How do you like the European train models? I don't generally like the looks of the European trains but I do like the Crocodile Electric. Anyone own one of these?
Bob C.
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I have the one of the LMS/BR Princess Coronation Pacifics along with a matching set of coaches. If MTH made more British locomotives I would buy them but they haven't. The new 2-8-2s are interesting as some of them were built at the Lima Locomotive Works in Ohio but I don't believe that any that MTH were made are lettered as such.
I really like them, especially that German huge three-cylinder 2-10-0, except they are all 1:43 scale and look too big along side my large U.S. articulated steam locomotive models. Thus, I haven't purchased any.
I have several and love them if you are looking for something different you cant miss with there lineup
I like the modern equipment so I'm on the sidelines until they make a TGV, ICE or EuroStar. Then I'll blow the budget. They sure won't fit in with my scenery, but they will still look awesome!!! They'd be really cool to see flying around a huge modular display.
yes. I guess that they are different and also attractive
Bob C.
I have the Orient Express pulled by the Chappeion Loco and the Swiss Crocodile.The detail on the MTH European line is outstanding.Not all of the trains are 1/43,the French O gauge is 1/45,it depends what country you are modeling as to what version is used.
Mikey
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I LOVE them. However, my 0-31 layout of course cannot accommodate them. I've long hoped MTH would introduce a "Railking Imperial" European line. I'll be a buyer. Always loved clean, classy lines of European trains.
I've been looking for a Duchess of Sutherland, but, can't find one anywhere.
I like British prototype, and would consider buying one of the MTH engines, but per the catalog all of the matching cars have scale wheels. If I could get an A3 or A4 with a set of coaches, then ... (sound of wallet opening).
I have the Duchess of Athol and the cars. One great running locomotive. I would love some more Canadian locomotives.
I have none so far, but everyone says they are extremely nice and well done. I have seen a couple of them at my LHS. From just looking I would have to agree with the others, they are very nice. The owner of my LHS has purchased a couple for himself.
I love the European offerings from MTH, but have to ask: If one were to build a layout to run these on, where would you obtain suitable European style buildings? I don't believe the normal European HO manufacturers (Faller, Vollmer, Kibri, Pola) offer anything in 1/43 or whatever they are...
No photos, but I have the Engineering Version of the Chapelon 2-3-1. I have run it. I have been drawn to the SNCF 2-4-1 (and somewhat less to the DB 2-10-0; the gray one), but I doubt that I'll ever purchase either. Esthetically, the Europeans occasionally catch my eye in a good way; more often, in a bad way. I can't see me buying any more, unless there is a "blowout" somewhere - fat chance. (That SCNF 2-4-1 still whispers to me; had it come out first I would have bought it rather than the 2-3-1.)
The British Pacifics - the Duchess Class, I think it is - have also made me think, but not enough, I guess. These are striking locos, and remind me of nothing so much as the love child from an illicit affair between a NYC Niagara and a - gasp! - PRR K4 4-6-2. Stop the madness!
A friend of mine from England just visited me and brought along a model railroad magazine from over there. Looking through the ads, there was very very little O gauge and zero MTH!
Where did all of the Duchess' go?
VidKidz posted:I love the European offerings from MTH, but have to ask: If one were to build a layout to run these on, where would you obtain suitable European style buildings? I don't believe the normal European HO manufacturers (Faller, Vollmer, Kibri, Pola) offer anything in 1/43 or whatever they are...
I justify my Duchess in an American setting as one of them, in streamlined form no less, toured the USA and Canada right before WWII.
Well - two of them came to me!!
But, seriously, I don't think MTH were able to make headway in the UK market (except maybe for the Passenger coaches (cars...)) and are focussing on mainland European items
Oops... I live in London!
bigtruckpete posted:I like the modern equipment so I'm on the sidelines until they make a TGV, ICE or EuroStar. Then I'll blow the budget. They sure won't fit in with my scenery, but they will still look awesome!!! They'd be really cool to see flying around a huge modular display.
I'm with you, bigtruckpete.
The first thing I do with every new MTH catalog is go to the European section to see if there is a TGV or other European high speed train.
Given that these trains would require all new tooling, I am not optimistic that they will ever be made. But, I can still hope. 
