Minitrains locos are they up to the job??

[Steve Lewis]

I  am beginning  to  wonder  if  Minitrains  locos  are  actually  fit  for   purpose?

I have  received  in  the  last  few  days  a  2-6-2 Baldwin  about  a week  ago  And  a  0-8-0  Brigadelok Today.

Both will be  heading  back  to  their  respective  suppliers!

The  2-6-2  has  been  run  briefly on  a  currently  developing  layout  but  the  motor  expired  yesterday!  It  had  been  powered  by  a  control unit  well within  the  parameters  Minitrains  state

The 0-8-0  was  received  well packed  from the retailer, by courier  delivery less than 24 hrs  after ordering,  but on inspection  one  side valve  gear  was totally disconnected   and  flapping  loose   and  the  front  headlight  was  also hanging  loose  on  its  cables,  so  that  one  did not  get  to  run  at  all.

any  comments?

[cnw6847]

I assume they are made in China.

The quality control seems to be an issue for a number of manafacturers.

Reading on Rmweb people are having issues with all sorts of things in different scales.

I guess its the price to pay to keep costs and retail prices down.

[Steve Lewis]

I believe  they  are   Made  in  Germany    Karlsruhe  by Standard Light  GMBH,  but  I  could  be  completely  incorrect, they  could  be  Chinese assembled, there  is  nothing on the  actual  locos  to  state  the  country of  manufacture.

I have  experienced  a  few  Minitrains  locos  since  their  introduction  and  never  been  quite  happy  with  their general quality,  they  doo seem  a  little  more  fragile  than  other  manufacturers  models  in  similar  scales,  for  example  I  have  never   had  valve  gear problems   with  any  H0e  locos  (Roco,  Bemo, liliput  etc)

I am  a  member  on  RMWeb  (  since  its  launch!  as  I model  in several  scales)  it  is  interesting  to  read  the  MANY   problems which occur these  days  with  certain  items   but  certainly  not  all!  One  of  the  main  culprits  these  days  seems to be  the  local  supplier to me  in  Chirk!!

I  am  hoping  that  Heljan  have  got  the  L&B 2-6-2T  right!  They too have  had  a  few  problems  recently  with  some  of  their 00 steam  locos ( Garratt,  Tango,  and  GWR 0-6-0T)

[rod335]

Standard Light is Andreas' day job and is nothing to do with Minitrains per se which is effectively a hobby for Andreas.

[Steve Lewis]

So  why  use  the  address  I  quoted  on  both  his  loco/rolling  stock   boxes  and   the   info  sheets  within those  boxes,

Just  a  Hobby  may  perhaps  be  the  problem!!

[Stan Williams]

Steve,
I think you must be unlucky with your Minitrains locos.

I have returned home from a show in Southport and I have, along with two other modellers been running Minitrains on three different layouts.
This from 10am to 4.30pm and all have ran without any problems.
The locos included three Bagnalls, a Brigadelok, Baldwin 2-6-2T.
There was also three locos with Minitrains chassis under 3D bodies running on a layout.

If you have a faulty loco, it should be returned to the supplier because they are under guarantee.
I would also comment that the above all used Minitrains controllers.

Stan.

[cnw6847]

I agree with Stan, I think you have been unlucky Steve.

I have been running about 6 Minitrains chassis all day today and a lot of people were praising their running qualities.

I have only had one duff one and that was a Baldwin.

I was using a Gaugemaster Combi controller

[Steve Lewis]

Thanks  for  all your  replies  as  I  stated  in  the  OP  both  locos  will be  heading  back  to  the  supplying  retailers  One being  collected  by UPS  on  Tuesday by arrangement  with  the  retailer,  The  other  heading  out by post , both  retailers  perfectly  happy  to refund  all my  costs.

I  have  purchased   probably 100s  of  locos  over  many  years  of  modelling  from Z  to 5"  gauges  and   of  course  there  have  been a  few  failures, but  it  just  seems   that  these 2  failures in  a week  plus  the  failures  that   some  of  my  frends  have  had  with Minitrains locos does  seem  a  bit  unusual!

[Hobby]

I'm not so sure about him being "unlucky" Chaps... If you read the (extremely long) threads on NGRM you will find that certain locos have a "reputation", mainly the Brigadelok, but people have also mentioned having issues with the Baldwin, but not in the same league as the Brigadelok...

It seems that the smaller 4 wheeled stuff seems reasonably reliable though...


Steve, log on to NGRM and have a look at the Mintrains threads on there you will see experiences of a much larger selection than on here or RMWeb, your experiences are not uncommon.

[clayliner]

It's true that 'Minitrains' is (?are) a sideline for Andreas, but I think it would be wrong to think that he only treats the business as a hobby and that that's the source of the problems. He runs a medical equipment company, manufacturing surgical items, and I'd be surprised if he didn't take quality control seriously.

All his Minitrains products are indeed manufactured in China, which must make QC somewhat trickier, but on the whole, as others have said, Minitrains have a good reputation. It's also true, however, that the valve gear on the Brigadelok is a recognised weakness which others have also experienced.

I think it's also true to say that Andreas has a pretty good returns policy so hopefully you will get good replacements before too long.

David.

[Steve Lewis]

I am  not  actually  having  them  replaced!

[Steve Lewis]

There  is  a  Brigadelok  currently  on   eBay   , Green,     latest  bid  !