EMD F 7 at LGB --- Part 2

The EMD F 7 was/is a standard gauge locomotive. As such it wasn't the perfect fit for another LGB loco family member. The F7 is a heavy engine with all the characteristics of  standard gauge long-haul heavy machinery. The wide body, the booster engine to be added to the A type, the ABA versions for  trains with 150 freight cars or more. Made for long range hauling, cross country freight and any type of consists if need be. None of that is anything remotely close to what characterizes narrow gauge.  Nothing could be more removed from the little cozy, chuffing-puffing Stainz. The little engine that made LGB in the first place.

But here she came. In 1996 to be offered on the LGB Gauge II rails with their 1:22.5 scale. Fit to match the real world width of narrow gauge track of 600 mm (= 1ft 11 5/8 inch) to 1,067 mm (=3 ft 6 in) and the corresponding locos. Standard gauge tracks have a width of 1,435 mm (= 4 ft 8 1/2 in) with some Railroad lines going up to  1,588 mm (broad gauge) (= 5 ft 2 1/2 in) like the Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania RR - by the way- had a total of 299 F 7 A and B units built for them.

The first F 7 LGB offered to the ever-expecting-more-new-items crowd was the 20570 Santa Fe A unit and the LGB # 21576 NYC F 7 A unit.

Courtesy of Only Trains

Courtesy of Only Trains

Shown above is actually the #21576, the US specialty series. Since catalog and brochure pictures only show the hand model with the number "329" which was then also used on the US specialty series - it is hard to tell what number the European version of the 20570 had. YT has seen the number "311" on a Santa Fe F 7 as well as the number "300". The only thing safe to say is that the F 7 B unit was not offered until 1997. Price wise , the F 7 unit was first offered for DM 900.00 and US$ 550.00. Fun fact: even the LGBoA price lists for dealers listed the # 21576 as the # 20570.

1997 saw the B units being offered for the Santa Fe  LGB # 20582, for the NYC the LGB # 21582 and a sound unit F7 B # 21586 for the Santa Fe line.

LGB 20582 Courtesy of Only Trains

LGB 21586 Courtesy of Only Trains

LGB 21582 Courtesy of Only Trains

The B units came without motors. It came with an installed loudspeaker  controlled by the soundboard in the A unit to simulate a separate Diesel engine in the B unit. Basically there was no need for additional motors in the B unit as it was pulled by the leading A unit. So to keep the price down LGB decided not to install motors in the B unit. Resourceful people  always could retrofit with motors. However to have a realistic sound  smart retrofitters would utilize two separate sound units.

The sound unit LGB # 21586 started out as a special edition for a US-dealer and had an initial volume of 57. YT does not know if that held true in later years.

In 1998 the Union Pacific version was added to the F 7 series. This time the A and B unit was offered at the same time. The 1998 catalog also displayed the previously offered F 7 units Santa Fe and NYC. This time they introduced the A-B-A versions - a realistic loco consist. Even though - in real life - precisely the Union Pacific RR ordered A-B-B and A-B-B-A F unit sets for freight service. All in all 18 A units and 36(!) B Units (see http://utahrails.net/articles/up-f-units.php for detailed information). Here are the LGB Union Pacific versions

LGB 23570 Courtesy of Only Trains

LGB 23582 Courtesy of Only Trains

Price wise the F7 A and B units stayed at the same level as their initial price scheme was.

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

EMD F 7 --- The Fantastic Streamliner at LGB

The EMD (Electro-Motive Division of General Motors) F 7 made her way into the Original LGB production in 1996. The American market was so strong at that point that LGB needed another benchmark train/loco characteristic for the American railroad scenery. And what better model than the F 7. To depict the original prototype we compiled two blogs about the real F 7,    https://www.american-rails.com/e1074.html and https://www.classicstreamliners.com/lo-emd-f7.html.

An EMD F7 at the Monticello Railway Museum, Monticello, Illinois, September 13, 2008. Photo by Daniel Schwen

Quoted from these blogs:
"The EMD F7 was a 1,500 horsepower Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD).
Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-hauling unit, the F7 was also used in passenger service hauling such trains as the Santa Fe Railway's Super Chief and El Capitan.
The F7 was the Electro-Motive's four(th) entry in its line of freight service locomotives and proved to be one of the most successful designs of any type ever built. The model debuted directly after the F3 in the late 1940s and with EMD's success in the market up to that point railroads quickly placed orders for the F7. Once again, the latest F model proved efficient, rugged, and easy to maintain.   Before production had ended on the F7 nearly 4,000 units were produced outselling all other manufacturers' designs, combined. The F7 proved so reliable and useful for many roads that hundreds remained in regular freight service through the 1970s and 1980s (by then replaced by the F 9).
Today, numerous F7's remain preserved (partially due it being the last model of its kind manufactured on a large scale) and some even continue to haul freight, a true testament to their design. The most famous set (a pair of B units) is the fleet owned by Class I Norfolk Southern used as part of its official business train.
Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant or GMD's London, Ontario facility.

