MOC: Gavin Rogers' Lego Köf Train Built for Brickworld 2011

[DLuders]

On his Flickr photostream, Gavin Rogers 2.0 posted pictures of his completed LEGO Köf Locomotive. It is to be shown at Brickworld 2011. Here is a shortened description from Railbricks Issue 8 (free PDF download):

"On the 12th January 1956 the LEGO® company made it’s initial expansion outside Denmark by opening their first foreign sales wing, LEGO® Spielwaren GmbH. Spielwaren was run by Axel Thomsen, who was already a toy manufacturer.

"The new company was based in an old railway hotel in Hohenwestedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The company’s aim was to expand the sales of LEGO® in Germany.

"From 1956 until 1963 LEGO®’s series of H0 scale cars, trees and signs were produced in a small factory in Hohenwestedt. Over the years the Hohenwestedt site also grew to become a major distribution centre.

"The factory and warehouses were situated just east of the railway station on the line between Heide and Neumünster so it was logical that it was rail served and in December 1987 a small shunting (switching) locomotive was purchased to work the factory sidings.

"From the 1930s the Deutsche Reichsbahn introduced small locomotives for use at stations and goods depots. They were specifically

designed to be driven by shunting staff rather than higher paid fully qualified drivers and were also small enough to be loaded onto a flat truck for movement around the rail network. After some experimentation two diesel designs were standardised upon, with differing power ratings.

"The class letter K was used to identify them, followed by a letter indicating the type of engine, ö for diesel (Öl, i.e. oil). The next letter was the type of transmission: f for hydraulic transmission (Flüssigkeitsgetriebe) The four digit numbers signified the power range, those up to 40 HP (29 kW) were numbered in the range 0-3999 and while those in above 40 HP were 4000 and higher."

Edited May 7, 2011 by DLuders

[Legoist]

Very nice!

The Köf locomotives have always been among my favourite shunters, and I have been planning for a long time to make one, so it's nice to have someone else's rendition as an example.

[Legoless]

Amazing that anyone actually produced a shunter with 40hp or less- even given low gearing ratios and the high torque characteristics of a diesel engine, such a loco would probably be hard pressed to move more than one or two wagons on flat terrain- one presumes the model depicted is in the over 40hp category- no Post-War British shunter produced less than 150hp and I'd assume a similar output for this.

Its a very nice model however of a rather odd-looking (to British eyes) prototype.

[peterab]

Amazing that anyone actually produced a shunter with 40hp or less- even given low gearing ratios and the high torque characteristics of a diesel engine, such a loco would probably be hard pressed to move more than one or two wagons on flat terrain- one presumes the model depicted is in the over 40hp category- no Post-War British shunter produced less than 150hp and I'd assume a similar output for this.

Its a very nice model however of a rather odd-looking (to British eyes) prototype.

Well, the secret is in your own post, these were not post war (at least not the sub 40hp Kof I) they were a design from the 1930's. They were intended to perform light freight shunting duties at small stations, so probably a couple of cars at a time. The aim was to make them simple enough so they could be driven by normal station staff. They essentially freed up the engine of a mixed freight train from shunting at each station, thus cutting it's travel time.

They are also quite small so they could be transported on flat cars between stations as their top speed was very low and would have created problems for other traffic if they had to be driven under their own power. That accounts for most of their odd looks.

The later second series (which the prototype of this Moc was) had up to 130hp, and the third series up to 250hp. They were used extensively in post war West Germany as they were cheaper than the larger shunters to operate, mostly due to not requiring a fully trained driver.

[Duq]

In Holland we had a similar shunter, designed for ease of use:

These had 50hp and like the Köf they were usually operated by staff other than the qualified train operators.

I'm tempted now to build a yellow cousin for my red Köf...

[Legoless]

In Holland we had a similar shunter, designed for ease of use:

These had 50hp and like the Köf they were usually operated by staff other than the qualified train operators.

I'm tempted now to build a yellow cousin for my red Köf...

That is one cute little loco. One thing that bothers me about the design however is how poor the visibility would be looking down the length of the train- presumably these are driven with the driver's head stuck out of the side?

[Lego Otaku]

That is one cute little loco. One thing that bothers me about the design however is how poor the visibility would be looking down the length of the train- presumably these are driven with the driver's head stuck out of the side?

Considering they move slowly and are meant for moving a few cars around a short distance, I would think the engineer can stick his head out to check around as he drives around.

[Mathijs-T]

Yes,

I'm from Holland too and,

These loco's are usually driven with the drivers head out the window,

But it does happen that there is is someone on the railing outside,

Saying to the driver what to do...

@Duq

The're still in use today!

Just go to some shunting yards around the country...

Mathijs

[wtorbeyns]

The're still in use today!

Just go to some shunting yards around the country...

The Dutch version ("Sik") isn't in active use by main line operators anymore (but it is still used on museum lines), because it is designed to be operated from outside the cabin. Something that is considered unsafe by todays standard.

[Legoless]

The Dutch version ("Sik") isn't in active use by main line operators anymore (but it is still used on museum lines), because it is designed to be operated from outside the cabin. Something that is considered unsafe by todays standard.

British shunters are all designed to enclose the driver and have larger windscreens (with wipers). That may be partly because some shunters actually travelled some distance- some very minor freight branchlines (eg china clay) were operated exclusively by shunters- so they had to be a bit more accomodating than this little Dutch one- despite the fact that the majority of shunters were built during the steam era- most have been scrapped by now as most freight trains operate as a unit rather than being constantly separated and joined as wagons are dropped off, etc, at various sidings along the route.

There used to be a coal wholesalers across the yard from my school, so I often watched coal wagons being dropped off and shunted by a very ancient and virtually derelict diesel shunter (I think it was a Barclay's)- that practice was archaic by early 1980's standards and was soon to end. I don't think the coal hopper wagons were actually braked as the train always ran with a brake van (or 'caboose' in US-speak)at the rear- necessitating a fair amount of shunting manoevers to split and re-form the train.

Had I spent more time on my lessons and less time watching trains (or otherwise daydreaming) I might have done much better in life!