What's Not to Love About LGB?

My wife just ordered the second edition of the two-volume LGB Kompendium for my 76th birthday later this month, and I cannot wait to peruse this master reference!  ☺

I currently have both LGB Greenberg Guides and the Kalmbach Guide in my reference library and they are useful for the early years.

I sold off most of my LGB as my interests shifted.  But, I did keep my repainted 2018D:

Rusty

Rusty: BEAUTIFUL loco - THANKS for sharing! When I got into LGB back in 1978, the iconic Mogul had not yet been produced, and I was smitten with the European 750 and 1000 mm narrow gauge models. Although I once owned a couple of DRG&W coaches, I only ever owned two American style LGB engines: the DSP&P Forney and the Southern Railway 4501 Mikado in the Crescent livery. BOTH very fine engines!

What's not to love? That I can't afford to buy more.

I'm just getting back into model trains and I'm having a difficult choice between LGB and Lionel, both of which I had when I was little.  

BRIAN: One big advantage of LGB is that it is designed to be run outdoors. Good used equipment can be found for reasonable cost if you search the internet. Trainworld (Brooklyn, NY) discounts new and older LGB. Also the large scale of LGB (1:22.5) makes it easier for seniors like myself (76) to operate and service. A few very reliable dealers: Only Trains (Minnesota), Trains LI (Nevada), and Gold Coast Station (California). They all have websites and I have had excellent service with all of them. 

BRIAN: I once rode the Phoebe Snow from Hoboken to East Stroudsburg, PA for a vacation in the Poconos when I was a teen. I still remember sitting in that flat-end observation car! Very nice train!  

Tinplate Art posted:

What is there not to love?  ☺

Their narrow gauge stuff is very good , but I hate their wrong scale standard gauge stuff.

Regards

Fred

sncf231e posted:

Tinplate Art posted:

What is there not to love?  ☺

Their narrow gauge stuff is very good , but I hate their wrong scale standard gauge stuff.

Regards

Fred

The sorta 1:27ish scale is definately a wtf deal for me. It's like Lionel MPC era stuff on steroids but bulges out at the center while length being compressed....definitely a turn off for US operators.

Ever see the pic of a LGB/ Aster GG-1 going around a R1 curve?? Ridiculous!! 

That and the use of plastic gears. I know of more than a few Mikados that are shelf queens because of the crappy drivetrain design. No wonder why LGB they went broke. 

I never have had an interest in LGB, except for the fact they did narrow gauge/shortline prototypes,  which the three rail O gauge market completely ignores, including the endless variety of standard gauge shortline prototypes.  LGB has influenced some of my scratch build and kitbash modeling.  Hey, there is a Mack railbus in "G" scale...try to get that in the three rail rut.  Does "G" have a McKeen car?

As best I can find, LGB American standard gauge is H Scale (half inch for a foot, aka 1:24 scale). Visually an LGB EMD F-unit dwarfs a USA EMD F-unit which is 1:29)

What's not to like about LGB? One thing I do like is it is the perfect size to run in the back of my customized 2005 Dodge Magnum (rear deck replaced back seat)

colorado hirailer posted:

I never have had an interest in LGB, except for the fact they did narrow gauge/shortline prototypes,  which the three rail O gauge market completely ignores, including the endless variety of standard gauge shortline prototypes.  LGB has influenced some of my scratch build and kitbash modeling.  Hey, there is a Mack railbus in "G" scale...try to get that in the three rail rut.  Does "G" have a McKeen car?

CO Highrailer, there is a G McKeen car available in 40' and 55' lengths with or without trailers.  You won't like the price though.  Available on website link NV Railway Museum in Carson City, they offer them through the museum as they have an operating McKeen.  Where did you find the Mack railbus in G?

Chris Sheldon

While we are here, I am looking for LGB Orient Express Pass Cars.  Anybody got 'em?

