LGB333

If you love steam locomotives like I do, you MUST watch a couple videos of the Union Pacific's 150th year anniversary celebration estabhlishing America's first transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1886........the Golden Spike event. The first video link is of the newly restored UP Big Boy #4014 and UP #844 double heading to the May 10, 2019 celebration that occurred at Promontory Point, Utah. The second one has a short video of the ceremony hosted by the president of UP. Union Pacific Recreates Historic Steam Meet, Commemorating 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion

Rob - Did you get your locomotive's sound system problem resolved? If not, another option is to buy the LGB 65001 Stream Sound Board to replace the factory unit in your tender. You'd need to open up the plastic case of the LGB 65001 and remove the sound board and install it into the tender. There are connections for the volume control and you can also install an 65012 whistle/bell sound activation trigger that installs onto the bottom of one of the tender's trucks.

For those of you that haven't seen a pulsed smoke unit working in a DCC equipped locomotive, thought I'd share this information. I’m in the process of installing a DCC Massoth eMotion XLS Sound Decoder and, for the first time, a Massoth #8415001 Pulsed Smoke Round Boiler-style Unit, into an LGB Uintah that I'm working on for a customer. Some sections of the Massoth German to English translations in the Installation Manuals are not that clear or specific so I was very frustrated getting the smoke unit wired to work properly. I thought I had a defective smoke unit until I contacted my Massoth dealer in Germany who gave me clear directions, and now it works like a champ! I had to build from scratch a platform to fasten the smoke unit to due to the large cavity inside the Uintah's smoke box, and then covered the platform with metal duct tape to protect the glue joints from smoke fluid........see photos. I'll also try to attach a video of the Massoth sound decoder and pulsed smoke unit operating on my roller wheels test stand.......if I can’t attach the video to this posting, you can watch it on my Website.

Hi - Are you still having a problem with your LGB steamer's sound? I specialize in LGB locomotives and would be happy to try to help you with further discussion. You don't state whether you're operating on DC or DCC........I recall this loco has a built-in DCC decoder function to also operate on DCC power. It sounds like you're operating it on DC power since you're referring to the battery in the tender, which connotes using DC power. For DCC powered operations, you don't use/need the battery. So, perhaps the battery is defective......have you opened up the tender to check it out? I also recall seeing another posting from someone on another large scale forum with a similar LGB loco sound problem and it turned out to be a broken wire that connects the loco to the tender and that fixed the issue. Generally speaking, however, if an LGB sound system becomes defective, if it's the actual circuit board and not the wiring connections, it can't be fixed and you'd need to have the existing electronics replaced with a new combined DC/DCC driving and sound decoder, such as the Massoth (Germany) decoder or another brand decoder. Massoth made the DC circuit boards and sound units, and later also the DCC systems can decoders, used in LGB locomotives up until the original LGB company (Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk) went bankrupt and was bought by Marklin Germany. In fact, besides upgrading new or used LGB locomotives with new DC/DCC decoders, I also do repairs or upgrades to peoples locos. Tom

These are all good suggestions. I've been shipping locos 18 years that I sell on eBay and now this year on my own new website, and I've never had a locomotive damaged during shipment. The double box with insulation materials is definitely important, for diesel locomotives too. I use foam peanuts or sometimes add the air bag packets insulation too. A few other precautions. Don't depend upon the foam encasement that some locomotives come in, such as the LGB locomotives. That's hard material and if there's wiggle room between the locomotive and the encasement, the locomotive is going to bang against it if the shipping box is dropped during the transportation process. So I insert small bubble wrap pieces in various places, to include the wheels/motor block, so that the locomotive is held firmly in place. If you can hear or feel something moving inside when you shake the box, then you know there's still wiggle room you need to fix with more small bubble wrap. I always use FedEx Ground/Home Delivery mode for USA shipments with full value insurance and signature receipt........this protects both the seller and the buyer from possible damage or loss during the transportation process. I agree, UPS has been more vulnerable to shipment damage, but I haven't used them for years now. USPS Priority Mail works well too for USA shipments but FedEx Ground is cheaper for large locos other than to Hawaii and Alaska. For overseas shipments, e.g., Europe, I use USPS Priority Mail International which is the most reasonable and safest overseas shipping mode for us individuals. Don't use FedEx Smart Post mode of shipping for anything valuable. I learned my lesson a few years ago when I sold an Aristocraft track cleaning car to someone using that mode. If you're not familiar with this service, FedEx handles the shipment to the destination city, then turns it over to the USPS for the actual delivery to the recipient. In this example, the package arrived mangled on one end and destroyed the item. I filed a claims with the photos of the damaged item with both FedEx and USPS for insurance coverage and they both accursed the other of causing the damage, so I got no reimbursement and had to reimburse my buyer for the item and shipping costs. Plus the maximum allowed insurance for this mode of shipment is $100. So, AVOID this mode, very cheap cost, if you want to ship anything value and fragile.

