LGB Hand Cars, Flyers, Draisine

Hand cars have their own charm. The following is a quote from Wikipedia about hand cars:
A handcar (also known as a pump trolley, pump car, jigger, Kalamazoo,^[1] or draisine (powered or unpowered) in many other parts of the world) is a railroad car powered by its passengers, or by people pushing the car from behind. It is mostly used as a maintenance of way or mining car, but it was also used for passenger service in some cases. A typical design consists of an arm that pivots, seesaw-like, on a base, which the passengers alternately push down and pull up to move the car. --- Handcars have been normally used by railway service personnel (also known as a Gandy dancer) for railroad inspection and maintenance. Because of their low weight and small size, they can be put on and taken off the rails at any place, allowing trains to pass. Handcars have since been replaced by self-propelled vehicles that do not require the use of manual power, instead relying on internal combustion engines or electricity to move the vehicle.

Below we try to list all handcars, motorcycles, flyers and similar, ever made by LGB. If you are interested in purchasing one, please contact us. We have a great selection of Original Old German LGB driving stock at hand.

LGB made their first handcar # 2001 in 1971! The "Riesenfreude-Katalog 1971" presented it in a black-and-white-photo and offered it for DEM 42.50, which would be the equivalent of  roughly US$ 170.00 in today's money

LGB obviously was never for those with small pockets. This little Gustav-hand car was made in 7 different color versions for the LGB number 2001 alone. In 1993/94 the same base model got the LGB# 20010 and  those were manufactured in Nuremberg/Germany until 2007. Prices vary depending on condition of those cars and demand for certain manufacturing years/color schemes and range from US$ 70.00 to US$ 120.00 (?).--The newest number for the little Gustav-Draisine is LGB # 20011 in yet another color version and are offered for 1US$ 176.00 to $ 220.00 in the new LGB 2013 catalog. Manufacturing is not in Germany.

LGB Santa hand car # 21010

It wasn't until 1993 that LGB made another little hand car, this time a Christmas/ Santa hand car LGB # 21010. They were made in Nuremberg Germany until 1998.


In 2004 and for 2005 LGB made a similar Santa hand car with the number 21013. It had a Gnomy Stainz on the car. It was made in in similar small numbers as the 21010.

LGB # 21013 from 2004/5

Demand is growing for these Santa hand cars and their collector's value is rising beyond their original sales price of  approx. US$ 140.00

LGB # 22010 Clown Hand Car

LGB continued their hand car series in 1995/96 with a Clowns Hand Car LGB # 22010. They were made until 1999 in Nuremberg/Germany.  The Clown's car features a clown with an umbrella, an artist's box and a handbag, a monkey on the box and a seal with a 'golden' ball next to the monkey. Spare parts for this car are still available, but becoming scarce. Demand is changing from high to low to high within the last 7 years and current value is around US$ 170 to $ 200.00 for mint condition. Expect rising prices.

LGB # 22020 MARS Flyer

The Clowns Hand car was followed by the MARS flyer in 1997 with LGB # 22020. It features a propeller which actually propels the little car. It was offered/made until 1999 in Nuremberg/Germany. Expect to see prices ranging anywhere between US$ 300 and 500.00 for this neat little flyer.

That same year, 1997, LGB also offered another version of the flyer, the FORTUNA-Flyer, LGB # 20020

The motor drives the propeller which actually then propels the little flyer. This time the propeller comes in red and the body is painted in blue. A pilot sits in an old-fashioned cockpit, wearing a cap. 

LGB 20020 FORTUNA Flyer

The original box included a labeling sheet. The FORTUNA Flyer is a bit pricier than the MARS flyer and sees asking prices around US$ 350.00 to $500 and more.

Please follow our 2nd part of the Draisine series report including LGB #'s 22030, 22032, 22040, 22050, 23010 and 24020 to be published here shortly.

For any questions call Klaus @ 770-886-6670

.....About Screws

Screws.They are telling a great story about your LGB loco. And they have their own LGB story.

LGB# 69002

The most commonly used screws on your loco or car can be bought from LGB-dealers in packs of hundred, LGB # 69002. As the photo shows they come in a variety of 4 different sized black screws and one silver metal screw, the pack contains approx 100 pieces.

