My thanks to 'The Team", my brigadeloc arrived today and ran well straight from the box. Thanks team
David
Hear, hear! I was out of the country when my one arrived so it was waiting for me when I came home. It is a magnificent model.
David - pleased to hear that your loco has arrived okay. But I'm a bit disturbed that it took so long - we had last week 'off' so it would have been dispatched on June 26th, which seems a long time, especially as they all went Special Delivery.
Graeme - pleased that you like yours, too (seem to recall that it went to the University - I'm starting to learn members' addresses!) and from reading your comments elsewhere that you're not too disturbed by the 'problem' with the tank sides. I confess I had to look long and hard to see what the issue was and as you say there are one or two other objections on the total realism front...
David.
(Sales Team new boy)
I think it is a delightful little loco (perhaps not so little - it's the only 8-coupled loco I own).
It is ready to run, pretty inexpensive, the detailing and finish is very fine and I don't think it was ever intended to be an exact scale model of particular locomotive. My understanding is that around 2,500 of the type were built by several different makers and they've reached all corners of the globe.
There is some debate about the scale. I think someone commented that it is the right length for 4 mm but the width scales out at about 3.5 mm. Some had welded tanks I understand, so a slight shift in where the side panels curve down on the left and right hand sides does not detract in my mind.
I suspect the majority will find their way onto freelance layouts and not German WWI layouts. If it is assumed that it is post 1918 and the loco has had a chequered history, then anything might have happened to it as in the case of Hunslet 'War Office' loco 1313:
http://www.warofficehunslet.org.uk/photobrazil.html (http://www.warofficehunslet.org.uk/photobrazil.html)
It is clear that the restorers of this Brigadlok loco got it 'wrong' too:
http://www.heeresfeldbahn.de/lokomotiven/deutschland/brigadelok/163.html (http://www.heeresfeldbahn.de/lokomotiven/deutschland/brigadelok/163.html)
Looking on the bright side, it will give the people who want to convert them to specific locomotives something to do!
If you say they got it 'wrong' then I'll take your word for it, Graeme - it looks pretty fine to me but then I really know nothing about what a Brigadelok 'should' look like.
I suspect that many of our customers are really just after a very nice 0-8-0 chassis and that many of them (the locos, not the buyers) will eventually resurface as all sorts of other species!
David
It was not my intention to criticise the model, quite the opposite. There was some criticism on another forum that was referred to in this thread.
I would go as far as saying it is the nicest Minitrains loco to date.
I would go further and say it is the nicest/best 009/Hoe loco to date. Eagerly looking forward to the next Minitrains loco release.
Rod
I'm running one in on the new 9
PS.
Having identified those wagons that displayed problems when placed next to the Brigadeloc, as mentioned above, and deployed them in the rest of the rake, my Brigadelocs hauled 31 wagons in a 'Low-Water-Hogan' situation when the driver can see his caboose running away in front of him. (All in a 9"rad oval)
I could not add more 'cos there is no room for the re-railer.
Spectacular stuff.
Richard
It is all about coupling overhang and the width of the coupling hoop.
Are the vehicles you are having problems with all made by new Minitrains?
I would not be surprised if the items are not Minitrains products. It is possible to modify virtually every 009/H0e loco or item of rolling stock to run on tight curves, but it takes a lot more work on the couplings than with more generous curves.
#
On Meanderbahn we only use vehicles with couplings on bogies and no four wheel wagons and coaches are used at all. The locos are also restricted to ones with smaller overhang and short wheelbase.
Even 12 inch curves can be a problem with some items with fixed couplings. It is sometimes necessary to modify the couplings to make them swivel and self-centralise. For example I remove the fixed rear coupling from the Liliput U class locos and fit a swiveling self centralizing coupling in its place.
Brian Meldon
Brian
Within 3off Brigadeloc sets of bogie wagons, one bogie gave persistent derailments on entering the 9
I undertand your constraints on size but this is really a pretty good argument for not using 9" radius curves! (Just wait until the Heljan L&B loco appears!)
Rod
Sorry Rod! You seem to have the wrong end of the stick.
ALL my MinitrainS Brigadeloc set rolling stock work perfectly well on 9
I have found that quite a few RTR couplings on H0e items need adjustment to make them work correctly.
