[Ted Yarbrough]

Friends,
 I just got the 2008 new products catalog and LGB Depesche magazine by mail. It appears that Marklin is trying to keep things going. They are still producing items in China, but all the German manufacturing has moved to Hungary. The entire line of products appear to be European at this time, although there is mention in at least one place in the club newsletter that North American Narrow Gauge items will be produced in the future. I am still looking for a reasonable priced K-27 in 1:22.5 scale, but I am NOT HOLDING MY BREATH! LGBoA has indicated some new American narrow gauge items in the future, but they are still in early dealings with Marklin/LGB and who knows what will ultamately happen there. Bottom line is LGB is still producing, but only European at the moment.

 

[Ltotis]

Ted,
Let's see when product comes out. Meanwhile when it comes to US items the rest of the manufacturers have pulled ahead..

LAO

 

[San Juan]

Ted I hope LGB comes back strong, and eventually gets back into US narrow gauge trains. 

But I'm afraid many 1:22.5 holdouts are converting to 1:20.3...the Bachmann K-27 being the biggest impetus.  Might just be you and me in the future for our beloved 1:22.5 /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crying.gif

 

[Ted Yarbrough]

Matt,
I saw the Bachmann K at the SELSTS in Perry last month. It was nice, wonderful, great, and so on. However, it was BIG! Would dwarf my LGB coaches. I appreciate the correct gauge of the 1:20 scale stuff, however way back when LGB, Bachmann, and USA was making the D&RGW locos and rolling stock in 1:22, few were complaining and stating IT IS THE WRONG SIZE!!!!! I love my 1:22 scale items and will keep running them. I may never get a K series loco to run witrh my railroad, but if I do, I'll be a VERY HAPPY garden railroader. I am certainly not mad at the 1:20 scale bunch. I do not want to restart the Civil War.The 1:20 scale stuff is wonderful (check out Sundance Central's club layout at the shows if you are not convinced). If I were starting in garden railroading today, I guess I would be in that scale, but I started way back in 1989 and have a large collection of fine running 1:22 scale items and prefer to stick with them. One funny bit, I have a Bachmann A-frame bridge on my layout just because I liked the look of it. Bachmann's Connie (I converted the cab and tender, trimmed down the running boards to make it semi-1:22 scale) will not cross the bridge! Bachmann with Bachmann will not work! HaHa! Enough rambling.

 

[Dan Pierce]

It is not just Bachman, try running the Aristo snowplow through the Aristo covered bridge.

Bridge is 1/29 and plow is over sized 1/24 gondola.

I find caboose marker lights hit the entrance sides.

 

[Ted Yarbrough]

Dan,
One would certainly expect Aristo with Aristo or Bachmann with Bachmann would be OK! Yes, I know the Connie is 1:20 and all early Bachmann is 1:22. However, you might still think it would work together from the same LARGE SCALE manufacturer. Oh well, so much for logic!

 

[Al McEvoy]

I'm with ya', Ted.  I started with and have several shelves full of LGB.  Remember that LGB "scale" is all over the roadmap, depending on what particular model we are dicussing or even sometimes which dimension we are measuring.  They 'twiddled' with dimensions to produce an entire line of toy/model trains that look and "play well" together.  Had they actually adhered to 1:22.5 for everything they made, the size differences would have been significant in many cases (especially between standard gauge and narrow gauge models) and cars/engines would not be similarly-sized when coupled togther in same consists.  Not being a finescaler, I happen to like their concept. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif