In Response to Comments

Thank you all, dear readers for each and every comment you ever posted on this blog. And thank you very much for all of you who keep personal contact with Klaus or Yours Truly by using our official emails.

Yesterday we received a comment by this sender :  Unknown <noreply-comment@blogger.com>

with this comment:

Does anyone how to put the motor back into the motor block?
There are 3 bent pins near the motor contacts but I have no clue what they due.

(YT copied the exact wording from the comment right into this blog)
Since this is the only way Yours Truly can answer this question, here we go:

LGB Mallets are very fine engines. To change a motor would require some basic mechanical knowledge, some engineering-based understanding and correct tools. Blow-ups of the disassembled engine and parts list are available on the internet or can be requested from TrainCraft by Klaus (we appreciate your name, phone number and valid email address)

We do highly stress that if you are an avid LGB fan but not a great mechanic  please do not try to open a Mallet yourself and disassemble the motorblock. Forcing screws to come out , ripping of cables, damaging scrimps, loosing screws during the process then using wrong screws,  not checking on power shoes, carbon brushes, gear wheels and worn axles -- and those are just a few BASIC things while exchanging a motor - will do more harm to your great LGB Mallet than help the situation.

Of course, it is your engine. You are free to do with it whatever your heart desires.

However - since it is a very fine engine, PLEASE consider to give Klaus a call and discuss what needs to be done matter-of-factly in your situation.

Thank you all , Dear Readers!

The LGB Diesel Switcher - Part 2

The LGB Diesel switcher series started with the LGB 2063/20630 (after 1993) and these Diesel switchers were offered by LGB over the years:

LGB Year
2063 1991
20630 1993
72856 1995
22630 2000
22630RS 2000
23630 2000
24630 2006
26630 2006
70634 2003

Even though the conceptual design for the LGB # 2063 started in 1991 sales only started in 1993/1994. 

The 20630 saw a re-entry into the market in 1995- this time for USA customers only. It was combined with three freight cars and a caboose and sold in a specialty box which was never advertised.

LGB 1995 NEWS (USA only)

The # 72856 set:

LGB 72856 set - Courtesy of Worthpoint.com

It was sold for about US$ 400.00 which would be about US$ 700.00 today. A complete set as shown above was sold three years ago for US$ 500.00 (ebay).

It took LGB until 2000 to go for another Diesel switcher model, the LGB # 22630 Sumpter Valley.

Sumpter Valley RR was a line that was established in 1890 in Baker Co/OR as a 3ft narrow gauge railway. Their whole engine stock consisted of steam locomotives. Their roster goes from Shay to Heisler, Baldwin and ALC. All steam locos. Which makes sense since The Sumpter Valley RR ceased operation and sold all stock by the mid 1940's. They never operated a Diesel switcher under their name. Nevertheless, LGB offered:

LGB 22630 - Courtesy of Only Trains

Their advertising in LGB INFO 2000 was:" Sumpter Valley Diesel Loco, This LGB model is a precise replica of the famous No.50 switcher in its Sumpter Valley Livery"

The No.50 was a loco of the Baltimore&Annapolis RR, built by GE in 1946 and eventually sold(after 1986) and ending up in the B&O RR museum..(see below). However, there was a No.50 SVRR Loco, a 2-6-0 all-black Baldwin Loco, built in 1916 and eventually scrapped.

courtesy of http://www.borail.org/BA-No50.aspx

It will rest with the Old LGB why they put this Diesel switcher in a white 'livery' and called it Sumpter Valley.... The LGB# 22630 was an LGBoA exclusive offer and the edition volume might have been around 500.

Also announced was the  LGB 23630 PRR, also an LGBoA exclusive offer, probably as well with an edition volume of 500.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++to be continued..............

From Klaus' Vault

Please see Vintage Map sale at

https://traincrafttrove.blogspot.com

The Diesel switcher series will continue next week.

The LGB Diesel "Switcher"

The first American Diesel locomotives were built in the early 1920's. Little believe in their usefulness ended their first test engines. Then in the early 1930s  a Diesel Switcher was built by EMD (a General Motors Division) and later by ALCO and GE that was accepted by the market. All these switchers were 4-axle switchers from the start and later developed into 6- and 8-axle switcher Diesel locos.  LGB never took on any of those real American Diesel switchers. Instead LGB focused on the German type of the switcher, that was also developed in the 1930s and was consistently a 3-axle engine. Those were first offered in 1991 as the LGB 2062 which was more a compilation of the idea of a narrow gauge Diesel switcher than the model of a consisting prototype.

LGB 2062 - Courtesy of Only Trains

Some of the early American Diesel switchers were narrow gauge locos like the little 25-tonner #1 of the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company in Florida which are 2-axle engines and often still fulfill local duties.

Courtesy of american-rails.com

Another fine example of a light narrow gauge Diesel switcher is the historic 30-ton Davenport Diesel.
This is a quote from hardhatMAK at FLICKR.com: (see original article at https://www.flickr.com/photos/25111976@N03/35138766043/in/photostream/)
"D&RGW 50, a tiny 2-axle, 30-ton Davenport diesel, was the only narrow gauge diesel locomotive that the Rio Grande actually owned. (They tried several Army diesel on the narrow gauge lines, but never owned any of them.) The unit, purchased from the Sumpter Valley in 1963, produced 160hp from its Caterpillar D17000 engine, with power coupled to the wheels through a mechanical transmission.
The unit was used to switch the Durango yard from its purchase in 1963 until the abandonment of the San Juan Extension in 1970. At that point, it was sold to the Roaring Camp & Big Trees near Santa Cruz, California. Last running in the early 1970s, the engine was eventually sold to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1984.
The engine is preserved at the Colorado Railroad Museum today, and was returned to operation in June 2009." Quote end.

The Davenport in front of the Colorado Railroad Museum

This little Davenport was LGB's prototype for the LGB #2063 which was developed and manufactured starting in 1991. It reached the markets in 1994 but was not advertised in any brochure, flyer or magazine.

LGB #2063 - Courtesy of Only Trains

The LGB #2063 series  went quite beyond the - often already 'stretched' - LGB scope of model locos modeled after  real world prototypes. Six 2063 types were made and they all stray remarkably from any reality prototypes available. Follow Klaus on this journey.........

+++++++++++++++++++to be continued