Aster and LGB - # 21832

In 2000 LGB had started the Mikado project in Nuremberg. It took Gunter Ruhland, head mold master, quite some time to finalize the molds for the Mikado. It was a complicated design fraught with operational failure. For more information on this matter please revisit our Mikado blogs from January of 2014 and November of  2012.

Sometime during the design and creation phase Aster was contacted. They had already built 3 Mikado models all live steam and in brass; the first, the SNCF 141R already in 1979. And while LGB Nuremberg and Gunter Ruhland were still working hard on their first Mikado edition Aster had built the Aster/LGB Mikado in brass with the regular electrical motor within a year to be ready for sale in 2002. The same year LGB would present their Mikado # 20872.

The Aster/LGB Mikado made its debut as the White Pass Mikado No 73 in all black with red cab door and red cab window frames and a silver smoke chamber.

Aster/LGB # 21832 - courtesy of Only Trains

The Aster Mikado was equipped with sound and smoke (generator) and some engines came with a factory installed MTS decoder for digital operation but could operate analog as well. The overall edition volume was again 600 and as usual it came in a wooden box with the loco being secured in Styrofoam within the box.

As you can see in this close up:

Aster # 21832 loco - courtesy of brasstrains.com 

by design the model-loco 4 axles make the loco somewhat unresponsive to tighter curves. LGB curves R1 and R2 were tough to handle for the Aster Mikado since Aster was used to operate their live steam models on much wider curves than LGB track offered. This was no Aster fault. There was simply little communication from LGB (top management) to Aster regarding operational differences and track requirements.....

Fun Fact: if you would precision scale original track curves that Mikado locos operated through to the LGB scale this curve would run halfway around the outside of your house.

Ad-wise - you guessed right - almost nothing. LGB published 18 catalogs and brochures in 2002 including two major catalogs for LGBoA: a main catalog 2002(156 pages) and a 68 page catalog "LGB of America Info 2002". Plenty of space to advertise the Aster Mikado.... you'd think. Looky here............now.....

LGB 21832 ad in LGBoA Info 2002, page 23

Shown was a photo of the prototype. All the while, 5 pages earlier, all(!!) (future) LGB Mikados were presented. Mind you, nothing was in production yet but the # 20872 and no hand models were available either. (More on that subject on a future blog about the LGB Mikado). So photo shop images were used.

Not even that little love was shown on the Aster Mikado

The archetype is the White Pass Mikado No 73 custom built by Baldwin for the White Pass & Yukon Route in 1947 and was operated by the Yukon RR until 1964. To quote Wikipedia :" After retirement

The Mikado No 73 restored on the WP&Y RR - Courtesy of the WP & Y RR website

on June 30, 1964, the locomotive was moved to Bennett, British Columbia, in 1968 for display. In 1979 the locomotive was moved again to Whitehorse, Yukon, this time to be restored. Restoration was completed in 1982 and the locomotive has been back in service since then ".

 And proof was about to be in the pudding. Your very own Famous Klaus was in Skagway in 1989 visiting the WP&Y RR  for sound recordings for the  WP&Y RR  LGB 2055 (see our earlier blog) and making friends for a lifetime. Among his cherished moments were coming across the winterized  No. 73 and taking a slew of photos to capture history.

Mikado No 73 winterized in Skagway in 1989 - copyright Klaus Stork

Today, tourists, rail fans, train enthusiasts and Yukon lovers can enjoy a train ride throughout the (summer) season:

Mikado No 73 in operation on the White Pass & Yukon Route o Courtesy of the WP & Y RR website

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

Aster and LGB - # 20922

The next Aster/LGB model was presented in 2001, the Aster NGG13 Garratt steam loco:

LGB 20922 - Courtesy of brasstrains.com

As before, the brass loco came in a wooden box, all engines/boxes were individually numbered. Packaging was (dual) LGB Styrofoam box in wooden box

LGB 20922 original packaging - Courtesy of Only Trains

Edition volume was 600 of which some were outfitted with (LGB factory installed) digital decoders. This Garratt came wonderfully equipped with (quoting Only Trains website)

Features:

Limited Run - Serial #116 / 600 - C.O.A. Included

Brass Construction

Factory Painted

Complete Cab Interior and individual gauges, valves and levers

Detailed boiler, with authentic domes, piping and handrails

2 seven-pole Buhler motors

Twelve powered wheels

Smoke Generator

Simulated Fire-box fire

Automatic directional front and rear lights

Cab Interior Lighting

Digital Electronic Sounds: synchronized steam chuffs, bell, whistle, brake, steam release, conductor announcement, etc.

