LGB 28435 Bernina 100 Ge 4/4 II Quality Issues - More Märklin production woes I'm afraid..

[AshleyH]

Just some background, I am a huge fan of Märklin trains in HO and Z Scale and I was heavily into collecting Märklin HO even before I discovered LGB around 10 years ago. In HO scale, Märklin are probably still the best quality mass produced trains, though they have had their ups and downs I have only experienced a problem with 2 out of over 100 locos.

So it pains me to have to report my experience this week with only my second Märklin produced LGB item. The first being a 28432 Kubls which I bought earlier this year. No problems at all with Kublis, Hungarian built and virtually indistinguishable from my earlier German produced Ge 4/4 II.

My 28435 Bernina 100 Ge 4/4 II arrived on Tuesday from a UK dealer. It was well packed and the box itself was undamaged. In my opinion, the quality is a massive drop from the German production and Kublis. I've yet to compile a full list of faults, but here goes so far:-

1) Pipework missing from the cab on the number 1 end. Looking carefully I doubt it was ever fittd as there is just a large hole and no parts in the box

2) Roof Insulator and wire missing from the No.1 end pantograph. Again, no parts in the box so I doubt it was ever fitted.

3) A few blobs of solder dropped out of the loco while I examined it and there are a few visible in the number 2 end cab as well??

4) A weight is moving around inside the loco. This is the most serious problem, as the chassis itself may well be damaged. I am going to carefully open it up tomorrow to see if this is the case. If so, then It will have to be returned ;(

The box itself seems poor, as has been reported elsewhere they are no longer glossy. I know it is just a box but it somehow serves to cheapen the image and collects marks and scrapes much more readily. Interestingly, the label on the box does not give a country of manufacture. As the non gloss box is similar to that supplied with the Kof, I am wondering if this loco was made in China too? If so bring back Hungarian production please!

Such a shame because it is a lovely livery.....

 

[bunnyrabbit03]

Hello,

I have had the same experience with the Ge 4/4 II 100 Jahre Bernina loco, bought from a dealer in Austria. It arrived with broken wing mirrors, one of the coat of arms had white streaks and the 100 Year paint work was sloppy. Overall it made a cheap and disappointing impression. Like you, I was very much looking forward to the loco. Needless to say, I asked the dealer to collect it free of charge and I got a refund. Very disappointing and as a result I am very reluctant to buy any new LGB online now.

 

[Zerogee]

From this and earlier threads, it sounds like several people have had serious issues with this particular loco - I can only assume that it was a very sloppy batch of Chinese production. The new KoF, on the other hand, is very much better - see the review posts I did on mine a month or two back. Yes, there were just a couple of minor niggles (easily fixed, though they shouldn't have happened in the first place) but overall I am very happy with the model.
If the rumours about Marklin planning to bring LGB production back from China when contracts allow are true, that would undoubtedly be a very good thing, but not all their new products are anything like as bad as the Bernina appears to be.

Jon.

 

[vasim]

Interestingly, the label on the box does not give a country of manufacture.

UK is the only country where the country of origin MUST be shown on the box, the instructions and the item. That is why you often see (when the instructions are in a foreign language only) that it will always state "Made in XXXX" written in English somewhere. Nowadays though the instructions are written in many languages and so is not so noticeable as it once was.

 

[AshleyH]

To be clear, we do not know the country of origin of most of the current LGB production.
I was only speculating that the Ge 4/4 II may be of Chinese origin due the the packaging being similar to the Kof, which has made in China printed on it's chassis.

I believe that items exported to the USA have to show country of origin, so we will only know for sure when one of our American members sees one of these in a US store.

I am just trying to work out why there is a sudden drop in quality from the firrst round of Hungarian production, even though this was not without issues.

 

[jonothan]

I bought the very same loco from my local retailer and it was also in a rather poor state with a loose lead weight inside. The Hobby Company replaced it with a "repaired" locomotive that another dealer had returned with defective sound but this was found to have broken detail parts (which appeared to have been the subject of a poorly attempted repair - the part had been glued back - either by the Hobby Company or, more likely, by the original owner).

I managed to source a good loco from Tim at Arcadia, but I must confess that I too have heard that this particular production run of the Bernina Ge 4/4 II has been a nightmare for LGB. Their production quality is appalling. At least the Chinese made models are OK. Having said that, I've also bought the RhB G3/4 Thusis loco in black and the model I have seems beautifully made. Maybe they're learning lessons here. They certainly need to.

J

 

[AshleyH]

Jonothan

Thanks for your reply. I contacted my retailer earlier today to advise him of the problems. The Hobby Company have sold out of these now so it cannot be replaced. However, I am sending photos of the missing parts and it is hoped that they can be supplied by Marklin / The Hobby Company.

I also advised him that a weight is loose inside and he is happy for me to open the loco to determine if this can be fixed or if there is damage to the chassis itself. I'll post an update on the forum when I know.

I am encouraged to hear good things about Thusis, as that loco is very much on my wish list! Maybe I'll try one if I have to get a refund on this one.
Best Regards
Ashley

 

[jonothan]

Ashley, the black Thusis seems very well made (or at least mine is). In some ways better than the Heidi because the whistle on the cab roof and the light bezels are a far more realistic gold that the shiny gilt appearance of the earlier Heidi made in Nuremberg. It makes the model look really good. All the detail parts were ok too. Nothing broken and nothing missing - and everything works too!

My days of buying LGB from Germany at lower prices is over, though. It costs way too much to send damaged/broken stuff back (and it seems that so much of it is now) so I prefer to examine each model carefully before handing over my money.

Having said that, I've bought both the Kof shunters, and these Chinese made models have both also been well made.

J

 

[Rhinochugger]

There still seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding over the quality of products from China.

I don't do LGB, but I have, over the past couple of years, invested in some quality Fn3 stock, by Accucraft & Bachmann.

Not quite chalk & cheese but. Accucraft - plastic models and brass models; robust, well detailed, well manufactured, can be picked up quite comfortably without having to be too careful. Well manufactured for garden use, but remain accurate scale models with a few delicate bits.

Bachmann - you get the feeling that they are still working from the smaller scales and enlarging. The model is accurate, well detailed, needs a bit more care when being handled, but lacks the same solid feel.

Which is more expensive - by a small margin, the Bachmann model.

Which leads me to the conclusion that when getting stuff made in China it's all about the preparation, design and prototype work; shortcuts here will cause problems later.

Look at the time it takes for Aristocraft to develop a newly anounced model. Made in China, but when it arrives, it's fine.

Marklin obviously need to do some more up front work to make sure they get what they want when contracting out the manufacture of their models. Bachmann, Hornby and many others don't get these problems with their 00/HO models.