Here I'm sharing with you my sources for finding new or used LGB parts, particularly locomotive parts. First, you can check eBay.com searching for "LGB Parts". There's an eBay seller that disassembles mostly new LGB locomotives and then sells the parts. His prices are pretty high and you can sometimes find the same item other places much cheaper, but sometimes his item may be the only current source, so if you really need it, you pay the piper. Another excellent source is eBay.de in Germany. Germany now has the largest segment of the LGB large scale hobbyists in the world. In fact, Ron Gibson, the former LGB Manager in the USA, told me a few months ago that the USA comprises only about 15% of Marklin/LGB business base for LGB products, Europe the rest. So, eBay.de has lots of new and used LGB locomotives and parts for sale. Search "LGB ersatzteile" for LGB parts, currently over 1,700 postings there. For locomotives, you'd search " LGB lokomotiven". You can do a Google search to find a German to English translator to read the postings, just copy and paste into the translator. And do the converse if you need to contact the seller: When I do it, I send the seller an eBay message in both English and German. For you naysayers about high shipping costs from Germany to the USA, if you're buying small LGB parts, the seller can use their equivalent to USPS First Class Package rates which are very cheap. For example, several months ago I bought four parts from a seller on eBay.de, which included an LGB loco smoke box, an LGB loco cab, etc. The euros shipping costs were only $13 equivalent. Now shipping a 15 lbs locomotive to the USA is fairly expensive, just like shipping one from the USA to Germany. I had to ship a locomotive I bought from a Germany LGB shop for warranty repair this year, and using USPS Priority Mail International cost me $75, which they reimbursed back to me, and they also paid for the return shipment to me. So, you have to do a cost-benefit analysis of the total cost of buying a larger item like a locomotive from Germany, to include the shipping costs. Also keep in mind, if you buy an LGB locomotive from a Germany LGB dealer, ask for the export price, which is their shop's price minus the Germany 19% VAT tax. For example, last month I bought an LGB 20274 Heidi Steam locomotive from a Germany shop, their selling price was 808 euros and my export price was 680 euros ($775) and their flat rate shipping was 27.50 euros ($31). So, this was $100 - $200 cheaper than any USA dealer I checked. Just don't exceed the German and USA export/import limits to avoid the tariffs, generally about $2000 goods value per shipment box. Some USA LGB online shops are also carrying spare parts for LGB: Trainli.com; OnlyTrains.com, are two I've used with success. And they can order parts for you from LGB Germany that they don't stock, if LGB/Marklin still has them available. Good luck on your parts search quests!

Is this a part from your locomotive? If so, please provide the LGB locomotive number. If not, please explain why you are trying to find this part? Marklin, the owner of LGB since 2007, doesn't carry spare parts for LGB locomotives made by the original LGB company in Germany (Ernst Paul Lehmann Patenwerk). You can check with TrainLi.com which carries some spare parts for older LGB locomotives......also OnlyTrains.com.

I recently completed the Soundtraxx Tsunami2 power/sound decoder installation in the first of two LGB Chloe locomotives I purchased. Lost count of the hours I dedicated for it, but she sounds beautiful using the Round Top Single-chime "Peanut" whistle, one of 62 whistle options embedded in the Soundtraxx decoder. I have a short video demonstration of her operation and sounds on my Website: https://OldDominionRailways.com and a longer video on my new YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJpT2umZBM Chloe is a replica of a Hawaiian sugar cane plantation Baldwin locomotive that operated there from 1893 - 1944. Ward Kimball, Walt Disney's Chief Animator, and his friend and fellow steam buff, Gerald Best, purchased two of these Baldwin tank locomotives in 1948 and restored them at Ward's backyard narrow gauge Grizzly Flats Railroad, in San Gabriel CA. Ward named his Chloe after one of his daughters, and Best named his Olomana. After Ward's death, Chloe was donated to the Orange Empire Railraod Museum in 2007 where they intend to restore her for their excursion railroad. Olomana was donated to the Smithsonian which later loaned her to the PA State Railroad Museum, Strasburg, PA. This LGB Chloe, and her sister locomotive Olomana, both with an installed Soundtraxx Tusnami2 power/sound decoder, are available for sell on my Website.

