Summertimme... and Klaus is back in his workshop

Yep, that's right - you're Famous Klaus is back in his workshop. He is working on Moguls and on Forneys currently. He is still a little backed up from vacation time - but is also accepting new restoration and installation work. Same goes for repairs.

The parts situation is getting better this Summer with parts coming in from quite a few German manufacturers. Klaus made an important decision this early Summer, saying goodbye to various Massoth products due to increasing problems with their quality, software reliability and user-friendliness. After all, this is all about you and all of the LGB fans out there to receive products and services that keep your LGB trains running. It is Klaus' utmost intention to maintain and were possible increase your LGB locos collectors value.

Speaking of value, if you have an outdoor layout and have a big heatwave going on where you live AND have locos on your layout that are older than 1999 - do yourself a tiny little favor and bring those locos inside while the extreme heat lasts. The plastic does not profit from this intense heat and some of those locos might be well worth beyond US$ 1,500.00. Why spoil that?

And after the heatwave has passed, please check your tracks for deformation due to thermal expansion, meaning with heat temps passing the 140 F degrees in some sun-exposed areas this summer and depending how much space they have to expand and return to their predefined  position that may not go as smoothly as you had hoped. Shorts, derailed locos and cars, brittle plastic parts getting lost in heated sand and gravel... that's what you want to avoid. You might even see some older driving decoders die due to excessive heat exposure. When your automobile gets above 120F degrees inside after only 10-15 minutes in bright sunlight right now, imagine what your beloved locos have to endure sitting in that naked sun baking for hours on end...

While you have your locos inside, go check if they deserve some TLC like cleaning the wheels with an older (paint) brush. Wear and tear should get some attention before the loco body itself gets harmed. Check on couplers, trucks and other movable parts. Before you glue something back on, please check with Klaus in case your engine is old to very old. It costs way more money to undo a bad glue job to restore a locos value than to do it right the first time. Some glues shouldn't even get close to an LGB loco. In most cases Klaus prefers a so-called "plastics welder" glue. Yours truly will elaborate on this subject some more later this year.

Meanwhile, stay cool, protect your LGB values and when in doubt, email Klaus at   klaus@traincraftbyklaus.com