Courtesy of Wikipedia - Santa Fe F 7 with the Grand Canyon Limited on August 19,1967

The F7 differed from the F3, primarily in internal equipment (mostly electrical) and some external features. A total of 2,366 cab-equipped lead A units and 1,483 cabless-booster or B units were built.

Many F7s remained in service for decades, as railroads found them economical to operate and maintain. However, the locomotive was not very popular with yard crews who operated them in switching service because they were difficult to mount and dismount, and it was also nearly impossible for the engineer to see hand signals from a ground crew without leaning way outside the window. As most of these engines were bought and operated before two-way radio became standard on most American railroads, this was a major point of contention. In later years, with the advent of the “road switchers” such as the EMD GP7, F units were primarily used in “through freight” and “unit train” service where there was very little or no switching to be done on line of road.

Identification
There are no easily identifiable differences between late F3 production and early F7 production; the major differences were all internal electrical system changes. However, no F7 had “chicken wire” grilles of most F3s, and no F3s had later F7 changes described below under Phases.

The F9 is distinguishable from the late F7 by having five, rather than four, carbody center louver groups covering the car body filters. The additional one is placed ahead of the first porthole, where F7s have no openings. The F9's greater power output, of course, cannot be seen from the outside.

There were also two main classes of F7's: passenger and freight. The freight locomotives only had one headlight, whereas the passengers has two. " (Quote end)

LGB introduced the first F 7 (A unit) with the # 20570 in 1996 followed in chronological order by

20570 1996
20570.8 1996
21570 1996
21576 1996
20582 1997
20582.8 1997
21582 1997
21586 1997
23570 1998
23582 1998
24570 1999
24582 1999
25570 2000
25582 2000
27570 2000
27582 2000
70657 2000
22578 2001
22578.8 2001
26570 2001
26582 2001
26584 2001
28570 2001
28582 2001
22588 2002
24578 2002
24588 2002
26574      2005


28582 2001eXtra
26570 2005eXtra

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

Remembering the OLD LGB Bankruptcy

Klaus has 2 articles on the LGB Yarner

https://lgbyarner.blogspot.com

More to come here in October!

LGB Mogul 2-6-0 -- Conclusion

In 2003 and 2004 LGB worked feverishly to enhance sales volume wherever possible. Among other products 2004 saw three additional Mogul versions entering the catalog and the market.

The LGB # 25194 was the Coca-Cola Mogul under copyright of/ licensed by the Coca-Cola Company.

Courtesy of Only Trains

The Coca-Cola Mogul featured digital sound, a firebox light and exterior lights in driving direction - the 'standard' features of an LGB Mogul, more or less. Interesting fact is that is was shown in the 2004 catalog only on page 70!
For those  who want to dive into the past for a little while go and click onhttp://www.lgb-trains.com/lib/pub/LGB2004_03204_Journal_DE-EN.pdf for the complete 2004 catalog. Made possible by Champex-Linden/Germany.

Page 39 of the 2004 catalog presented the - by now most famous - LGB (Mogul) product: the LGB # 29182, The 20 Year Mogul Anniversary Set in a wooden crate! Not that the copy in the catalog would mention the wooden crate nor even show it, no! Not a word. Somebody must have slept through all classes of marketing and advertising. But they were really good at PR, printing  interviews with employees of LGBoA within the yearly catalog......leaving everyone flabbergasted. Scholarly masterpieces of how to run a company into the ground which wasn't far away by now. The most beautiful Mogul Anniversary Train set :

Courtesy Only Trains

Courtesy Only Trains

Courtesy Only Trains

It was a limited edition of 500. The wooden crate was built sturdily and was pretty in and by itself. Funny enough the wooden crate turns up for sale by itself  on the web. The anniversary set had  a price tag of almost US$ 5,000.00 at times.

LGB # 27182 was the last of the 2004 Moguls to be presented, the Christmas Mogul. She had sound as well and would have qualified for a limited series just as well with 800 Christmas Moguls made.

Courtesy of Only Trains

Just one Mogul was added to the Mogul version in 2005, the LGB 21192.