The year 2018 marks 50 years of LGB, and to celebrate this event, Marklin/LGB has produced the LGB 28443 after one of the Swiss Railroad’s RhB Ge 4/4 II electric locomotives. And the RhB Railroad is celebrating the anniversary by marking one of its locomotives with the same exact LGB logo schema. See the LGB’s Website about the LGB 28443 50th Anniversary model and also watch the interesting video of the RhB Swiss Railroad's project to install the same exact LGB logo scheme onto one of their locomotives: https://www.lgb.com/lp/18/50years Since I’m a diehard LGB fan, and after watching the RhB railroads video, I recently decided to buy the LGB 28443. I surveyed over 15 train shops for prices in USA and Europe and found the lowest price at https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com in Detmold, Germany, for the export (no-VAT tax) price of 780 Euros (approx $912) plus the flat 27.50 Euros shipping to USA. I use the Transferwise.com money transfer service for my overseas buys which has one of the lowest USD to Euro conversion fees around.....only $8.06 fee using an ACH debit from my bank checking account funds. Grand total all costs for the locomotive: $948. Lowest USA price I found was $979 plus shipping at http://pizzatrains.com. LGB/Marklin produced this locomotive in January 2018 and they probably won't be making any more production runs, so there's only the existing inventory at train shops in USA and Europe, in case anyone wants to buy one. Last Friday I received the shipment, only six days transit time from Germany to the USA East Coast……very fast compared to the usual three weeks shipment time for my other large scale buys from other German vendors. If you’d like to see a demo of the LGB 28443 operating on my small indoor layout, go to my Website listed below…….pretty neat sounding loco!

Could you list the LGB locomotives you have for sale by LGB item number please. I'm mostly interested in LGB American steamers, e.g., LGB Forney locos, etc.

I've been selling on eBay for many years the LGB locomotives I refurbish and upgrade with digital sound and/or DCC decoders, and my LGB locomotive repair/installation services. Finally decided to set up my own Webite to supplement my eBay postings: www.olddominionrailways.com Currently focusing on LGB Forney Steam Locomotives and LGB American and European Diesels........these are top quality upgraded LGB locomotives. Tom White LGB Railfan

Okay, I chatted with the USA LGB Rep/Ron Gibson by phone yesterday and he suggested charging up the SUPS with 5 + volts for about 10 minutes. I did and it still didn't hold the charge to operate the sound unit but a few seconds at slow speed. He stated that the diodes in these LGB SUPS sometime are defected and should be replaced by the vendor. So yesterday I shipped it back to Only Trains for a new replacement. He also said that the LGB sound systems are really designed to operate best on DCC and are not a perfect match for the analog DC locos. He also said that Marklin/LGB doesn't have any plans for now in continuing to manufacture the line of LGB sound units. I mentioned to Ron that I have installed the Piko sound units in some locos and I've been very pleased with their operation. In fact, I installed the Piko 36221 analog unit in another LGB 27253 Forney locomotive and recently sold it on eBay. It does have a small battery built into the sound board that helps with the loco slow speed issue and engine sounds when coming to a stop. The whistle sound is fine but the bell is funky, ringing too unrealistically fast. But for the price @ $80 not bad overall sound unit. The Piko 36220 digital dcc/dc American Steam Sound Kit is really a good deal @ $140 - $180........is also a dcc power decoder. I installed one last year in a Bachmann Two Truck Shaw and sounds great on my DCC layout. The whistle sound has three versions you can choose from, and you can also adjust the chuff speed rate, easily done on my Massoth DiMax Navigator. The only thing missing: No connection on the board for wiring a engine cab interior light bulb. But excellent overall quality and features for the price.

Okay, thanks for the suggestions. The SUPS is getting some input and works for a very short time after it's charged when operating the loco at higher speeds. But then moving to slow speed, apparently there's not enough power input to keep the SUP recharged to operate the sound system. I have not had this issue when I've installed LGB diesel sound units on LGB shunting diesels.

