Revell BR 232 "Ludmilla"

The BR 232 is part of a wider family of heavy diesel locomotives built in the USSR between 1970 and 1982 and used mostly by the Deutsche Bahn. This family of locomotives was made up of the following classes:

- BR 130/230 (DR 130, DBAG 230)

- BR 131/231 (DR 131, DBAG 231)

- BR 132/232 (DR 132, DBAG 232, 233, 234 and 241)

- BR 142/242 (DR 142, DBAG 242)

More than 700 such machines were built in Lugansk and imported into Germany. The Deutsche Bahn (in all its forms) has used them extensively and is still using them today, especially for cargo transport, but also for fast passenger trains. The Ludmillas are robust, powerful and heavy diesel locomotives. Due to the heavy axle load (20.3 t), the BR 232 can mostly be used only on main lines.

The locomotives of this family were born out of the desire of East Germany to focus on diesel traction after 1960. The first class designed and built at Lugansk was the BR 130/230. Its main limitation was the lack of an electric heating system. This not only resulted in these locos being restricted to freight traffic, but also helped them being the first of their kind to be retired. The BR 131/231 was pretty much the same and suffered the same fate, but it also had its top speed reduced from 140 km/h to only 100 km/h due to poor track conditions. The improved descendant, the BR 132/232, was first built in 1972, with electric heating system and these locos were longer by 0.2 m. Their top speed was limited to 120 km/h. They are still used today, mostly in Germany, but in other countries too.

The Ludmillas have Co-Co wheel arrangement, with two bogies , each pivoting around a central pin. They are powered by 16- or 12-cylinder turbo-charged diesel engines and the transmission is electrical.

The H0 model seen in the pictures is a beautiful Revell model of the BR 232 locomotive with serial number 800-3.

Facts (BR 232 / other classes of the same family):

ID: BR 232 800-3

Wheel arrangement: Co-Co

Builder: October Revolution Locomotive Works (Lugansk)

Built: 1975 (1970-1982)

Top speed: 120 km/h (100 km/h, 140 km/h)

Power: 2208 kW (2206 kW, 2940 kW)

Length: 20.82 m (20.62 m)

Wheel diameter: 1050 mm

Engine: Kolomna 5 D 49 / 16 Tsch N26/26

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Links:

Revell's official website

BR 232 at Wikipedia

BR 232 800-3 at BR232.com

The real BR 232 800-3 pulling a freight train- video

The real BR 232 800-3 pulling a freight train in 2009

The real BR 232 800-3 in Liepzig

Revell Union Pacific X4006 "Big Boy" in a Glass and Wooden Display Case

More than a year has passed since the Revell Union Pacific X4006 "Big Boy" steam locomotive has been assembled. Now it finally received a storage solution which will protect it from the dust: a glass and wooden display case made especially for it.

Links:

A Gift from Santa - Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive

Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive - Inside the Box

Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive - Painting, Assembling and Applying Decals

Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive - Almost Finished...

Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive - The Union Pacific #4006

Revell BR 50

One of the most successful classes of German steam locomotives is/was the BR 50. Designed to haul goods trains, the BR 50 locos were built as standard locomotives (Einheitsdampflokomotive) between 1939 and 1948 by almost all major locomotive factories. A total of 3164 pieces were produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn and they received IDs between 50 001 and 50 3171. One of the important advantages of the BR 50 design was the low axle load (15.2 t), which even permitted the use on branch lines with light track beds. The Br 50’s wheel configuration is 2-10-0 and total weight is 86.9 t. The locos were originally fitted with Wagner smoke deflectors but some of them later received Witte smoke deflectors. They were coupled to tenders of type 2'2' T 26 or 2'2' T 30.

The BR 50 locos were part of the war preparation effort and the ones that were built later were called provisional war locomotives (Übergangskriegslokomotiven) and classified as 50 ÜK. Also, class 52 (BR 52) was derived from BR 50 by omitting all possible components, making the locomotives as cheap to produce as possible. Some BR 50 tenders were fitted with a front shield, to protect the crew and some were also equipped with a driver’s cab, thus reducing the volume of carried coal.

After the war a large number of BR 50 locomotives were taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (2159) and together with class 44 they took care of most of the goods hauling operations. About 1000 of them had boilers made of ST 47 K steel, which was not very resistant to ageing, so many of these locomotives were given the boilers of scrapped BR 52s. Most BR 50 locomotives were retired up to 1977. A few remained in service until 1989. Towards the end of their service they were used for pulling both goods and passenger trains.