Removable coal load

Length: 787mm (31 inches)

Weight: 6300grams (13.8 Lbs)

Information Booklet included

Spare Parts, Couplers, Track Magnets, Smoke Oil all included

Original Wooden Box and Packing Included

The initial price at time of first sale was US$ 3,000.00 (estimated), German DM 5,999.00 and US$ 3,300.00(?) for the digital version. But the US market would soon find the loco so attractive that prices would surge up to US$ 4,500.00. The price would stay high throughout the years.

Surprisingly the LGB advertising for this beautiful engine was again dismal. Besides being presented in the main catalog 2001, pg 79 the only other mentioning was in the "INFO 2001" LGBoA edition. Repeating last year's (2000) mindless 'advertising'  LGB lost the 20922 NGG 13 Garratt  on page 2 of 4 brochure pages :

page 2 of 4 INFO 2001 brochure - "Find the Garratt...."

The archetype to this engine was the Garrat NG G13 of the Schinznach Nursery RR (Schinznacher Baumschulbahn) in Switzerland

Garratt NG G13 - Courtesy of the "Verein Schinznacher Baumschul Bahn"

The Schinznach Nursery RR bought the NG G13 No. 60 from the (successor?) South African Railways in the 1980's. Though it had to be repaired/restored the engine was still operational. As of 2017 the "Drakensberg" is on loan to the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales/England and will again be in service.

The NG G 13 No 60 in Wales
Courtesy of http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/

Originally built in 1927 by the German company HANOMAG for the South African Railway, the Garratt was always built for 600mm narrow gauge - first to haul fruit and cane (sugar) from fields later replaced by Diesel locos. Her engineering design made it possible to work through very tight curves, up to 3% gradients/slopes all the while carrying very heavy loads. Even though the British had the patent on the (Beyer) Garratt South Africa had no inkling to have the British benefit from loco orders after the Boer wars and hence contracted with HANOMAG which changed the British design to the extent that operation tolerated narrow, tight and steep tracks and very heavy loads. But that came at the expense of the engineer and stoker. The cabins were small and eerily overheated by steam turret, vacuum brake ejector and sight-feed lubricator placed inside the cabin. The men sat on movable pin stools so it became a common sight to see a Garratt with their engineers hanging outside the cabins.....

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

Aster and LGB - # 20542

The year 2000 brought another Aster/LGB engine. Aster again excelled in manufacturing/ hand-assembling a complete brass locomotive model, this time the Aster Hudson NYC.

LGB Aster 20542 - Courtesy of ebay.com

The engine was first advertised on page 2 of the " LGB INFO 2000" literally drowning in a deluge of new LGB engines and cars..................

LGB INFO 2000, page 2 upper portion

LGB INFO 2000 - page 2 lower portion

Hiding among 43(!) new engines and cars finding the Aster Hudson was more of a puzzle game than real marketing. And it will remain another puzzle why LGB didn't see fit to give the Aster Hudson some real advertising at all. Other than in the 2000-catalog (page 101) there was no mention of this new beauty. The edition volume was again 600 out of which some would sport a digital decoder. Obviously LGB had second thoughts about selling all engines manufactured. Nonetheless LGB installed analog sound in all but those with digital sound (LGB # 20542.8). The Hudson NYC sports the engine number "5405".

(While YT is writing this, your Famous Klaus is testing the just programmed new ESU decoder he installed into an ABA F7  unit : custom sound editing the decoder. My dear man.... YT ears are buzzing with the ROARING SOUND of an F7 of majestic proportions.... was the office relocated to the RR yard and nobody told me..?)

LGB had again decided to have each wooden box individually numbered. The price tag was around US$ 3,600.00 and about US$ 4,000.00 for the digital sound version. Today's value hovers around the same price but be vigilant; if you'd like to buy an Astor/LGB NYC Hudson today check carefully if all parts are intact and present. LGB/Aster or LGB service blow-ups are NOT available for any Aster/LGB loco. LGB never offered them and neither did Aster.