Chris Sheldon

FireOne posted:

colorado hirailer posted:

I never have had an interest in LGB, except for the fact they did narrow gauge/shortline prototypes,  which the three rail O gauge market completely ignores, including the endless variety of standard gauge shortline prototypes.  LGB has influenced some of my scratch build and kitbash modeling.  Hey, there is a Mack railbus in "G" scale...try to get that in the three rail rut.  Does "G" have a McKeen car?

CO Highrailer, there is a G McKeen car available in 40' and 55' lengths with or without trailers.  You won't like the price though.  Available on website link NV Railway Museum in Carson City, they offer them through the museum as they have an operating McKeen.  Where did you find the Mack railbus in G?

Chris Sheldon

Hartland Locomotive Works makes the former "Delton Doozie."

Rusty

THANKS, ALL, for all the recent comments and information! Keep 'em coming! I strictly run the European (Austrian, German and Swiss) 750mm and 1000mm gauge LGB models, which are nicely proportioned in 1:22.5 scale. I am a toy train person and not a scale modeler. I recently refined my power system using a lab quality DC switching mode power supply with a PIKO electronic controller, and have added an outboard LGB European steam sound module, complete with a capacitance power supply and a reed switch for the bell and whistle.  All of my current LGB is original German-made product except for two Marklin/LGB RhB 2nd Class coaches made in Hungary, but their heft and quality of construction closely matches my original Alpine Classic coaches!

Tinplate Art, I run mostly Aristo and USA Trains but have fallen in love with my LGB Orient Express passenger cars pulled by a Piko Crocodile, just need a few more cars.

I also run conventional (track) power with computer power supplies and G Scale Graphics Railboss 4 RC control.  Found some really cool analog power meters with zero center so they read forward and reverse (inverse) polarity both voltage and amperage.

Chris Sheldon

Chris: Sounds like a nice setup!  I will be on the lookout for those LGB Orient Express cars! I should also mention I have a spare like-new, used and tested MRC "Power G" supply (0-10 amps, 0-22 volts). 

I have no G, but like so much in HO, those brass cabooses mentioned, (O versions of), l am annoyed l can't get it in O three rail. I need to be much better at scratchbuilding powered rolling stock.

RE: LGB "plastic" gears: the quality of the gear material like the Luran S polymers used in LGB products is very high, and in my experience as an LGB service tech for about a dozen plus years working on engines in both commercial and residential environments, I NEVER had to replace a gear train! Most assuredly, LGB did not fail for its "faulty" products, but rather due to complex economic conditions in Germany at that time, as well as some bad company decisions.

Back in the early 80's I purchased "The Blue Train". Purchased extra blue colored cars and some other cars. Replace all the plastic wheels with the LGB metal wheels installed the pickups on each car and installed the LGB coach lights in each car. There was a mail car that I added a eccentric can on one of it's axle with a micro switch and installed a steam sound module, speaker ans a on/off switch. All was run off a 9 volt battery. Picked up a bunch of new LGB switches at a train show. Have other cars. The LGB early years were a quality product. Then I got a live steam Mamod train that I modified with a burner and remote control. Next step was a Accucraft Ruby which I like. Still have the stuff and maybe someday I will set something up outside. Moved on to prewar O and Standard. Do not want to sell my LGB as I can always go back to it and to purchase what I have would cost to much. Back in the early 80's things seemed a lower price.

Ron: The 1980's pricing was more favorable, but the availability in the states was problematic. Later in the 1990's, WATTS became a major player, and their pricing was higher but still reasonable. I also had the Blue Train, but no extra cars. Sold it to a restaurant owner friend of mine for his young daughter. I too ventured into live steam with a Roundhouse SR&RL #24 with RC, an LGB Frank S, and a Geoffbilt two-truck Shay. Presently have MTH and Lionel Classics standard gauge and original LGB, and they go good together, size wise. Live steam, though great fun, is messy and high maintenance, and really requires an elevated outdoor layout, a requirement I cannot presently fulfill, and besides, my engines have long been sold! Its all good if it runs on rails!