Personally I would rather spend the time adjusting the couplings to make them fully compatible in any direction with all the other locos and stock than be restricted as to what way it needs to be put on the track or what position it is in a train.
It would probably not be an issue with just a few wagons but with well over 100 items of rolling stock it would be a complete pain to have to position some in a certain way. Not only that but two of my layouts have shutting as part of their operation so again having to assemble trains in a specify order so they do not de-rail would be a complete pain.
Thinking ahead, based on how many you have already purchased, how many wagons do you think you will have in 10 or 15 years
Hi Brian
Thanks for the poke in the ribs.
I removed the wire loop to find it leaning sideways. So with a nip here and a twist there I seem to have improved matters considerably, might even have effected a cure.
Richard S. :)
Last Friday we trialled Bernard's Brigadelok on the L&TR. A superb runner in all respects, smooth, quiet and easy to control. We were also impressed that without hesitation it was able to traverse the two 6" radius curves in Llanmynach yard.
My Brigadelok (set) arrived on Saturday - very fast and efficient service from the Sales team - thanks, chaps!
It is a lovely loco.
I have had my set for over a week now and I am very pleased with it. As appears to be common to all the loco runs very well indeed.
I have had to adjust the height of the couplings on the loco though. I use the small Roco wagons as a height guide as these are impossible to change and appear to be the same as the Egger couplings and most (but not all) of the Liliput H0e couplings as well.
The problem with the Brigadelok was that the angled part of the coupling was too high so the loop of the next vehicle hit the vertical part and did not go up and over the pin.
It was an easy job to loosen the glued on coupling and then re-glue it a couple of mm lower. I set it so the top of the pin was the same height as the top of the pin on the Roco wagon and this now works just fine.
I also found that the coupling on the bogie coaches and wagons in the Mintrains set also needed some work. The wire hoop had been bent so that instead of sitting with the loop horizontal it sloped down towards the outer end making it too low. Again it was an easy fix by just carefully removing the wire loop and adjusting the bends in the wire slightly. I also found one wire coupling loop was misshaped and leaning to one side so I corrected this at the same time as well.
Both the loco and wagons now work fine will all my other rolling stock.
This may be a problem of my own making, but then the wagons and coaches in the set would not couple to the loco as delivered without lifting the coupling loop in some way so I have no doubt others have found the same problem.
Brian Meldon
Hello Brian and the sales team
Many thanks for the superb service the Brigadelok arrived on time (sorry for the delay in responding, I've been away again) It runs very well although I note some owners have had problems. It likes the Minitrains controller and runs at a scale walking pace even with a heavy train. Modern technology, I'm convinced of it!Goodnight H&M you've reached retirement age!,
Alan Hamer
No 6015
Quote from: rod335 on July 06, 2014, 18:59
I would go further and say it is the nicest/best 009/Hoe loco to date. Eagerly looking forward to the next Minitrains loco release.
Rod
I would beg to disagree, to me the Roco Mh class loco's rank as best ever. I just wish they didn't drain the resources quite so much!
A new operating experience with the BRIGADLOK. After a bit of tracklaying the brigadlok was disapatched on a test run, all went well until near the end of the new bit of track when it stopped suddenly, wouldn't move forward and would only be coaxed in reverse. Turning the flywheel by hand freed up the mechanism as a tiny piece of ballast dropped out from the the gear train. Heart rate dropped!! To avoid this happening again I stuck a piece of black insulating tape along the bottom of the chassis to cover the gears. No further problems occured so it might be worth doing this as general mod to protect the gears from FOD damage.
Alan
Try hoovering up the spare ballast or other matter, before operating !
It does make operating easier.
The above should go hand in hand with track cleaning.
Stan.
A bit of thread drift but whilst we're at it, the American loco I bought in January is a superb runner. Near-silent, smooth, controllable and very capable for its size, it can just handle a 5-car train of Minitrains American coaches. The one I picked up at ExpoNG isn't quite so good as it's a bit hesitant but I'm expecting it'll run in. Meanwhile, a simple mod to the tender couplings to fit a wire loop and they make a splendid sight double-heading my American train (now up to six cars!) non-stop up the line! The coaches are excellent runners and it says something that I can reverse all that lot the entire length of my layout with confidence!