Courtesy Only Trains

She featured digital sound and the color scheme was adopted from the LGB 2119D. This time the front boiler is in black and the smoke stack comes with a 'bear trap". The engine cab features the "249" printed on it, the tender sports "DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN" , all wheels are in black. The year 2005 saw no separate production of any Mogul type. That means this Mogul was 'made' or better assembled from parts already manufactured in earlier years under different Mogul numbers. Signs of the times ahead?

Now we are in 2006. The bankruptcy year. Before that would happen LGB published their 2006 catalog and offered two Moguls:

the LGB # 22185 Disney Mogul with "W.F.CODY" printed on the cab and "DISNEYLAND Railroad" on the tender.

Courtesy Champex-Linden

The prototype is of course the WALT.E.DISNEY Mogul from Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR). Here the Original

Courtesy of SteamFan,Wikipedia and Disney World/FL

The LGB Disney Mogul came in an extremely limited number: Only 147 (!) were made. Which wasn't advertised at all in the catalog. The 2006 catalog featured 12 "Special Disney Pages" with pretty much everything Disney ever made by LGB. The price tag for the #22185 was Euro 709.00 or about US$ 1,100.00. She featured no sound.

The LGB # 22194 was the last Mogul made by the old, Original LGB. She featured a Vanderbuilt tender and was a "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" loco with ( more by coincidence, probably) the characteristic silver front plate for the RR. "491" was printed on the cab.

Courtesy of Only Trains

Edition volume was 523. Yes, you guessed it right, no advertising about that - again. On September 18, 2006 LGB would announce bankruptcy. History had been made. Not only with the Mogul series -but she was , as in real life for many Railroads, an important factor in the rise and success of the Original LGB.

LGB Mogul 2-6-0 - Part 4

The summer of 2002 had a surprise in tow for the American LGB fan - the #23194 Mogul # 4 in all black. To quote the specialty flyer from LGBoA:

Courtesy of Only Trains

"Mogul locomotives were used by the Colorado & Southern on its spectacular narrow gauge line. On the smoke stack, this loco has a “Bear trap” spark arrestor to prevent fires in the heavily forested mountains. The model features authentic steam sound (with remote control features on Multi-Train System layouts), directional lighting, a smoke generator and a flickering light in the firebox."

LGB made 800 of these and nowhere (!) did they advertise the 23194 as Limited Series. This Mogul made the front page of the  "2002 Summer Special" flyer. In addition the flyer did offer 12 more items - locos and cars - on 2(!) pages.

These were the signs of the times to come. LGB factory in Nuremberg had just reduced working hours - in Germany a decision that requires by law union consent, triggering grave consequences for employer and employees. Cash flow problems, continually decreasing sales, and on-going miserable management decisions were becoming more and more visible in the product program of LGB. The next Mogul to be offered "exclusively" for the US- market is another good example:

The LGB # 24194 , the "Baltimore and Ohio" in dark silver grey,black and dark blue. Just 399 were made, intended only (!) for the US market/ LGBoA. Were there too many 'specials'? Did advertising not reach the customer? Was the price too high for an engine not made well enough (maybe already manufactured partially in China?). LGB changed their mind about 'exclusivity' and in 2005 offered the # 24194 to the LGB eXtra partners for Euro 1,110.00 (about US$ 990.00).

The same year also saw the  LGB # 29192  (No 97) and the 2002 catalog already announced or 'offered' the LGB # 26194.

Courtesy Only Trains

Of the No. 97 LGB made 791 engines. The # 26192 came in an edition volume of 600. Four different Moguls in one year in very small batches......(though the # 26194 wasn't available at dealers before 2003/4)

But wait, this would be topped! The LGB # 22184 DISNEYLAND, "C.K.HOLLIDAY" was -- NO!--could have been without a doubt the outstanding loco of 2004. The edition volume was - drum roll please - 291. No kidding! 291 Disney Moguls # 22184 were made in 2004 and no more. Original MRSP was Euro 1,199.00 or about US$ 900.00. 

Courtesy Only Trains

The advertising copy in the LGB brochure 2004 DISNEY reads:"To make sure his railroad was ready to operate for the inauguration of Disneyland on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney had his first two locomotives built in his studio workshops. One, the ”C. K. Holliday,” was named after the founder of the Santa Fe Railway, an early sponsor of the Disneyland Railroad. An almost identical copy of the ”C.K. Holliday” was later built for Disneyland Paris. This LGB model wears the loco’s current livery and is equipped with digital sound, including steam sounds and actual Disneyland station announcements!"