Tinplate Art posted:

Ron: The 1980's pricing was more favorable, but the availability in the states was problematic. Later in the 1990's, WATTS became a major player, and their pricing was higher but still reasonable. I also had the Blue Train, but no extra cars. Sold it to a restaurant owner friend of mine for his young daughter. I too ventured into live steam with a Roundhouse SR&RL #24 with RC, an LGB Frank S, and a Geoffbilt two-truck Shay. Presently have MTH and Lionel Classics standard gauge and original LGB, and they go good together, size wise. Live steam, though great fun, is messy and high maintenance, and really requires an elevated outdoor layout, a requirement I cannot presently fulfill, and besides, my engines have long been sold! Its all good if it runs on rails!

If you ever want to get away from the rails in the summer may I suggest a Live steam remote control scale boats.
If interested check for local scale boat clubs in your area.

Here is one of mine, not completed yet but runs great/scratch built.

36 inch long 12 inch wide and uses a kitchen rudder for reverse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_rudder

Sounds like fun, but your image did not come through on my Android phone??

I just wish the track wasn't so expensive.  I need about 16' of straight track and some 4' curves to make a 90 degrees turn for a shelf project and even that little bit of track is not cheap. Quality stuff though.

Definitely not cheap, but in the case of LGB, you definitely get what you pay for! A now legendary photo of a grown elephant named Uncle Otto in a zoo in Germany is shown standing on the track in an early catalog! Rumors about thr LGB train on the same track moving the elephant were unconfirmed! LOL! I once drove a station wagon over a piece of straight track as a demonstration of its durability!

Guys and Gals, though my heart remains with Lionel O gauge,  I can't afford to invest in any due to the fact I now live in Germany, not to mention being retired (I was tired yesterday and am tired again today) and now on a restricted fixed income.  Living in the Land of LGB, as wonderful as it may seem, LGB is also unaffordable to me for the most part.  However, two months ago I purchased a LGB 3083 Denver & Rio Grande Western combine at a Red Cross store, mint in the original carton, for EURO 60.00!  The price was 70, but after my son talked to the lady in charge, I walked out the door saving 10!

Living in an apartment there's no way I can construct a layout indoors, (lack of a garden prevents going outdoors) although my small basement room will accommodate an oval, which will permit me to run the combine with the side-rod Grande #50 for power.  (OK, LOL, have yourselves a good laugh and slapping your collective knee.)  The model was Made in West Germany in Nuremberg, which is some 25 miles east of Ansbach where I reside, and is an original LGB built model.  

Item: In regards to Joe's complaint that LGB track is expensive.  I plan to purchase pre-owned track even if it's been outdoors.  Hey, it's already weathered, right?

Being from the old school, which burned down a few years ago, I just can't accept the fact that LGB is now in the hands of Märklin.  Somehow it's not the same to me, so I plan to add some more original LGB to my little collection, looking for additional bargans like 3083.  Despite being a natural born Texan (Dallas, July 4, 1946)  I fell in love with the Centenniel State during the summer of '58 while visiting my grandparents in Manitou Springs.  They were renting a cabin on Ruxton Avenue below the abandoned right of way of the Colorado Midland at the time.  As a result I learned as much about the line as I could and remain a loyal fan of the CM to this day.

I  do plan to add a Hartland Mack switcher to my collection.  It is reasonably priced, looks neat, and a must that I acquire a model painted glossy black just like a shiny new Ford Model T, which will include the Mack name under the cab.  It might even end up pulling the combine.  Afterall, I'm not a rivet counter, but remain a believer of the slogan that once graced the cover of Model Railroader, "Model Railroading is Fun".  It still is!  That's what the hobby is all about in the first place.

Joe Toth Jr.

Joe: Do you have the Rio Grande side rod diesel switcher and did you get it for a good price?