LGB LCE Improvement project

R3s are 8 ft diameter, not radius Nick.
Aluminium will work well if you don't want electrified track.
Nothing wrong with second hand track - most of my 400 ft is.it just takes a little longer to source - but this hobby is not an 'all at once' jobbie anyway.
 
Ain't that the truth? I went G SCALE crazy and bought rolling stock, almost all Bachmann on Ebay, and 2 Bachmann engines. The only track i currently have is from the Bachmann big haulers set I got to cheap. I'll buy brass. I have a line on some.

I was also wondering, if anyone here has one of these?

Piko #37320 DB III TEE VT 11.5, 3-Unit Train




I live in America, but am not tied to American RR. I love how this looks. I'm planning on doing one streamliner, and this could be it.
Let me know if you own one of these and how it is...Thanks.
 
When these were released I was all fired up to get a seven coach set. I watched every video that I could find on You-Tube but then it dawned on me, that who ever designed this must have had a spare R1 rubber ruler that he took with him from his days with LGB. The length of the coaches look wrong. These were designed for 4 ft curves and look more a caricature than a model. A shame as they could have made a beautiful train.
 
Mcvie said:
Ain't that the truth? I went G SCALE crazy and bought rolling stock, almost all Bachmann on Ebay, and 2 Bachmann engines. The only track i currently have is from the Bachmann big haulers set I got to cheap. I'll buy brass. I have a line on some.

I was also wondering, if anyone here has one of these?

Piko #37320 DB III TEE VT 11.5, 3-Unit Train




I live in America, but am not tied to American RR. I love how this looks. I'm planning on doing one streamliner, and this could be it.
Let me know if you own one of these and how it is...Thanks.
Click to expand...


Gizzy has a set - which came with several extra carriages (I think his total rake is seven cars including the two power cars?) - he recently posted some pics of it on his line.... Yes, the units are shortened to make it suitable for smaller lines, but it still looks pretty impressive!

Jon.
 
Wow. Okay, that's a cheap end to that bit of business. If I only do one streamliner, my dream is a Union Pacific set up. USA trains put out locos of that type, but are not stocking them now. I hesitate to buy Aristocrat stuff, because they're out of business. Some of you I'm sure run those. Is that a viable option?

I'm also looking at a new or used LGB MALLET. Love the way they look. Any of you own those? How do they run?
Any problems?

One more query. What about buying used locos in general?
What are your experiences lads?

Many questions....it's snowing here. When I build my layout, at least part of it will be elevated a foot or more to stay out of the snow. And, by gum, and the great engineer, I plan to run in the winter...

Mcchuck
 
See? No impulse control. I watched some run videos of this on Youtube. It looks cool and the sound is nifty. I watched some real footage of it running in Germany. Awesome. So. It's still on Trainworld's site. If Gizzy is about, I would love to hear his opinion about the units and if they are good runner?
 
By the way, I was referring to myself about impulse control.

So far I've had one buying mistake, but I'm working on that one.

Cheers,

McChuck
 
Over half of my locos came second hand. Just read the advert carefully, if its really cheap, it probably is! and be prepared to sell on the odd dog.
Don't over pay, be patient - then you wont loose much on the odd dodgy one. LGB tend to be pretty bomb proof. If its been modified - avoid - whatever.
 
Howdy.

Canny and very wise advice.

When I first decided to go this route, In a moment of foolishness, I bought an LGB LCE. Never seen one before. Now, i'm hassling with the seller to return it to him. It was misrepresented and my photos vs his, clearly show it. Ill let you lads know how that plays out.

I was looking at LGB Mallets. I read that the front motors in the early ones could burn up because of inadequate ventilation?

I love how they look. I was hoping to go that route because I want something with two sets of drivers per side. Any thoughts about that would be tremendous.

Thanks again for answering my post.

Cheers,

McChuck
 
Mcvie said:
Howdy.

Canny and very wise advice.

When I first decided to go this route, In a moment of foolishness, I bought an LGB LCE. Never seen one before. Now, i'm hassling with the seller to return it to him. It was misrepresented and my photos vs his, clearly show it. Ill let you lads know how that plays out.

I was looking at LGB Mallets. I read that the front motors in the early ones could burn up because of inadequate ventilation?

I love how they look. I was hoping to go that route because I want something with two sets of drivers per side. Any thoughts about that would be tremendous.

Thanks again for answering my post.

Cheers,

McChuck
Click to expand...
Are you talikng about a Mallet or Meyer as LGB have done both?
Meyer below
image.jpeg
Mallet below
image.jpeg
I have had both and they are both great runners though I did have a Motor Failure in one of each after a lot if running. Simply bought two replacements for each as it makes sence to replace both at the same time so that they will be well balanced. The spare good one can be kept for if a Single Motor Loco Fails. This may sound a bit doom and gloom but LGB Motor failures are very rare, I was just unlucky. There was a super thread on this post about restoring faulty LGB Motors if you can find it.

But I would say do not worry, just get one if you can. The running of both is superb all those wheels picking up juice and a nice long wheelbase make for very tolerant loco's of less than perfectly clean track.
 