 The Mogul was followed in the brochure by two Disney cars, the LGB #33803 (the "Lilly Belle") and the LGB # 33804 (the "Long Island") which were offered separately. The "Lilly Belle" is the name of the actual (Disney) parlor car as well as the name of the Disney Mogul loco at Walt Disney World Railroad At Walt Disney Park, Florida.

The Original Lilly Belle Mogul at Disney World Railroad

Champex-Linden, a very fine German dealer in all things LGB has a wonderful link on the web showcasing this old LGB brochure featuring the Disney loco and car offer. Here is the link https://www.champex-linden.de/download_fremddokumente/lgb_2004_disneyland_00710.pdf

As you can see, the brochure is a hodgepodge of Disney related 'train' stuff. Something no Mogul ever deserved. 

To give our dearest reader a little something to smile about - after all these sad LGB developments: a Japanese metal/iron Mogul in HO(n3), a true antique (not available and not in Klaus' possession)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++to be continued with the conclusion of the Mogul series.

See Klaus' latest offer from his personal collection at https://traincrafttrove.blogspot.com

LGB Mogul 2-6-0 -- Part 3

Once in a while LGB makes you wonder.... In 1997 they started manufacturing the LGB Mogul # 25192 with digital sound

Usually they advertised new locos, even if they had only small color deviations from the standard base version # 2019S. Not for this one. No flyer, no extra mentioning, no nothing. This is even more remarkable since this Mogul/w sound "7" had a pretty small edition volume of  less than 600 the first year it was manufactured and about another 600 in 1998. That would definitely qualify for a "Limited Series" edition. Alas it went under the radar. Posted in the main catalog of 1998 on page 44 - that was it. MRSP was DM 1,970.00 comparable to roughly US$ 600.00 back then.

Courtesy of Trainsauctions.com

As long as they were at it, they might just as well make another one -- at least that's what it looks like from the outside... LGB # 26192 looks pretty much the same as LGB # 25192. Comes with digital sound but lost the bear trap and the snow plow. This Mogul got the number "10" printed on the cab.

Courtesy of Only Trains

Price was the same and the edition volume was roughly the same as for# 25192. Both engines were manufactured in 1997 and 1998. But - go figure - this # 26192 was published earlier than the # 25192. In 1997 the main catalog displayed it on page 64/65.

LGBoA presented a flyer in 1998 with the front runner being the Mogul # 27192 and the headline "Exclusively for America" " Limited Edition". The United States (of America) are generally known in Germany as "America", hence the flyer head line. "Limited Edition" however is more than true. The edition volume for this green boiler Mogul with "Rio Grande" printed on the tender and the number "573" on the cabin was a mere 400 engines!

Courtesy of Only Trains

In 1999 LGB offered another US-market-only Mogul with the # 28192 w/ digital sound. The lettering was in golden colors "PENNSYLVANIA" on the tender and " 2819" on the cabin. This time they meant it: edition volume 200!!

Courtesy Trainzauctions.com

The year 2000 brought 2 Moguls, the # 25182 and the # 26182. Both had (digital) sound. Both had an edition volume of 600 (each), fully qualifying for "Limited Edition"

LGB# 25182

LGB# 26182

However neither was advertised as limited. Out of the 600 engines for the #25182 came the #25182.8 which was the very same loco but featuring the new digital decoder. Same went for the #26182, thus becoming the #26182.8. The engines without decoder sold for DM 2,098.00 or about $ 1,000.00 in 2000. With decoder the price went up by about US$ 250.00 per loco to 1,250.00--stiff....The kind reader will notice that the #25182 is actually a coal version of the Mogul and should have featured a 19 in the numbering like 25192. But this number had already been given to the #25192 from 1997. Other numbers would have been available.... but Rolf Richter chose this number. Hence forever breaking a 35 year old rule of the numbering system at LGB.

Also in 2001 the Mogul 23191 was published. It was a "black" version where the customer could label his engine and tender with letters to his liking with a lettering/label book that was part of the offer

Courtesy of Trainz.com

This model was an LGBoA exclusive and the first 1,500 engines were shipped to the USA in 2000 for the 2001 season.+++++++++++++++++++to be continued..................

Please keep our Go Fund Me page in mind to keep the blogs coming! See https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-the-lgb-traincraft-blogs-alive and thank you very much for consideration and your donation!

LGB Mogul 2-6-0 -- Part 2

After Klaus had resolved the teething problems of the 2018D LGB promptly published a second wood burning Mogul, the 2028D. And published is being used verbatim here. The 2028D was first published in the 1987 catalog but wasn't actually manufactured and distributed until 1989.

