

 

[DafyddElvy]

Good morning David,
this morning I got a message from ebahh that I had watched a lgb tram, it was the one I see here in the forum now.

Here are a few pictures of how you can open the tram. When you opend the upper roof section, than push the side windows a bit outside, The lower roof is now ready to take away For working on the frame I think it is easier to remove the frame. It is fixed with four screws at the edges of the body. The screws fit inside the body into the seats. So it hold the body as well to the frame.

By the way.
I once had a Bachmann tram. Its running characteristics were very, very bad. In addition, this the really fit in with the look of trams in Germany. So I used a few small parts for conversions. Then it lay unused in the corner for more than 10 years. At some point someone from England was looking for such a wreck for his own conversion. So it found a new purpose. From 1987 I had two LGb tram trains. I quickly rebuilt one train in an amateurish way. It still runs today, but had to be adapted again. Then I started to collect these trams. I have almost all of them. They also went to exhibitions. Again and again I was able to buy very inexpensive LGB trams. A trailer like that cost about 40.00 euros. With a motor it cost a maximum of 75,00 Euro. Unimaginable today. I then converted these into work wagons. I still have 10 complete tram bodies here for conversion. I will probably sell them. At some point I got a kit for a completely different tram. Since then, I only build prototypical trams. In the meantime, I have so many self-built trams that the original LGB trams are no longer needed. I want to buy an e-bike with them or may be I should have other kits made....

I purchased my first Bachmann tram just to have something to run and experiment with while I built my own models of the Isle of Man and Rothesay, with no intention to buy any further ready to run models.

I saw the bashing potential for the Bachmann models and brought a few more. When I saw the LGB model at a price I was willing to pay I took the opportunity to get myself one.

What I need to do is finish what I have on the bench and get back to the models I have planned to build.
My problem is secuming to temptation and a bad habit of deviating, but I'm enjoying the modelling so I'll not get stressed about deviating too much.

 

[dunnyrail]

I got pretty obsessed with trams at one stage and like schienenkönig started to collect the regular range LGB ones. That stupidity stopped when LGB introduced the hideously coloured Pink one. As has been said the LGB ones are good runners basically having a standard LGB block. I did get a few Bachman ones and the quality of running with them is best not mentioned. In my view they are better converted to Battery Operation, however here can also be pitfalls as they do not seam to work so well with Crest RX, I had a couple of the chassis in my RhB box motor and they would not run at all without horrible jerkiness, but with normal DC uncontrolled battery power they ran smooth. Said conversion was converted to a couple of US motor blocks and now runs just fine.

 

[DafyddElvy]

I got pratty obsessed with trams at one stage and like schienenkönig started to collect the regular range LGB ones. That stupidity stopped when LGB introduced the hideously coloured Pink one. As has been said the LGB ones are good runners basically having a standard LGB block. I did get a few Bachman ones and the quality of running with them is best not mentioned. In my view they are better converted to Battery Operation, however here can also be pitfalls as they do not seam to work so well with Crest RX, I had a couple of the chassis in my RhB box motor and they would not run at all without horrible jerkiness, but with normal DC uncontrolled battery power they ran smooth. Said conversion was converted to a couple of US motor blocks and now runs just fine.

Their is nothing wrong with a tramway focus even if others might think it's a bit of an obsession, it doesn't make you a bad person

I don't think their is any question about the differences in running qualities of LGB power trucks v Bachmann ones, but as I abandoned the Bachmann power trucks not long after I obtained my first tram I haven't let the Bachmann truck running quality bother me.

Thankfully MelbourneSparks developed a very nice traction motor making conversion of the Bachmann trams much more financially viable, making me a happier modeller, which at the end of the day is the most important thing for me.

 

[Melbournesparks]

Lucky lucky, the Melbourne traction motors are a perfect fit for the LGB tram, and it looks like I'll be able to fit some batteries under the longitudinal seats once I cut away the protrusion in to the interior.

Good to see it works for this application. I think a lot of the more financially well off people in this hobby have a big blind spot for cost effective solutions to these type of problems.

 

[DafyddElvy]

Good to see it works for this application. I think a lot of the more financially well off people in this hobby have a big blind spot for cost effective solutions to these type of problems.

What has surprised me with the LGB model is the fact it seems to have an internal sliding block which takes the axles, the great thing about this is that I won't need to build a new truck for this model, I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping the fitting of axle bearings will avoid the need for new axles a well.

 

[schienenkönig]

I don't know where to post this offer on Ebahh to post. Since some people here enjoy the Bachmann trams, I'll put this link here. I would like to emphasis. Petere here that I am neither the seller nor do I know him.
But I think the photos alone are worth seeing. Perhaps they will serve as an inspiration.
Peter
Straßenbahn 1:22,5 Bachmann Liliput LGB Spur G Custom Unikat

Seller's item description

Tram 1:22.5 by Bachmann Custom unique without original packaging.

The offer is made as used because the tram was repainted and partly rebuilt. The train was never used by me and was only on the shelf and is therefore a bit dusty. The track was rebuilt and repainted by the previous owner. Notable here are the paintwork and lettering, the clad platforms, the scissor pantograph and the line/goal indicator, which is movable. 4 different destinations and 2 different line numbers can be displayed. The photos are part of this auction. Only the item named in the title is offered without any frills.

The shipment is well packaged exclusively as an insured DHL package about 1 week after receipt of payment. On express request, it can also be sent as a DHL parcel - the buyer then assumes the risk. Payment is made in advance via PayPal or bank transfer.

This auction is private and there is no right to exchange or return.

Anyone with the above If you do not agree with the terms, please do not bid.

And now have fun!

 

[DafyddElvy]

I don't know where to post this offer on Ebahh to post. Since some people here enjoy the Bachmann trams, I'll put this link here. I would like to emphasis. Petere here that I am neither the seller nor do I know him.
But I think the photos alone are worth seeing. Perhaps they will serve as an inspiration.
Peter
Straßenbahn 1:22,5 Bachmann Liliput LGB Spur G Custom Unikat

Seller's item description

Tram 1:22.5 by Bachmann Custom unique without original packaging.

The offer is made as used because the tram was repainted and partly rebuilt. The train was never used by me and was only on the shelf and is therefore a bit dusty. The track was rebuilt and repainted by the previous owner. Notable here are the paintwork and lettering, the clad platforms, the scissor pantograph and the line/goal indicator, which is movable. 4 different destinations and 2 different line numbers can be displayed. The photos are part of this auction. Only the item named in the title is offered without any frills.

The shipment is well packaged exclusively as an insured DHL package about 1 week after receipt of payment. On express request, it can also be sent as a DHL parcel - the buyer then assumes the risk. Payment is made in advance via PayPal or bank transfer.

This auction is private and there is no right to exchange or return.

Anyone with the above If you do not agree with the terms, please do not bid.

And now have fun!

Thank you for letting us know about this model, just trying to see how I can bid and if the seller will send to Scotland, which I'll do when I get the computer out tomorrow, thanks.

Edit: contacted the seller who does not unfortunately sell to buyers in britain.