Currently (April 2020) a German company for model trains had 20 LGB/Aster 20542 assembled by a supply craftsman shop that utilized original Aster/LGB Hudson brass/metal parts. These engines are outfitted with a digital sound and a digital pulsed smoker, the price tag is Euro 2,999.00 plus shipping (about US$ 3,300.00)

https://www.modell-land.de/5405-hudson-dampflok-zimo-digital-20542-aster-p-19010.html

The archetype for the # 20542 is of course the 4-6-4 NYC Hudson, built after 1927 as one of the most powerful steam engines ever built before being replaced by Diesel engines. The archetype is a J-3 class engine built by ALCO. Wikipedia gives this information:

non-streamlined J-1 class New York Central  Hudson # 5249

(see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Hudson):"The New York Central Hudsons were a series of 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company and the Lima Locomotive Works from 1927 to 1938 for the New York Central Railroad. Named after the Hudson River, the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement came to be known as the "Hudson" type in the United States as these locomotives were the first examples built and used in North America. Built for high-speed passenger train work, the Hudson locomotives were famously known for hauling the New York Central's crack passenger trains, such as the 20th Century Limited and the Empire State Express. With the onset of diesel locomotives in the mid 20th Century, all Hudson locomotives were retired and subsequently scrapped, with none preserved." 

Fun fact: later versions like the streamlined Hudson 20th Century Limited gave birth to the phrase "red carpet treatment" since their passengers walked to the train on a specially designed crimson carpet.

Streamlined Hudson 20th Century Limited, promotional photo
Courtesy of Wikipedia

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

Aster and LGB - # 20811

A member of the 99 7234 family - Courtesy of HSB.de

For the next cooperation with Aster it took only a year (after the LGB/Aster # 20831) to introduce the Harz Narrow Gauge RR/Germany. The HSB 99-7243-1; LGB # 20811 was presented in 1999.

The archetype HSB 99 72431- a 5-axle 2-10-2 loco- was built between 1954 and 1956 by the East German Railroad (Communism regime) as one of 17 locomotives, all for narrow gauge 1 meter (3 ft 3 3/8 in). By 1993 all 17 locomotives were taken over by the HSB RR, Brockenbahn, by now the unified Germany. All 17 engines are still existing today and the HSB 99 7243-1 is one of the few still operational.

LGB was celebrating their 30th anniversary in 1998 when  planing/ construction for the LGB 20811 started. They wanted something special. First, the model is and was truly a German narrow gauge engine. The Brocken RR is located in the heart of Germany and entertwined by history, fairy tales, folklore and classic literature. The Brocken RR is a true tourist attraction in one of the most beautiful areas in Germany and offers true narrow gauge experience of eras gone by.                                                                                                                                           

The Brocken  RR and a 99734-1 - Courtesy of oberharz.de

Germany was about to celebrate its 10 year anniversary of unification (1989 to 1999) and what better type to choose than the HSB 99 7243 as a loco to honor both celebrations, 30 years LGB and 10 years of unification.
BUT -- LGB had to advertise this new all-metal Aster/LGB loco before they even had a hand model.... They had to come up with something...even though nobody had thought about production volume or advertising....

From the 1999 New Items brochure

So they took to the archetype, photographed it and now had to come up with an edition number. LGB still had some of the previous Aster models left, some of the LGB 20821 as well as of the # 20831. But they also had the new digital system to sell and some Aster/LGB 20811 models were meant to have this new sound/digital system. Hence they printed :"Production 600 pieces."

By the time LGB/Aster was getting ready for production things had ripened a bit. Since the catalog/brochure printing LGB thought of something very special: To have each and every Aster/LGB loco given their own individual number. The edition volume of the LGB 20811 was 800. And each loco would have their own number starting from 101 through 900:

LGB 20811 here shown # 707 - Courtesy of Only Trains

LGB had also just introduced their digital system MTS (Multi Train System) and a little later offered another 300 LGB # 20811 engines with a digital decoder under the number LGB # 20811.8. As before the engines were sold in a wooden box which this time also carried the individual loco number on a brass plate in front of the box

LGB 20811 packaging - Courtesy of Only Trains

The LGB 20811 sold for US$ 3,000.00 to 3,500.00 in 1999 and currently several engines, also digital, are for sale offered between US$ 3,300.00 and 4,300.00.

LGB 20811 No 682 - Courtesy of Only Trains

Then there is another 'anomaly': 4 LGB 20811 were gold plated by LGB. YT has a hunch that they were made for just one dealer in the USA. Today one such engine is left and for sale by Gold Coast Station/CA for US $ 15.000.00

Gold plated  LGB 20811 at Gold Coast Station, currently offered for US$ 15,000.00
(as of  April  2020)

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