Katzhagen - Archive - February 2014
The biggest...
Frustration took over in November 2013 which also resulted in a delay of updating this page. First the Allegra's late delivery and next the culture shock caused by its new Maerklin gauge 1 style decoder. Analogue operations as known from hitherto existing LGB onboard decoders on tractive units equipped with sound do suffer from massive restrictions now. The Allegra's sound is restricted to a more or less invariant, monosonic driving noise, augmented by a compressor noise occassionally coming up. No departure whistle, no startup and stop sequences, no brake squeal and the sound stops completely as soon as the train stops. Furthermore the pantographs and the Reed sensors triggering the whistle sounds don't work correctly. On top parts of the illumination are turned into a clavilux in case they actually are activated...
The same shipment also contained a red RhB steel car which showed various structural defects. At one end of the coach the steps beneath the doors were badly broken and one of the clamps locking the roof in place was broken as well. Also the metal axles were beyond repair, one was wobbling and the other had a gauge of 47mm...
To this day Maerklin did not react to the notifications of defects I sent them late in December 2013. Regarding the Allegra they only let me know they will look after the issues but the steel car spare parts were - according to "service@maerklin.de" when asking for the parts after six weeks again - not available.
Is that really their understanding of customer retention ?
My dealer kindly stepped into the breach and sent me a new steel car so that I could take the spare parts from it which allegedly weren't available at Maerklin. He then had Maerklin pick up the cannibalized car in my place....
More on the Allegra will follow soon on this screen...
Some detail tuning
was done within the scope of the rolling stock's reassessment. All of the RhB EW IIs with the dark ribbon (former Bernina livery) were replaced with completely red cars which got some treatment with the airbrush gun.
Move the mouse pointer onto the picture to see the original state...
Face side after painting details
RhB B2457
The 2nd class EW II first was disassembled to some extent in order to apply paint to various parts.
In the car's interior the armrest mountings, the ashtrays and the garbage bins as well as the heatings' cover panels got a silvery paint. The armrests below the windows and the oddments trays got a blue one.
The cables and hoses as well as further details on both of the car's faces were recoulored according to its prototype. This required up to four cycles with the airbrush gun per part...
Furthermore the car's axles were replaced with four Magnus ball bearing axles featuring power pickup. The wonderful thing about these axles is that that already have the gray paint and the yellow quarter marks.
The 2nd class EW II first was disassembled to some extent in order to apply paint to various parts.
In the car's interior the armrest mountings, the ashtrays and the garbage bins as well as the heatings' cover panels got a silvery paint. The armrests below the windows and the oddments trays got a blue one.
The cables and hoses as well as further details on both of the car's faces were recoulored according to its prototype. This required up to four cycles with the airbrush gun per part...
Furthermore the car's axles were replaced with four Magnus ball bearing axles featuring power pickup. The wonderful thing about these axles is that that already have the gray paint and the yellow quarter marks.
This picture show the interior's changes as well as the steps now having the correct colouring and the typical RhB wheels.
Cutting-out requires a calm hand and good scissors
Load for the sliding wall cars...
... was the idea when ordering the Piko beverages crates.
As soon as the crates had arrived some letterings had to be made since the crates came without any printings.
Pictures of logos of various beer and softdrink manufacturers were found in the known places on the net and printed on a sheet of self-adhesive plastic film according to the space available on the crates.
The result itself was quite satisfying. Unfortunately, the Piko crates are a too small to suffice the requirements for a sliding wall car's complete load - one would need too many of them.
As a result this would cost significantly more than using the bigger crates crates from other manufacturers which already have the lettering ex-factory.
... was the idea when ordering the Piko beverages crates.
As soon as the crates had arrived some letterings had to be made since the crates came without any printings.
Pictures of logos of various beer and softdrink manufacturers were found in the known places on the net and printed on a sheet of self-adhesive plastic film according to the space available on the crates.
The result itself was quite satisfying. Unfortunately, the Piko crates are a too small to suffice the requirements for a sliding wall car's complete load - one would need too many of them.
As a result this would cost significantly more than using the bigger crates crates from other manufacturers which already have the lettering ex-factory.
Quite nice to look at after the logos' application, but too small to fill a large freight car.
Detail tuning reloaded - RhB B2495
Some adjustments in terms of colour were applied to the floor, the heatings' cover panels, the arm rests and the entrance areas.
The passengers took their seats and a new wiring was installed. Move the mouse pointer onto the picture for details...
The staff is waiting for the departure too...
An automatic illumination was installed inside the toilet
Red, yellow, silver, gray and a clear coat
RhB B2457
The rolling stock's reassessment mentioned above also brought this coach. The detail painting required disassembling this coach partially as well.Some of the interior details, i.e. the armrests' mountings, ashtrays and garbage bins as well as the heatings' cover panels got a silver paint while the floor got a dark gray livery matching its prototype. The coach's illumination was replaced with LEDs and the toilet was equipped with an automatic illumination (10 seconds on, 10 seconds off). This required the ex-factory electronics to be replaced by a self-built board which provides for a constant illumination starting at just 4V on the tracks.
The same modifications as described above with the B2457 were applied to this car's face sides.
The axles installed ex-factory were replaced with Magnus ball bearing wheels with power pick which are painted in gray and feature the yellow quarter marks.
To much of my chagrin I did not take a pre-mod picture showing the difference between the old and the new illu. The latter provides for a better lighting since the interior's details become more evident now.