The original (German) LGB screws are all self tapping - they cut themselves into the material while being screwed into it. They are made out of ferromagnetic material so they will cling to your screwdriver (right image)
Screws made in China do not necessarily have that characteristic so they may be hard to work with and may get lost easily. Note: the most common damage your Famous Klaus is seeing are screws that have been over-wound. Self tapping screws that are over-wound will damage the plastic they are screwed into. And once the damage is done it is difficult to repair the thread. (Your Famous Klaus does this kind of repair, though)

Then there are screws used to mount push rods to the wheels. They are not sold by LGB dealers. There are metal screws used in the body/ motor block, there are screws used to assemble the timing gear, there are screws to mount wheels on axles (old LGB motor blocks) and some screws require washers. The image below shows all types of screws used in LGB locos.

NOT FOR SALE screws for LGB locos - Repair and restoration only!

Screws in very good condition

Screws on left are in used condition,
 screw on right shows damage.

When working on the screws make sure to use the correct fitting screwdriver. Incorrect sized screwdrivers will damage the screw for good. The value of an Old original LGB Loco made in (Western) Germany (before 1990) hinges often enough on the condition of the screws. Below are 2 images, one of a (Diesel switcher, left image below) body with almost perfect screws and one of a tender with used screws. Note that the tender (right) has been opened multiple times for various repairs and maintenance issues. The screw on the very right has 'wrong screw driver damage'. When working on your loco to remove screws always use a white towel underneath. Do invest in an $8.00 white bath towel and keep it just for your loco needs. (You may thank me later...) That way you'll find all screws easily, they wont roll away and wont fall down to the floor where they always hide in the furthest corner close to the neighbor's shed......

Another value decreasing condition is the use of non-LGB screws in a loco or wrong size screws. The first  impairs the looks as long as the size fits which is not very likely. Which brings us to the wrong-size-screws. Mostly Klaus sees non-LGB screws that are too big for the purpose. If they are self tapping they generate a thread that is too big for the correct sized screw and will only help as long as the wrong screw is not removed. Since the screw doesn't really fit in the first place ( note that US screws are based on inch base and the LGB German types are based on metric - you get the idea why other screws rarely fit) chances are they either come loose or the plastic piece holding the thread can crack. That's when the trouble will start for good. Klaus has gotten quite a few locos in for repair this spring with exactly that fault showing. His work scope spans from expanded repairs of the thread itself to complete restoration of specific plastic parts of the loco.

So be careful when working on your loco (screws) and make sure to always use the correct sized screws to preserve the value of your engine!!

NEWS From TrainCraft By Klaus

We have a new service for all LGB fans and friends:

Estate Management

Yours Truly and your 'Famous" Klaus have been asked several times in the past year to help with estates or purchases. And even though there has been very little new LGB driving stock coming to the US market on one hand we have experienced a stronger and growing supply of existing LGB stock coming from estates, a personal need to sell or change of collection/hobby. And on the other hand we have a royal follower-ship of LGB fans asking ever more often if we could get them their 'dream' LGB loco. 

So it was time to get that 'train of the ground' and put it on a platform...

To help both sides in this deal and avoid eBay and the uncertainty it brings to the untrained bidder/seller (bidding timing, understanding condition of the LGB product, ability to determine correct value of auctioned item to name a few) we offer Estate Management exclusively for LGB trains.

What you get on the Seller's Side:

• we help you list and pre-organize your LGB items for sale
• we take locos/cars into our workshop for examination 
• we determine the current condition, current value and approximate realizable sales price 
• we repair or restore the loco/car to improve sales chance and sales price upon seller's OK
• we certify status of condition, value and production data of the LGB loco/car up for sale
• we utilize our own database to offer and sell the LGB product
• we do NOT use eBay. We sell through our blogs and 
• we organize professional packing, shipping and payment 
• we issue payment to you within 5 days of sale

Bottom line: you give us the loco, we service, valuate and sell it for you and you get the money. Done.

Brokerage fee is always individually negotiated and will range from 18 % - 22% depending on work(shop) scope and volume sold and usually covers certification, spare parts and labor. Decoders and other added accessories are negotiated separately.