I once bought a big set of Maerklin HO but I could not warm up to the European designs so I sold it.
Bob C.
I do like the European MTH offerings. The Duchess is very nice. I have seen one running at our club show a few years ago.
As Andrew mentioned MTH have not really made any headway in the UK. However in my opinion they did not get in touch with the right people in the UK.
Nick
Still waiting for the MTH European SNCF 141P which should be delivered this month?
Here you can see some European MTH's running in my garden:
Regards
Fred
beautiful outdoor layouts
Bob C.
If anyone is interested, I have some British Rail coaches for sale on the OGR Buy/Sell.
I will blow the dough as soon as they release the ICE in any version.
They are beautiful, and I remain very interested but will have to wait until MTH does some short-wheelbase engines to fit on my 027 curves. (Not expecting anything though)
For those of you who would like to learn about the real Duchess Class locomotives, I will suggest that you try to find a copy of "6233 Duchess Of Sutherland and the Princess Coronation Class" by Brell Ewart and Brian Radford.
Yesterday my MTH SNCF 141P arrived:
It is a very good looking engine in my view. I do not like however the MTH packaging where the locomotive is attached hoovering above a wooden board; again this caused some transport damage.
Regards
Fred
I have the Blue Dutchess that I bought at blowout from Arrons in January. I also acquired the Crimson LMS coaches. I have the 4 car set and an additional coach and an additional baggage. They are stunning in detail. The detail blows the Lima as well as Lionel British coaches away! I also purchased Ace white lanterns and plan to add them with led lighting to one of the baggage cars to tack on the end of the train.
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I am waiting for them to make a deltic. A brit desiel there awsum..!!
I would buy a Eurostar. Watched them often when at St Pancras
I like them a lot. I have an Orient Express pulled by a 2-4-1 French steamer, a Crocodile with a string of Swiss beer reefers, and a Swiss Cargo electric with tank cars. The Orient Express always gets a lot of comments when I run it at the toy train museum. I love the platform announcements in French. The MTH Euro trains are beautiful and extremely detailed, but also extremely fragile and MTH has NO parts. Break something and it's broken forever. I've had several come out of the box new with broken detail parts. The electrics have the usual MTH problem of the automatic pan mechanism failing. The wheel/axle assemblies on the Swiss freight cars have a nasty habit of falling off in shipment, but it's not too hard to put them back together once you get it figured out. The parts issue has kept me from buying any more rolling stock.
The other problem is that there are no cars to go with the steam-era German, French, and Austrian freight locomotives (The German 2-10-0, the French2-8-2, and the German/Austrian electrics). I thought seriously about buying the German 2-10-0, but there are no German freight cars. Maybe MTH will make some new freight car molds. Right now there are only two steam-era car types - the 4-wheel Swiss boxcars and reefers. And I haven't looked closely, but those may be the same mold with different detail parts. There are two modern cars, the tank car and a gondola.
I have no interest in any modern European trains beyond what I have. The Swiss Cargo set was a fluke; I just was intrigued by the billboard design and the ironic obviousness of the giant "CARGO" emblazoned on the side. If I buy any more Euro trains they will be steam era only.
They certainly surpass any older American equipment tooling when it comes to detailing. Eventually I'll get a couple of their Taurus to run a short tank train, just for fun and because they are different.
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Southwest Hiawatha posted:The other problem is that there are no cars to go with the steam-era German, French, and Austrian freight locomotives (The German 2-10-0, the French2-8-2, and the German/Austrian electrics). I thought seriously about buying the German 2-10-0, but there are no German freight cars. Maybe MTH will make some new freight car molds. Right now there are only two steam-era car types - the 4-wheel Swiss boxcars and reefers. And I haven't looked closely, but those may be the same mold with different detail parts. There are two modern cars, the tank car and a gondola.
The European manufacturers Lenz and Brawa make a large number of different European freight cars that go very well with MTH locomotives and MTH cars; I assume there is an importer in USA for these.
