LGB Mikado - # 24872, 25872 and 22871

By early summer  of 2002 LGB had reworked  the Mikado half way through (see last blog). With customers being unhappy and frustrated Rolf Richter decided to have two more Mikados manufactured with the changes made so far. In June of 2002 he had the Mikado # 25872 and # 24872 manufactured and later advertised. They would be out for delivery around Christmas. This time only for the American market.

LGB 24872 - Courtesy of Only Trains

The Baltimore & Ohio "4510" was in all black, came with sound and had an edition volume of about 500. The US customer also had the chance to get cars with the loco (additional purchase):

LGB # 35570, 35580, 35590 - Courtesy of Only Trains

The #  25872 was the green SRR "4501" SOUTHERN

LGB 25872 - Courtsey of Only Trains

This Mikado also came with sound and the edition volume was 586. It would have been great if it did work. But the complaints kept coming. LGBoA had nothing to make it any better. All that could happen were sending engines around the country to LGBoA and back to the customer since the motor blocks hadn't been reworked yet. That was going to happen in summer while these 'incomplete' Mikados were aggravating the customers. Eventually by October of 2002 the motor blocks were reworked completely

Not only did they rework/redesign the two motor blocks. LGB also decided to outsource the most complex changes and parts manufacturing to third partners. This was amidst the growing financial problems and the looming cuts in the workforce.

Well, dear reader and LGB enthusiast - you already put 2 and 2 together. It was too late. By the time the rework was done only one Mikado with the complete redesign would be going to enter the market. That was the LGB 22871, the "French Mikado" SNCF

LGB 22871 - TrainCraft by Klaus Owner: MSR Mark Rosenthal

The Mikado LGB# 22871 SNCF No 1244 was manufactured in 2004 with an edition volume of ONLY  301. It was advertised as an eXtra item (the ill-fated dealer program in Germany) and also available to the American customer. It did not have sound. But the engine did work. At last a Mikado in working condition. Alas - too late.

The B&O Mikado No 4500-Courtesy of the
B&O RR Museum

The archetypes of the above models are:

#24872: the Baltimore & Ohio Light Mikado class Q3 was built by Baldwin Locomotives in 1918 and was in service as No. 4500 until 1958. It was once one of the most modern types run on the B&O. She was retired in 1958 into the Baltimore & Ohio RR Museum where she was later restored. In 1990 she became a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. A No 4510 was never made for B&O. The greyish-white/silver smoke chamber is the very distinctive characteristic for the 4500 B&O - which LGB chose not to have.

SRR Mikado - Courtesy of hawkinsrails.net

The Southern Railway 4501 was built by Baldwin in PA for Southern Railway in October 1911 and was in service until 1948. By 1964 she was starting her famous years being restored to various states of operation and re-restored after that multiple times. She also had a prosperous Hollywood career in more than 7  movies. Her current owner is the Tennessee Valley RR Museum and she was last operated in 2019 when she was dressed up as Louisville & Nashville steam locomotive  No. 1593 for the L&N Historical Society annual convention.

The SNCF Mikado 141 R No 1244 was built by the Montreal Locomotives Works after 1945. By 1975 all  Mikados built for SNCF were retired. Today the No 1244 is based in Switzerland and is still in working order.

Mikado No 1244 SNCF - Courtesy of Julien Vernet

LGB Mikado - Part 3 Design Flaws

After the first series of Mikado had serious design flaws LGB set to rework the engine design. In a first attempt  the coupler was fitted to the axle by making an axle with rectangular ends so the coupler could fit and transport movement without slipping.

This change had ramifications that required more design changes.

The first joint between the motor and the first cardanic shaft proved to be the weakest part of the design as the plastic pick-up was not able to handle the torque of the motor and carry the mechanical load. Consequently the joint between the motor and the first cardanic shaft was completely redesigned: the star-like brass wheel on the motor axle was replaced by a rectangular brass bolt. The cardanic shaft got a plastic pick-up shaped to fit the brass bolt.

re-designed cardanic coupler
copyright by TrainCraft by Klaus

This second re-design  however had a flaw of its own. As the star-like connection provided guidance (in the center line) for the first axle the new design did not. As the first axle tended to wobble, this wobbling movement was transported to the other end of the first cardanic shaft; which was only kept in place by plastic guides within the motor block and its top lid. Pretty early on these plastic guides wore out giving the axle more play than designed. This resulted in a constant rattling noise from the rear motor block.

new rectangular brass bolt
 copyright TrainCraft by Klaus

The ultimate and last re-design called for a total re-work of the two motor blocks. The first and last cardanic shafts were equipped with two ball bearings that now measured 12 mm (compared to 10 mm earlier in diameter). With the first axle being properly guided the rattling noise was completely eliminated giving the whole drive train an exceptionally smooth operation.