From some one who was an avid collector plus an operator of an outdoor backyard railway (look up Gscalenut on You-tube for my now dismantled line), my recommendation is to set a theme for your railway (railroad). This way you hopefully avoid impulse buys. If you like American (narrow or standard gauge) then concentrate on that and allow the occasional outsider European purchase if it takes your fancy. Do not be overawed by the hype of the Mallett, it is a fine loco but not really a must have. I have not heard of the motor overheating but have changed out a few in the Mallett motor blocks due the ingress of grease on the commutator, requiring a motor change.

Do not be lured by the latest and greatest releases from the few manufacturers still around. New Bachmann stock released a few years ago is still available along with mint LGB from the 1970's and 1980's/early 1990's. Older LGB may not have DCC and digital sound but it is just as reliable as any modern releases.

Piko had a bit of a largescale learning curve but has finally realised that LGB knew what they were doing many years ago. Build a loco with quality materials and it will be a reliable addition to your fleet of purchases. Alas, this has meant a rise in current retail pricing plus older early Piko products on the market as people upgrade.

Aristo may not be around but at least Bachmann can supply the two axle motor block used under many Aristo diesels, like the Alco FA1, FB1, U25 and RS3. With Aristo avoid any used motor blocks with plating loss on the wheel treads unless you intend to resort to battery traction at some point in the future.
 
Okay, so I've got a line on on LGB 3085D new in the box. Is it a good runner? If I lose a motor, can I
 
Sorry for that last, some kind of middle aged hand spasm hit post reply.
I intend, currently, to run one Shay, One Climax, and I live in the forest, so some sort of logging operation is feasible. (I chainsawed down a dead tree last week for firewood
I am going to have a mainline and want t run at least one big sized steam locomotive, and the one Im looking at is an LGB Mallet. The one they released in 2000. Seen photos and it looks new.
ON they other hand it's Winder here, snow and very cold. So, i'm not going lay track, set up the run or anything else until good day sunshine arrives.
Third is a freight train. I want Union Pacific, but I'm considering the Pico TEE?? heard the comments about shorter passenger carraiges and thre me, but I just want know how it runs. ??? Help>>>
 
Mcvie said:
................... I'm considering the Pico TEE?? heard the comments about shorter passenger carraiges and thre me, but I just want know how it runs. ??? Help>>>
Click to expand...

Here's Gizzy's thread about his TEE..... take a good look through the thread and decide for yourself about the look of it - I'm sure if you drop Giz a PM he'd be happy to tell you about his experiences of running it....
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/piko-tee-set.309578/

Jon.
 
Mcvie said:
The one i'm perusing is the 2000 Mallet. it's the mostly black one.
Click to expand...

I got one of those secondhand, from a private seller in Germany; it was a very early "factory installed" DCC version with a serial sound board, and had some problems with the electronics - front power unit wouldn't run at all, rear one ran only sluggishly and erractically. Negotiated a sufficient refund from seller to enable me to chuck out the failing early LGB decoder lash-up (a 55020 decoder and a 55030 booster, a spectacularly unsuccessful setup soon dropped by LGB) and replace it with a nice modern Massoth XL - now runs beautifully!

If the 2000-built one you're looking at is analogue (DC) only, then it's most likely fine - if it's a factory-chipped DCC one, from my own experience I'd be wary - at least haggle a price where you can afford to put a new decoder in should you need to.

Please note that this experience is rare with LGB - as others have said, mostly they are about as bomb-proof as you would ever want; I'm just now wary of their early DCC jobs from around 1999 to about 2002, after that they began to use much better decoders and improved enormously. If you're only running analogue and not using DCC, then LGB of any age is about as good as you can get!

Jon.
 
You mention a #2085D. As a four digit number then this would be a pre-1993 model. This would have green tank sides. Be wary of purchasing LGB as the same looking model would be made over many years. If original then there will be a date stamp label on the loco underside giving the month and year of manufacture. There will be four digits with the first and last the actual month and the two centre digits the year of manufacture. If purchasing on evilbay then perhaps ask the seller to supply these numbers to verify the model's age.
 
Tim Brien said:
You mention a #2085D. As a four digit number then this would be a pre-1993 model. This would have green tank sides. Be wary of purchasing LGB as the same looking model would be made over many years. If original then there will be a date stamp label on the loco underside giving the month and year of manufacture. There will be four digits with the first and last the actual month and the two centre digits the year of manufacture. If purchasing on evilbay then perhaps ask the seller to supply these numbers to verify the model's age.
Click to expand...

Just a quick correction, Tim - actually the first and last numbers on the gold date sticker are the year, so for example a sticker that reads 0xxxx4 would be a 2004-built model. I'm not sure exactly when these stickers started to be used, but you should find them on most 1990s (and maybe late '80s) production locos and up to 2006 when LGB went belly-up and Marklin took over. Post-2006 Marklin-built items do not have the date stickers as far as I'm aware.
Older clamshell-gearbox locos from the late '60s and '70s do not have any kind of date labelling, but it's usually possible to roughly date them from specific model details, liveries etc.
 
As said above - twin decoders were never a good solution and rewiring with one newer decoder is a sensible idea if this is the case. Dud motors are relatively rare but are not too expensive, and pretty easy, to replace. I have heard of the Mallet having the front motor washed out with over zealous use of smoke oil, but never seen one, and as i just said - not a major problem anyway.
 
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