Courtesy of Only Trains

The 2028D came with a smoke generator and featured a metallic blue boiler with the rest of the engine in black/grey-black. Both, the 2018 and the 2028 were sold for DM 995.-- or the average equivalent of one week of  salary  in 1988 ( for the average LGB customer). Please note that a lot if not all 2028 D were packed into the box for the 2018D.

The 2028 was followed by the 2019S as described in Part 1 and also by the 2119D. The Kompendium lists this engine as "non-cataloged special edition for the USA" . Interesting is the fact that LGB assembled this locomotive from the front part of the 2019 (silver color, matching smoke stack for coal engine) with the 2018 boiler part, here in black, and the engineer cabin and tender in yellow with black stripes. The print on the tender is " LAKE GEORGE & BOULDER" and on the cabin "2119".

Courtesy of Only Trains

The color scheme for the cabin and tender were reused in the Bumblebee (21192) roughly 15 years later. The "Lake George & Boulder" was probably made for a dealer group since the name spells out 'LGB' if taken first letters only. The edition volume was 2,050 typical for the heyday of LGB in the USA.

The LGB 2219S was first shown in the 1990/91 catalog and also manufactured and distributed in 1990. The loco came with an analog soundboard (in the tender) featuring chuff, whistle and bell. The distinctive brown color scheme pays homage to the typical, brown Pennsylvania RR passenger and baggage

Courtesy of allabouttoytrains.com

cars. The PRR is one of the biggest and best known American Rail Roads  and had a huge array of very big and heavy locomotives and one of the biggest numbers of Moguls (standard gauge) in operation. For LGB is was almost a no-brainer to adopt this RR scheme onto their Mogul and offer it (mainly) to their American customers. Almost 5,000 'PRR Moguls' were made, the second biggest volume of a Mogul type ever made at the old, original LGB factory.

LGBoA was on a roll by 1992 and one dealer managed to convince LGB to give him a special edition just for him, his store and his clientele. Thus was born the LGB 2219DG, the Wilson Brothers Circus.

Courtesy of Only Trains

The store was Depot G out of Colorado and he sold it for a pretty stiff price. When Rolf Richter got wind of this he was quick to offer the LGB 24192, this one with sound, again an analog board in the tender.

Courtesy of Only Trains

It was said to be for the US market only. Oh well. It was sold as a set in the US with 14 items (cars,caboose, truck, animals) included. Prices ranged anywhere in the neighborhood of US$ 4,000.00. The 2219DG had a limited volume of 800 and the 24192 a limited edition of 720. The actual manufacturing year was 1995 for both.

The LGB 2319S is actually the 23192. 1993 was the year the numbering system at LGB changed from 4 digit to 5 digits.

Courtesy Trainzauctions

The 23192 was pretty much the slightly changed version of the original 2019S. A spark arrestor (bear trap) was added to the smoke stack and the engine got the number "8" printed on the cabin. A snowplow was put in front. She also featured an analog soundboard (in the tender). For the first production run in 1993 about 1400 were produced.

1993 was also the year were the 1993/94 catalog sported another Mogul, the 21181 with smoke generator. The cabin door sported the number "19" and the coloring was silver(front part), black (boiler) and green (cabin and tender) with red details (roof and wheels)

Courtesy Trainz.com

With the imprint on the tender "DENVER & RIO GRANDE" it was meant for the American market but sold across the LGB audience world wide. Production volume in the first year was almost 3,000. The initial purchase price (MSRP) was a stiff DM 1,180.-- (about US$ 690.00 in 1993 or US$ 1,300.00 today).

1996 another Mogul type was made, the 22182. This was the first time LGB offered a digital sound. The same loco was offered with 3 different RR line names and numbering. #22182 displayed "THE COLORADO ROAD' on the cabin and "5" on the tender. #23182 sported "DURANGO & SILVERTON" on the tender and the number "9" on the cabin and LGB 24182 featured "NEW YORK CENTRAL RR" on the tender and the number "99" on the cabin. The front,boiler, cabin, and tender color scheme was the same on all three locos. The firebox light had become a  standard fixture in the Mogul (starting with the 2019S) and other steam locomotives and thus was also a feature on these 3 Mogul types. LGB was asking a stiff DM 2,390.00 for either of these 3 locomotives but also limiting each edition to 500 locos each. The US$ equivalent  today would be about US$ 2,000.00. Sales prices for these (used) Moguls rather tend to be about US$ 800.00 to $1,200.00. Two years ago you could get them for less than US$ 500.00....

Courtesy Only Trains

Courtesy Only Trains

Courtesy Trainz.com

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

Editor's Note: check out Klaus 101 at https://traincraftbyklaus.com/klaus-101