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Folks, folks folks...Yours Truly has seen Moguls this December in Klaus' workshop... You can't be serious. One Mogul dated from 1994, everything original on it. BUT: it was "repaired" on by someone who had no clue, never cleaned properly and instead of having a value of US$ 1,500 the best offer would have been $600.00 if at all. Another Mogul from 1998, still fully made in Germany was so dirty and filthy that I didn't even recognize it was by LGB. Now- of course what belongs to you is yours to treat. I understand that.  So how about a nice New Years resolution: You look a bit more after your nice and specifically older LGB locos and Yours Truly provides more maintenance tips.

Starting with: to put on new traction tires on your loco keep in mind that the Original LGB traction tires are no rubber bands. They can not really be stretched. Klaus says a screwdriver is a good tool to help the traction tire onto the wheel. Start by putting the traction tire on a part of the wheel, lead it around as far as you can go, then, holding it in place with one hand, use the screwdriver to help lift the traction tire completely onto the wheel. If the traction tire gets strechted too much, and a little more than 1/8" would be too much, it will break/split.

About power shoes: If they are too run down and used up on your loco they can actually hurt the value of your loco and wears out your tracks.

Most importantly: If you need to "glue something back on" to your LGB loco, puhhleeeze email Klaus first to make sure you're using the correct glue and not something from your grandkid's school supply kit. That (Gilmer's) glue can do a lot of harm to the LGB plastic. And never EVER use hot glue!

On other news: our lawyer advised us to put to your attention, dear reader, again this matter: the email contact usa@massoth.com DOES NOT lead to Klaus' PC (strike through by Yours Truly for protection of our readers). We don't know what happens to those emails, we don't know what happens to your email address when you use this address. Please use caution and use klaus@traincraftbyklaus.com  or klausstork@earthlink.net. THANK YOU!

On a lighter note: The Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany will open its gates on February 1, 2012. We will have our very own "Our Man in Havanna..., ahh Nuremberg", at the Fair to report directly from the Fair; and will have the hottest topics right here on this blog.