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Borsig 53 (37022) - first impressions
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Offline Sam  
#1 Posted : 19 March 2005 01:00:31(UTC)
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Sam


Joined: 04/02/2002(UTC)
Posts: 799
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Just got it in the Fedex drop off today... God forbid, I ran it! I had to.. I doubt it's going to be so collectable as to demand putting away into storage..

Anyway, apart from a bug in how it interfaces (more on that later) with the Mobil Station, it's a cool lok and well worth the $600ish price it goes for. I have to say, it's a bit odd how it soundsthough, not quite so "Cho Cho" like most steamers, and more like a diesel or something... but then they never really had a prototype to listen to for the model.

It's quite large, although it's no BigBoy, the whistle is that used on the other German steamers which is kind of disappointing. I would have like a more "American" sounding whistle on this model since we never really had a prototype to use as a base. However, Marklin claims to have used the blue-prints and plans for this prototype in developing the model, so they probably had the whistle spec. inside.

My biggest complaint is that they (for $500+) should have made it 7 axle drive, and not 4.. it seems to slip quite a bit with a heavy consist, or with a R1 radius turn. the only other problem was the lack of display for two icons in the Mobil Station, one for the sound, and the other for the fans of the Condenser unit.. They work, they just don't have the icon.. I had to call my dealer and ask, as I was completely worried that my unit was defective and didn't have a working set of fans.

The MFX decoder seems to work as advertise otherwise, with other MFX (37886) on the layout as well as some FX units, all worked well. Apparently when I get my CS, I will have access to 5 more sounds.. Kinda amazing how many sounds they pack into these things now-a-days (glad I found digital).

Since this loc is totally non-prototypical, I have it pulling a consist of 6 4867 (Heavy flat cars) and a single 4663 flat car as well as a single 4618 Depressed center heavy flat car. They are all black in color and look good with the "Photo Gray" of the lok... very Military looking.

I will take a photo and put up a review (cut and paste much of this) soon, but I just wanted to share my first impressions, while they were fresh.

I do recommend this loc.




Era I-V / HO & 1 Gauge / C-Track & Mobil Station, with Central Station.
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Offline frankv  
#2 Posted : 19 March 2005 01:40:02(UTC)
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frankv


Joined: 04/01/2005(UTC)
Posts: 137
Location: , Florida
Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote:Originally posted by Sam
<br />

My biggest complaint is that they (for $500+) should have made it 7 axle drive, and not 4.. it seems to slip quite a bit with a heavy consist, or with a R1 radius turn.


Sam,

Not sure what you mean by slip, I am guessing that it is the front set of drivers based on my experience.

I have 33021 DB version, that I upgraded to Digital from Delta, and it sounds like the Mech. is the same. The front Driver set is weighted in such a way that the pressure on the first set of wheels is greater than on the third set. So, on occasion, my lok would be running down the track with the front drivers not moving at all, just sliding along.

How I solved this was to put a traction tire on one of the middle wheels of the front free running drivers. I haven't had a problem with any wobble, and the sliding front drivers issue was solved.

You are right, the 53K is an impressive Lok.

Regards,
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Offline Davy  
#3 Posted : 19 March 2005 01:52:57(UTC)
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Davy


Joined: 29/08/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,915
Location: Netherlands
The loc has 14 functions and what I have heared from others it is a little underpowered. This loc is so big you never must drive it trough a r1 curve.
M-track with a CS2.
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Offline prc  
#4 Posted : 19 March 2005 02:19:56(UTC)
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prc


Joined: 05/01/2005(UTC)
Posts: 283
Location: Granby, Ct
Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote:Originally posted by Davy
<br />The loc has 14 functions and what I have heared from others it is a little underpowered. This loc is so big you never must drive it trough a r1 curve.



I have had mine for about four months and run it through R1 curves with no problems. It is very smooth running and I have not had any problem on any curves or switches.




Paul
Granby, Ct.
USA
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Offline prc  
#5 Posted : 19 March 2005 02:28:31(UTC)
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prc


Joined: 05/01/2005(UTC)
Posts: 283
Location: Granby, Ct
Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote:Originally posted by Sam
<br />Just got it in the Fedex drop off today... God forbid, I ran it! I had to.. I doubt it's going to be so collectable as to demand putting away into storage..

Anyway, apart from a bug in how it interfaces (more on that later) with the Mobil Station, it's a cool lok and well worth the $600ish price it goes for. I have to say, it's a bit odd how it soundsthough, not quite so "Cho Cho" like most steamers, and more like a diesel or something... but then they never really had a prototype to listen to for the model.

It's quite large, although it's no BigBoy, the whistle is that used on the other German steamers which is kind of disappointing. I would have like a more "American" sounding whistle on this model since we never really had a prototype to use as a base. However, Marklin claims to have used the blue-prints and plans for this prototype in developing the model, so they probably had the whistle spec. inside.

My biggest complaint is that they (for $500+) should have made it 7 axle drive, and not 4.. it seems to slip quite a bit with a heavy consist, or with a R1 radius turn. the only other problem was the lack of display for two icons in the Mobil Station, one for the sound, and the other for the fans of the Condenser unit.. They work, they just don't have the icon.. I had to call my dealer and ask, as I was completely worried that my unit was defective and didn't have a working set of fans.

