Brigadelok

[theelliotts]

My thanks to 'The Team", my brigadeloc arrived today and ran well straight from the box. Thanks team

David

[Graeme Dunbar]

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.

[clayliner]

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)

[Graeme Dunbar]

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

It is clear that the restorers of this Brigadlok loco got it 'wrong' too:
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!

[clayliner]

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

[Graeme Dunbar]

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.

[rod335]

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

[gallopingalice]

I'm running one in on the new 9

[gallopingalice]

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

[B.Meldon]

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

[gallopingalice]

Brian

Within 3off Brigadeloc sets of bogie wagons, one bogie gave persistent derailments on entering the 9

[rod335]

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

[gallopingalice]

Sorry Rod! You seem to have the wrong end of the stick.

ALL my MinitrainS Brigadeloc set rolling stock work perfectly well on 9

[B.Meldon]

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

[gallopingalice]

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.  :)