What you get on the Buyer's Side:

• an LGB loco/car that comes with a certificate issued by "Famous Klaus" stating explicitly the loco/car characteristics, condition, year built, present value, improvements made, and added accessories.
• knowing that you get what you paid for
• get what you want: we search for you for that hard-to-find LGB loco/car you always wanted (limited to driving stock made before 2006)
• access to truly international LGB supply: we work with sellers in USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, France and Italy
• no auction hassle - we do the work for you
• feel confident with your mind at ease when purchasing a collector's LGB item 
• we install for you state-of-the-art decoders, additional features (light, smoke, etc), getting the loco ready for instant operation. 

A brokerage fee may be applicable in extreme search cases and will be negotiated upfront.

What to do next? Look at our current top offer:

1980 Year Loco by Magnus/Hoehne exclusively hand-built for LGB # 101 of 140 made.
9-10 condition, with box, original document: Hoehne certificate; Certificate by Klaus re collector's Value and condition, completely checked and partially restored to Old Original German Hoehne/LGB Standard.
Very rare! Collector's Value US$ 5,900.00-- TrainCraft Price: US$ 4,800.00

If seller or buyer please contact us via email: klaus@traincraftbyklaus or call us at PH: 770-886-6670 (weekdays from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST).

A Report from the Toy Fair in Germany

The  International Toy Fair Nuremberg, Germany, ended Tuesday Feb 5. The LGB world was eagerly awaiting any news from Märklin/LGB about the new owner and any - hopefully - good news for new products and the abysmal spare parts market. Well, the word is out, or not, or never. Yours Truly is not really kidding. The news turned into no news. Simba-Dickie, the new owner wasn't so sure after all if they still wanted to go on with the take-over. A new date for further information about that subject is set for March. We will keep you posted.

Meanwhile back on the ranch at Märklin headquarters the decision stood NOT to provide any further spare parts for the LGB program.

No further LGB products are scheduled for the American market.

The LGB New Items 2013 catalog is available here: ( click on www.lgb.de/de/produkte.html )
on that page click on the left photo  for narrow gauge locos, cars, and sets and on the middle photo for standard gauge items. You can use your Google translator or email Yours Truly with questions. There are no  US  locomotives available from LGB (exception see below). The catalog notes them as "manufacturing ceased". Out of 13 new narrow gauge locos none is available at this point. The only available US loco(s) is/(are) an F 7 A and B unit 330 and an F 7 A unit 333. It seems that many locos presented in 2011-2012 as new items were not available for the longest time and are now marked as "manufacturing ceased". Seems they never ever manufactured them in the first place? Strange policy...Yours truly wonders what will happen with the "New Items 2013" ?

The Toy Fair itself did not provide any head turning news to begin with. There was not a real focus on electronic toys nor on old-time, traditional toys either. The market seemed to be in a holding pattern/waiting-for-Godot-mode. No breakthroughs in decoder technology for model trains, nor in control systems nor in fine collector's models. Nada.

A lot of Asian "visitors" were noticed. Did they come to check out new technology (that wasn't there)  or did they want to buy for their own ever growing toy demand? No word on that either.

So, where do we LGB fans go from here? Straight to eBay?  Yours Truly has an observing eye on eBay UK (United Kingdom), Germany and USA and sometimes Italy. Prices for LGB locos in good to mint condition are going up while volume offered is going down. Spare parts offers are going down, in volume while prices go up.

Are there any good news to be had?? YES ! Your Famous Klaus aka TrainCraft is now offering:

 Estate Management. 

What is that - you're asking? We help everybody and anybody who wants to sell or buy LGB trains made before 2006 with our own database. We advise you on your loco (you want) to sell regarding value and possible restoring/repairs to increase the value of your item, we inform you about demand,  we appraise the value for resale and we list you- the collector- for engines you want to add to your collection. Any loco or car that passes through Traincraft will receive a certificate stating clearly the year it was made (complete LGB # from Original LGB box required, or else Klaus will estimate), the precise technical current state and condition, the collector's value and the currently viable market price. Klaus charges a very reasonable fee for his service which will depend on the number of stock he manages for you. For further information please email Klaus at klaus@traincraftbyklaus.com or call at 770-886-6670. Our web page will have complete information about this new service by next week.

 French Mikado (!) -- SOLD !!

