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