Regards
Fred
sncf231e posted:Southwest Hiawatha posted:The other problem is that there are no cars to go with the steam-era German, French, and Austrian freight locomotives (The German 2-10-0, the French2-8-2, and the German/Austrian electrics). I thought seriously about buying the German 2-10-0, but there are no German freight cars. Maybe MTH will make some new freight car molds. Right now there are only two steam-era car types - the 4-wheel Swiss boxcars and reefers. And I haven't looked closely, but those may be the same mold with different detail parts. There are two modern cars, the tank car and a gondola.
The European manufacturers Lenz and Brawa make a large number of different European freight cars that go very well with MTH locomotives and MTH cars; I assume there is an importer in USA for these.
Regards
Fred
I am not aware of a US importer for either of those. I'll check it out, but I'm not optimistic. There are two problems with getting European models here in the US. First, they are very expensive compared to MTH products. Second, they are invariably 2-rail, and like most US 0-gaugers, I run 3-rail. Thanks for the info; I will Google around for Lenz and Brawa and see if there are any available on this side of the Atlantic.
Update - I found a dealer for Lenz and Brawa - Eurorail Hobbies. Unfortunately it is in Canada. Shipping and customs charges might be an issue. They do have a beer car for one of my all-time favorites, Dortmunder Union, so I might get in touch. Pricing is expensive, but not as bad as I had feared.
Re Big jim's comment about lack of O Scale in the UK, I suggest anyone interested look up the website of the GAUGE O GUILD. That organization has several thousand members around the world and publishes an excellent quarterly magazine called the GAZETTE. There is plenty of O Scale equipment. in both kit form and RTR on the market there.
As to the MTH Equipment, I like the steam locos of both French & German prototypes, as well as the Swiss croc. The passenger cars in the catalog look nice, though perhaps a bit short.
I'm not sure concerns of scale are justified. The British equipment is built to 1:43 (should really be 1:43.5 or 7mm to the foot). HO means "Half O" with a ratio of 3.5mm to the foot or 1:87 ratio. Because the UK loading gauge (clearances) are much smaller than those in North America, the "oversized" scale is not noticeable to a great extent compared to US models imo--because their locos & rolling stock are so much smaller.
The Europeans use a ratio of 1:45 which is the correct ratio if a track gauge of 1.25" is to represent standard gauge prototype track. O gauge equals 5' gauge track if 1:48 scale is used, so most American equipment is undersized for the track gauge!
For those wanting freight equipment to go with European locos, back in the 1970s, Associated Hobby Mfrs (AHM) imported plastic cars from Rivarossi in Italy. The line included two types of full-length coaches, painted in French, German & Italian colors, in addition to steel gondolas, refrigerator and tank cars. They came with plastic hook couplers but could be converted to use 3R wheelsets and other couplers
Big Jim posted:A friend of mine from England just visited me and brought along a model railroad magazine from over there. Looking through the ads, there was very very little O gauge and zero MTH!
Where did all of the Duchess' go?
Look for 7mm scale. It's the British tag for O gauge. A couple of random suppliers from a Google search:
Southwest Hiawatha posted:Update - I found a dealer for Lenz and Brawa - Eurorail Hobbies. Unfortunately it is in Canada. Shipping and customs charges might be an issue. They do have a beer car for one of my all-time favorites, Dortmunder Union, so I might get in touch. Pricing is expensive, but not as bad as I had feared.
My advice on Lenz and Brawa was maybe not very wise since this is the 3-rail forum; these run on 2-rail with fine-scale wheel profile and I do not think they supply 3-rail wheel-sets. These are very nicely detailed but indeed more expensive; an MTH car with transport and custom costs is still cheaper for me over here in Netherlands then Lenz or Brawa. I can run both 2-rail and 3-rail coarse and fine-scale on my garden layout but that is an exception.
Regards
Fred
jwmathews posted:
The Europeans use a ratio of 1:45 which is the correct ratio if a track gauge of 1.25" is to represent standard gauge prototype track. O gauge equals 5' gauge track if 1:48 scale is used, so most American equipment is undersized for the track gauge!
The Continental Europeans do not all use 1:45; 1:45 is used in Germany and Switzerland, in France and Italy 1:43.5 is used (like in England). And MTH takes that in account (the SNCF 141P is 1:43.5 while the German Baureihe 44 is 1:45; of course a small scale problem with the French version of the Baureihe 44, the SNCF 150X).
Regards
Fred