Facts:

ID: BR 50 519

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1939-1948

Builder: Henschel & Sohn/Hohenzollern/Krupp/BMAG/etc.

Top speed: 80 km/h (both directions)

Power: 1195 kW

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Length: 22.94 m

Weight: 86.9 t

Axle load: 15.2 t

Couped wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Driving wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Leading wheel diameter: 850 mm

A few days ago I assembled Revell's BR 50 static steam locomotive, which contains a beautiful H0 scale model of the famous original locomotive. The kit was produced in 2002 and has item number 02165. It wasn't hard to assemble, the 41-step instructions were pretty clear and contained enough detail, but it required a lot of work, especially the painting of the parts. It took me about 10 days and a total of over 30 hours of work to complete the locomotive. Most of the time was spent on painting and repainting the parts (some of them require two layers of paint to look really nice and the paints need to dry for 4 to 6 hours before a second layer can be applied). Some spots require a steady and precise hand, to paint adjacent areas of the same part with different colors. In contrast with Revell's Big Boy steam locomotive that I assembled over a year ago, this kit contained some water slide decals that were surprisingly easy to apply. They adhered to the plastic with ease and did not dry off at all.

Used colors (in order of importance):

- 302 - black, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 330 - fiery red, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 91 - iron, metalic (used moderately)

- 301 - white, silky-matt (used only for a few surfaces)

- 93 - brass, metalic (used only for the bell in the cab)

- 87 - eart brown, matt (used only on the tracks)

- 83 - rust, matt (used only on the tracks)

Links:

Revell's official website

BR 50 @ Wikipedia

Revell #02164 - BR 01150 steam locomotive

Revell #02160 - BR 41242 steam locomotive

Revell #02170 - BR 43001 steam locomotive

Revell #02165 - UP X4006 "Big Boy" steam locomotive

A Few Artistic Pictures

CFR 060-DA-001

CFR 230.299

CFR 151.002 "Malaxa"

CFR 231.050

CFR 764.15X

CFR snow plow

CFR 324.951

CFR 150.105

CFR 764.357

Mehano American 4-4-0 Baltimore & Ohio No. 822 H0 Loco Test Run

My best friends surprised me with a little H0 locomotive for my birthday this year :) It's a modern version of the famous American 4-4-0 locomotive. This H0 model is manufactured by Mehano and it's enscriptioned "Baltimore and Ohio" with number 822.

Here you can see one of the first test runs on some Piko H0 tracks with analogic power from a Piko power supply:

Revell BR 43

Beginning with 1925 the Deutsche Reichsbahn started building unified, standardized locomotives. This meant that all the locomotives of the same class had exactly the same building parts, so if they broke down, they could easily be repaired anywhere throughout the country because all locomotive repair workshops had the exact same parts.

The first standard class built according to this principle was BR 01, which was an express locomotive. The second standard class was BR 43, a type of steam locomotive designed to pull heavy goods trains. Another class, BR 44, was built for the same purpose, but, opposed to BR 43, it was a three-cylinder design. The BR 43 proved to be more economical, but the BR 44 could operate at higher speeds, so only a total of 35 locomotives of type BR 43 were built. These were assembled between 1926 and 1928 by Henschel & Sohn and Schwartzkopff.

The BR 43 was a very strong locomotive. In fact BR 43 013 holds the record of being the German locomotive that pulled the heaviest train ever (5000 t). In 1960 the few remaining BR 43 class steam locomotives were modernized and fitted with more powerful boilers, so they could pull loads over twice as heavy as intended in the original design. However this quickly lead to frame damage and by 1968 they were all retired.

BR 43 001, seen in this beautiful H0 scale model, is a museum piece and can currently be found in the Saxon Railway Museum in Chemnitz. The model was manufactured by Revell and has item number 2170.

Facts:

ID: BR 43 001

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1927

Builder: Henschel & Sohn

Top speed: 70 km/h

Power: 1383 kW

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Driving wheel diameter: 1400 mm

Leading wheel diameter: 850 mm

Location: Chemnitz (Saxon Railway Museum)

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRG_Class_43

http://www.revell.com/

Trackside - H0 Holsten Beer Truck

Revell Big Boy Steam Locomotive - The Union Pacific #4006

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Revell's H0 scale Big Boy locomotive, the Union Pacific #4006 steam locomotive is finished. Enjoy the pictures!