Super"food" for super engines or how to run 24/7 for a very long time

We're talking about dynamic stress, applied load, impact, forces. There are quite a few LGB operators out there who run their locos literally 24/7 or 18/7 or 12/5 . Yours truly is talking about true workhorse locomotives in toy shops, botanical gardens, children's hospitals, real estate offices, restaurants, museums just to name a few..............The engines are operated for at least 8-10 consecutive hours every day. Imagine the wear and tear on those locos!

Where the problem starts:The plastic housing of the locomotive makes/is the bearings for the axles. The plastic contains glass particles to enforce the strength and stiffness of the housing. During the operation the axles work themselves into the plastic resulting in a widening of the plastic bearing. In the end the locomotive axles start wobbling in the way too large (axle) opening of the housing. The plastic gear wheel on the axle of the locomotive will not be defined in its position anymore resulting in excessive wear on the plastic gear wheel.
"Quick fixes":Once problems arise with the plastic gear wheel one might tend to exchange the plastic gear wheel. However, this would be a short lived fix as the gear wheel will wear out pretty fast, again. The regular problem fix would be an exchange of the motor block housing. In case of a daily, continuous operation   the engine will end up with a worn out motor block housing soon, again.

The professional Solution: This calls for the  installation of a different kind of bearing, e.g. ball bearings, roller bearings or sintered bronze bearings, to enforce the motor block housing to a degree withstanding the continuous impacts. However this kind of installation requires a massive re-work of the axle/ motor block design including these activities: remove the loco wheels from the axle, put the new bearings in position on the axle and re-install the loco wheels with the correct quartering in case of a steam loco. The  position of the former bearing in the motor block needs to be widened to accommodate the new bearing. This work step requires exact industrial precision since the position of the bearing is crucial for the smooth operation of the gear work in the motor block .(Please do not try this at home- not even if your wife is not home ) .

Precision manufactured bronze bearing

                       Klaus' Professional Solution:                Your Famous Klaus took a different approach by developing and manufacturing a specific sintered bronze bearing. This bronze bearing is C-shaped and provides an easy change of the axle while taking care of the 'bearing-job' as well as enabling the axle to position itself precisely. This may be applied to all LGB engines.  Even for those engines where the motor block is very worn out and would need an exchange motor block which is not available any more. Even in this situation the bronze bearing treatment can be applied and will save many a historic and valuable LGB locos.

The finished product

The Result: Super"food" for super operating locos! Take note:your general average LGB loco, made in Germany, is constructed to run for 800 to 1200 hours in her lifetime no matter if she runs literally 24/7 or 2 hours on Christmas morning. That translates into just 125 days at 8 hrs of continuous operation per day. Klaus gives you 5800 hours of continuous operation!! Which equals 5 - 8 times the life span of your engine.
Price: US$ 95.00 for the bronze bearing treatment plus installation workshop hours according to locomotive type. For further information call Klaus at 770-886-6670 or email at klaus@traincraftbyklaus.com

A Note About Wear and Tear: to fight wear and tear on mechanical components regularly calls for grease. Grease is needed within the motor block starting from the worm gear of the motor through an intermediate gear if present down to the plastic driving gear wheel on the axle. Few people are aware of the fact that metal loco wheels and power shoes need to be greased as well. Putting some lubrication on the tracks will double the life expectancy of loco wheels and power shoes instantly. Once the nickel plating on the wheels is gone the rest of the brass wheel will disappear even faster. So do yourself a big favor and add a little grease  e.g. "W D 40", on to the track. Klaus recommends to spray about one (1) foot of the track about every 150 feet once a week. The wheels of the train will carry the lubricant around the layout.

What the Forney did...

The Complaint: Klaus  had a dear longtime customer complain about his LGB Forney (27251). In DCC (digital) operation this Forney, the customer said, changed speed without reason. All in a sudden it went faster. All in a sudden it went slower. The Forney had a sound decoder installed and the speed change of the loco was easy to detect with the chuffs going faster or slower.

First Suspicion:Klaus' customer suspected the decoder might have a malfunction. Especially since the decoder was an older model.  -- The Forney was shipped to Klaus' workshop

Workbench Test: Klaus put the Forney on the test bench in analog mode (DC). Klaus wanted to clearly measure the Amperage that the loco was drawing. First there was nothing, then after 10 minutes of operation the Amperage began to shift and jump. With the changing Amperage the RPMs of the motor changed as well. Then Klaus switched to DCC (digital) operation and found the same shift and jumps in RPM speed.