Production numbers for the Mikados No 20872, 21872 and 23872 (shown below in sequence)  had varied between 500 and 800 in the first production run. They were re-manufactured  in Summer of 2002 with all above listed re-designs. To some extend  just to replace those locos the customers had sent in. And some to fulfill increased sales for this Mikado type.

That means that there are still quite a lot of Mikados out there that already do or will produce one of the following failures:

the engine runs slowly or stops while the motor is audibly working  (the first generation plastic pick-up/coupler turns on the axle).

the engine simply stops with the motor running with grinding noise  (first generation plastic pick-up is worn out).

rattling noise in the drive train  (axles start wobbling because plastic guides are worn out).

These failures do also occur when the Mikado is operated in a 24/7 modus. If you are a heavy driver of your LGB loco(s) contact Klaus for POM treatments. It's a professional and easy fix to 'permanent operation' even for a Mikado.


With the fixes in production LGB set out to manufacture the next Mikados, the No. 25872 and the LGB # 24872 which was manufactured exactly one month later than the 25872....


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

LGB Mikado - # 20872, 21872 and 23872

The first Mikado to hit the markets was the LGB # 20872

LGB 20872 - Courtesy of Only Trains

It was the  A.T. & S.F Santa Fee 3110 in all black with sound. MSRP was Euro 1,499.00 or US$ 1,995.00. Delivery was sometime in 2002.

The archetype was the Mikado class O-1 locomotive. This prototype built between 1916 and 1918 by Baldwin for the Great Northern/ South Dakota RR for freight. It was scrapped in 1953. The Santa Fe RR never used a Mikado on their RR.

For LGB the troubles started right away. Being designed and under pressure and without the decades long experience of Gunter Ruhland (retired 2000) and your Famous Klaus (emigrated to USA in 2001) the design flaws of the first LGB Mikado (generation) were manifold. The cardanic joints consisted of  one star-like brass gear wheel and one plastic pick-up/coupler. This joint was used throughout all of the drive train. And as mentioned in the last blog this plastic pick-up or coupler  was pressed onto the (round) axle. Fine in a light loco. But with the weight of this LGB Mikado the plastic coupler started moving on the axle and any motor power would no longer result in moving the loco. Fans were 'thrilled' looking at a Mikado with a running motor but standing still.

Fun Fact: since Rolf Richter had already advertised that 3 different Mikados would be available for the LGB customer, namely the # 20872, the LGB # 21872 and 23872, all three Mikados were manufactured during the same first time period in late 2001. Thus all three did feature the same malfunction.

LGB 21872 - Courtesy of Only Trains

The archetype for the # 21872 was the L1 Light freight class type Mikado built under the auspices of the USRA, possibly by Baldwin, somewhere between 1917 and 1920. The number '2809' used by LGB might be taken from another Mikado class. PRR itself was supposed to receive 33 L1 Mikados but refused receival.

LGB 23872 - Courtesy of Only Trains

The archetype for the # 23872 was a heavy Mikado class MK9 built by Brooks in 1920 for Union Pacific and was in service from 1920 to 1959. Number 2310 was scrapped.

 LGB customers started sending the Mikado back, either to LGBoA or to LGB Nuernberg/Germany. No repairs would help. The design flaw wouldn't be tackled until the next year. So the market had to sit and endure this flaw. Of the # 20872 about 500 were made in the first run. The PRR Mikado had a run of 649 and the Union Pacific # 23872 roughly 600. That would have qualified  for a 'perfect' small-series-production, limited-edition seal at a decent price. And all three had sound. Perfect for collectors.......if only.

Changes had to be made and the design team had one of their best back on the team, Gerd Zykora. They went to work in early January of 2002 and started on the mismatched plastic coupler/ axle first.

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