I just finished installing a LGB 65001 steam sound board into an LGB 27253 Forney locomotive. I powered the sound board from the loco's rear axle truck wheels which are power pickup for the loco. I also switched out the other rear wheels (none power) pickup wheels with an LGB power pickup wheels and spliced these into the other pickup power line from the rear axle. Purpose of this is to give constant and even power. The sound works fine but I the LGB 65001 Sound Unit Power Storage unit does seem to hold enough charge at low speed to keep the sound board operating.......the owner's manual for it states to run the loco at high speed for 30 seconds. But when operating at low speeds there's insufficient storage power to keep the sound unit operating. Is this a defective Sound Power Storage Unit that doesn't hold any charge very long at low speed? Or is there a better way powering the sound unit from other wiring in the locomotive instead of directly from the rear truck? It's not acceptable to not be able to run the locomotive a low speed without getting the sound unit to operate. Suggestions please. Thanks Tom

STATUS UPDATE: First, thanks, Neil, for the input........the diagram appears to be the wiring approach for the LGB circuit boards, not sure. But I did contact a person who does LGB loco repairs in California who used to be a repair technician for LGB of America, San Diego. He advised me to reprogram the LGB 55021 decoder's F1 feature from the existing button #1 to "0". I opened up my LGB D&RGW #50 diesel last night, reprogrammed the decoder using my Massoth Dimax Navigator controller and presto, the headlight and taillight and interior light now all can be controlled on/off with the Navigator's #9 button. I'll have to open up my 25 year old LGB White Pass Diesel that I converted to DCC using two 55021 decoders a year ago and reprogram those decoders the same way. This is very helpful information for those of us installing the LGB decoders. Of course, this approach only applies when totally removing the existing loco's circuit board and replacing it with an LGB decoder. Where the existing circuit board is retained with the decoder installed, the existing circuit board would normally control the lighting (directional front and rear lighting, and all lights including the cab light are turned on/off using a handheld controller's button #9.

Seeking assistance from anyone experienced installing the LGB 55021 MTS/DCC/DC Decoders in older LGB locos with the "D" Motor Blocks. On two older LGB diesel locos, I've totally removed the existing circuit board and replaced with the LGB Decoder. Both of these locos have front and rear lights but also a cab light. The LGB decoder instructions do not fully explain the proper lighting connections under this type situation. The decoder has connections for the front and rear lights so the front light will activate when the loco moves forward, and then turns out and the rear light comes on when the loco reverses direction. But I'm not sure on the lighting connection for the cab light. I've currently wired it so the cab light stays on continually when I power up my Piko Central Station. I can turn the loco's lights on or off using my Massoth Navigator controller but it only applies to the rear and front lights of the loco. Attached is the LGB 55021 connections layout. LGB 55021 Decoder.pdf Can someone advise me how to wire the LGB 55021 decoder in order to have on/off control of the cab light too instead of it being constantly on? Thanks Tom

Update: I think I've finally discovered the issues. First, I slightly bent up the two electrical pickup shoes on this small LGB diesel loco.......this prevent the wide shoes from touching the opposing rail (opposite polarity) while traveling through an LGB track switch frog. But it still was stopping through some switch frogs at very slow speed. Further investigation revealed that, due to the close proximity of the two pickup shoes to the front wheels, the loco was losing power contact through the switch frog because the left back wheel has a rubber tracking tire on it. So, final solution is to remove the rear left traction tire wheel and replace it with a regular wheel. I don't intend to pull heavy consists with the small diesel loco so operating the loco without a traction tires shouldn't be a problem. Also, some of my track switches have been on my indoor layout for over 20 years and the plastic frogs are somewhat worn which may be contributing to the connectivity loss. When I increase the speed to #3 on my Massoth Navigator controller, there's enough momentum to get through the frogs without the motor and sound unit stopping. On some of these type electrical issues, you need to play Sherlock Homes! Tom

I have a brand new LGB 23191 (unlettered) Mogul posted on eBay or through this forum for sale: $895. I custom installed a LGB 55021 decoder into the loco and a new Phoenix Digital Sound Unit into the Tender. Sounds great and with the LGB Decoder's Back-EMF circuitry, the loco runs at a steady speed on curves and grades. Contact me if interested and you want more details and photos. I now have this loco plus a new LGB White Pass Diesel Switcher with LGB decoder and LGB Diesel Sound unit installed, plus four LGB small switch diesels (two DCC/DC and two only DC) for sale on eBay. Thanks Tom White

The LGB plastic frog section of the switch..........this particular LGB diesel loco's electrical pickup shoe is too wide when it passes along the frog. For example, the right shoe on the right rail will slightly touch the brass left rail (opposite polarity) coming into the plastic frog causing a slight short that triggers the decoder and sound unit to momentarily stop and restart........sometimes to stop and shut down totally. Tom