The MFX decoder seems to work as advertise otherwise, with other MFX (37886) on the layout as well as some FX units, all worked well. Apparently when I get my CS, I will have access to 5 more sounds.. Kinda amazing how many sounds they pack into these things now-a-days (glad I found digital).

Since this loc is totally non-prototypical, I have it pulling a consist of 6 4867 (Heavy flat cars) and a single 4663 flat car as well as a single 4618 Depressed center heavy flat car. They are all black in color and look good with the "Photo Gray" of the lok... very Military looking.

I will take a photo and put up a review (cut and paste much of this) soon, but I just wanted to share my first impressions, while they were fresh.

I do recommend this loc.







Sam, I had the same question about the chuffing (or lack of). Luis got me the answer on this (pasted bdelow).

"Anyway, the lack of chuffing sound must be due to the fact that those loks did not chuff at all. The steam was not vented to the atmosphere, after being used in the cylinders, rather it was routed to the special condensing tender, condensed back into water and reused.

So: no chuffing! Chuffing is waste, kondenstenderlokomotiven = recicling!

Luis"

Paul
Granby, Ct.
USA
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Offline 5HorizonsRR  
#6 Posted : 19 March 2005 04:31:12(UTC)
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5HorizonsRR

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2004(UTC)
Posts: 2,865
Location: CA, USA
Hi Guys,
The locomotive isn't underpowered, it is just the same as any other Marklin locomotive. We just consider it underpowered because it is so much larger, therefore we expect to pull more- even though in theory it should pull less due to the additional weight of its own boiler and extra axles.Either way I can't complain because I don't even have a layout large enough to max mine out!
SBB Era 2-5
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Offline Sam  
#7 Posted : 19 March 2005 04:39:10(UTC)
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Sam


Joined: 04/02/2002(UTC)
Posts: 799
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Frank, the slip I am talking about is due to the fact that the forward 3 axles are not powered in my opinion. As mentioned by Davy it's a bit underpowered for such a large loc, and I think had Marklin done with it what they did with BigBoy and powered all main axles, it would have been much better (and worth the extra $100 it may have cost to do.

That said, I love it, and I love the multitude of sound effects... Can't wait for the CS now!

Paul, thanks for the education on the "Condenser" .. I figured it had something to do with the lack of sound, but wasn't sure.
Era I-V / HO & 1 Gauge / C-Track & Mobil Station, with Central Station.
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Offline frankv  
#8 Posted : 19 March 2005 06:30:21(UTC)
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frankv


Joined: 04/01/2005(UTC)
Posts: 137
Location: , Florida
Just out of curiosity, when was this lok announced. The first time that I even heard of the 37022 was on some dealer's web-sites a couple months back.

Does M* do an occasional “Stealth” release, or did I throw something out without reading it?

Frank
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Offline Sam  
#9 Posted : 19 March 2005 07:23:53(UTC)
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Sam


Joined: 04/02/2002(UTC)
Posts: 799
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Frrank, this one was kinda "stealth" for me, I just saw it when I got the 2005 Yearbook and had to have it, but by that point they were all sold out, so I had to pay an additional $120 over original retail to get one from Germany.

As for the power issue, I ran a test consist of 30 different cars which had to weigh better than 20lbs as I weigh many of my freight cars down... My 39340 (BR 152) pulled it with no problems, minimal slip at the start, but otherwise good speed control.... the Borsig was struggling at low speed, and only when the power was way up and with significant slip did it move the consist at a descent speed. Mind you, this is pretty realistic since the BR 152 is a 8700+ HP loc, and the 53 is 3000hp... but from model standpoint, my friend's 37990 Big Boy with 8 axle drive was more than able to pull 40 cars that we pieced into a super consist... I think not powering the 3 forward axles was a mistake and created additional drag on if anything.

Again though, I love this loc, and it does well with compared to most steamers..


btw... prices on this thing are going up by the day... I first tried to bid on one on ebay that ended up going for $629, so I went with my source from Germany at $575, then now I see a "buy it now" for $649... Original retail was $495.. so this model (for the time being) appears to be pretty hot.

Era I-V / HO & 1 Gauge / C-Track & Mobil Station, with Central Station.
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Offline HueyCE  
#10 Posted : 19 March 2005 13:45:53(UTC)
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HueyCE


Joined: 12/01/2003(UTC)
Posts: 2,528
Location: Groton, Connecticut
Thanks for posting your impressions. I look forward to your review.

Ira
Building German Era I-II layout(Mk IIIc).UserPostedImage
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Offline Davy  
#11 Posted : 21 March 2005 15:18:57(UTC)
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Davy


Joined: 29/08/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,915
Location: Netherlands
The model of this loc is made in the eighties and can only drive with the five star engine from Marklin. Putting a new engine in this loc. Will also mean making a new metal frame and boiler. So making this loc a lot more expensive. The investment for doing so is to big.

I think this version is the last version we will see for a couple of years.
M-track with a CS2.
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Offline Sam  
#12 Posted : 21 March 2005 17:45:03(UTC)
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Sam


Joined: 04/02/2002(UTC)
Posts: 799
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Thanks Davy.... I don't wish it to sound like I am at all dissatisfied with it, as I'm not. However the only other item that I would have done if I were Marklin (and I'm sure this would not have been expensive), is I would have made the condenser fans come on and go off a bit more prototypically (spin-up and spin down), rather than just suddenly come on and off, which is a bit toy like.

Era I-V / HO & 1 Gauge / C-Track & Mobil Station, with Central Station.
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