Diagnosis: Pursuing fault finding by elimination, Klaus had to find out: was it a decoder fault or was it a mechanical fault? For that he separated the decoder from the gearbox. He then connected the gearbox to an analog power source (like a transformer with an analog outlet). The same jumps and shifts occurred. So- without the decoder being connected but the same error occurring it was clear- Klaus had a mechanical problem at hand.
Diagnosis II: Next Klaus dissembled the motor block and took out the motor. He connected the motor to an analog power source. The motor was running normal - at first. Then (here , your Famous Klaus" gut feeling comes into play ) when the motor was running at 10 Volt Klaus changed polarity ( rotating direction ). At that, the Amperage jumped to 1.2 Amps and immediately afterwards fell to the normal value of 0.2 Amps. Klaus could repeat this effect.  - The culprit was the motor.

Why did it happen? Possibly carbon brushes made of weak material had polluted the collector inside the motor. (The collector distributes the power evenly to the coils). Since the new Buehler motors feature a full shell, the carbon brushes inside could not be exchanged.

The Solution: Klaus installed a new motor, re-assembled the engine with sound decoder and the Forney is operating just fine!

Your Next Step: Call Klaus and ship your LGB engine to him to have all your LGB locos running like a charm!

LGB fun in the New Year

Happy New Year to all LGB friends out there. Yours Truly got the flu over the Holidays and your Famous Klaus was busy getting me back on track. Fortunately it hit me after Klaus had finalized the work on your engines in his workshop. So, here we go again refreshed with all the news fit to print....

Klaus' video clip: Klaus has posted a video clip on You Tube so you can get a glimpse of how MUCH he loves the new ESU sound decoders he is utilizing now for LGB locos. Yours Truly was fearing that his workshop walls would suffer serious damage after all the swearing, hissing and fussing about the "other" German decoder(s) from the past that had more and more faults and caused more and more troubles installing them properly according to Klaus' quality expectations. Your Famous Klaus truly believes in keeping the Old German Quality Standard for LGB alive while at the same time providing the very best functioning accessory available to keep your LGB trains running. But as they say- take a look for yourself. A pic is worth a thousand words.
The link is:

http://youtu.be/UxQg1gTbk8U

Or go to You Tube and in the search box put in: F 7 slow op  - then hit enter. Then click on the video. It is a 2 minute video clip and may take a few minutes to load into your computer/ device. For any additional questions email Klaus at klaus@traincraftbyklaus.com or simply call him.

Märklin/LGB sold: Märklin/LGB has been sold again - you have probably heard that already. The new owner is the Simba-Dickie Group in Germany. They manufacture children toys for kids under or around 5 years old. We will wait and see how this will impact the LGB situation for the USA. It is unclear when the new owner will take over Märklin/LGB in 2013. It will probably influence the train stock available this year for the US market. Then again, most of what you want is already only available on eBay or at estate sales. The parts and spare parts situation will also remain scarce - to say the least.

EBay: Upfront one note -  PIKO is NOT (!!!!) LGB ! No matter how often you may read PIKO - LGB, it is PIKO - not made by LGB. And is has NOT the value of an LGB car or loco. Do NOT mix up the Original LGB Shell tank car, valued currently at about US$ 300.00 with the PIKO Shell tank car currently offered for approx US$ 80.00-90.00 Same goes for the Hasseröder beer car. Though it is valued  slightly higher on the European market than on the US market, it is only valuable if and when made by LGB.

EBay LGB offers are -continuously-  priced according to collector's value ( as of Jan 02, 2013). Yours Truly found a slight overpricing in specialty car offers and an under-pricing for Uintahs and F7 A and B units. Surprisingly low is the number of offers for locos (roughly 360) and the variety offered. I have not seen any Mallets, U-series, Ruegen or Harz locos for quite a while. There is one MOB on offer right now and even for a very good price, almost half of its true value. Buyer's tip: when considering an eBay LGB loco purchase try to see if a picture of the power shoes and the wheels is available and take a close look. If they are looking worn or used, that will tell you that the loco had quite some operating use.