Hi - I switched to a Piko Central Station and Massoth Navigator for my indoor layout over a year ago after using DC operations for over 25 years and love it! I have no problems with my two Bachmann Climax/SoundTrax and one Bachmann Three Truck Shay/Soundtrax locos driving through switches. However, when I installed an LGB #55021 decoder and LGB #65000 Sound Unit in an LGB #2063 D&RGW Diesel recently, it works fine except when crossing some of the LGB switches on my indoor layout, i.e., it will stop momentarily (including sound unit) and then go. Most of the nine LGB switches I'm using are 30 degree but the two 22 degree switches cause the most problems. Sometimes if the loco is traveling very slowly, it will stop totally and I must push it slightly to regain electrical connectivity and movement again. I believe the two electrical pickup shoes are the cause of this. LGB pickup shoes are fairly wide and appear to be slightly touching the opposite polarity track rail when going through some of the switches. I had this same problem 11 months ago when I installed two LGB #55021 decoders and an LGB #65000 Sound Unit in my 25 year old LGB #20550 White Pass Diesel and ended up removing the two electrical pickup shoes and that solved the problem. In fact, I recall this larger, longer diesel loco actually caused my Piko Central Station to short out. When I discovered that one electrical pickup shoe was shorting out on a switch cure (depended which direction the loco was traveling), I removed the two electrical pickup shoes and that solved the problem. However, removing the two electrical pickup shoes on the small D&RGW Diesel appears more complicated due to the interior electrical layout within the motor block, and with only four wheels ( instead of eight on the larger diesel), the pickup shoes do help to ensure good electrical connectivity from the rails. If the pickup shoes were just slightly narrower, the problem would be solved, and I've actually considered grinding them down to reduce the width.......some tedious, nasty work. Wondering if anyone on this forum has had similar problems with LGB DCC decoder conversions on older LGB locos and developed a solution that I could use instead of having to either remove the LGB electrical pickup shoes totally, or reducing the shoes' width on a grinder and then reinstalling them?

Thanks Mark_8, this may be the exact item I'm looking for! I'm going to assess the four different wiring items I just ordered and if none of them fits the bill, I'll trying the Website you provided. Tom

I recently converted my 25 year old LGB White Pass Diesel from DC power to DCC using two LGB #55021 decoders. I wired both decoders together so they would operate in unison. Alternatively, the LGB #55027 decoder allows use of just one decoder to control two motors. By the way, it's a pain converting these older LGB engine blocks to DCC due to there only being three electrical connections on the motor blocks: one each for track power with the third connection shared for the positive and negative motor operation. So I reconfigured the two engine blocks by installing a forth electrical pin for each motor.......lots of tedious work drilling holes and installing the forth electrical pin. An easier method I've since used on an older LGB "D" motor block is to insulate the "common" pin from motor connection and then solder a separate wire onto the motor. Then you can connect the four wires from LGB decoder as normal: The Brown and White wires to the motor block's track power connections, and the Green and Yellow wires to the motor block's motor connections.

NEW - Never Used LGB # 22604 Schoema Diesel Locomotive with LGB DCC Decoder and LGB Digital Sound Decoder Installed........excellent sounding locomotive! Imported this locomotive from a European LGB Dealer and I custom installed a brand new LGB 55021 Decoder II and LGB 65002 European Diesel Digital Sound Unit and added a new upgraded 2 inch speaker that's larger and better quality than the LGB Sound Unit speaker. Locomotive has directional lighting and constant light in the engineer's cab, and lights may be turned on or off with the DCC controls. Comes with original box and LGB owner's manual and the LGB decoder and sound decoder owner's manuals. Both Decoders are set to DCC Address 3 but may be reprogrammed with your DCC operating equipment. Operates on either DC power or DCC power but the full features of the sound system are only available with DCC operations. The Sound System features the diesel motor operating, and individual control of bell, horn, braking sounds, compressor, air pressure relief valve, German "all aboard" announcement, diesel motor on/off, and all sound on/off. The sound volume is controlled by an adjustment nob that extends from the front engine compartment and accessible underneath the locomotive......no need to reprogram the sound decoder. DC operations will only provide the diesel motor operating sound. If you have any questions and/or would like to hear this diesel's various decoder sounds, send me an email at twhite212@gmail.com and I will respond by email with the 30 second iPhone video attachment. Selling for $645. I also have another one of these new LGB #22604 Schoema Diesel Locomotives without the decoder and sound unit upgrade........operates only on DC power with track magnet operated electronic horn sound: Selling for $375.

Update: I just ordered four different 2 conductor wire items from HobbyLinc. Hopefully, at least one of these items will be flexible wire in the 26 - 28 gauge range that will be suitable for wiring locomotive and tender sound systems and other components. I'll post my findings after I receive my order later this week.