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Originally posted by HemmerichLots of people know that the CISALPINPO pool contains both "genuine" and Eurofima type SBB Apm's/Bpm's; especially those who have ridden on this train or who see and observe it regularly.
Bean counters in particular are expected to know also that a number of CISALPINO Eurofima cars are registered both with SBB and FS.
A few issues here:
1) AFAIK there are no Eurofima coaches in Cisalpino livery. The SBB coaches that were repainted for this use are SBB EC coaches (1993). The Italian coaches that were repainted in the Cisalpino livery are Italian UIC-Z A, B and BH coaches and Grand Comfort Dining Car and UIC-X Baggage coach. These coaches look remarkably similar to the Eurofima coaches they were based on, but like the SNCB and OBB variants, they too have slight differences that can be used to tell them apart.
2) The Cisalpino Loks were only used on the Simplon-Loetschberg and Simplon-Rhone Valley routes. Most of those routes saw those loks pulling repainted SBB EC material or Trenitalia XMPR stock (Milano-Geneva). The main trains with FS CIS liveried stock were the Canaletto and the Cinque Terre over the Gotthard to Chiasso and points south.
3) On the Gotthard route, the Cisalpino trains were pulled by either Re 4/4II (often MU) or by Re 460, depending on which Fahrplan. The 484s were used between Milano and Geneva and between Milano and Bern. Re 4/4IIs or Re 460s were used on the stretch from Bern to Basel and back.
4) ACME's set was composed of entirely Italian rolling stock. The matching lok would have been used to pull ex-SBB stock, which was at one point available from Wabu.
I am not a bean counter. My collection represents trains I have been on or have seen on my trips in Europe. It is at once a hobby, it is a collection of toys, and a remembrance of things seen, people met and experiences on that particular trip. Ever so often, I look at my display, and the trip comes back to me.
If you don't care about your models being prototypical, then why doesn't Maerklin just make a 185 and a 182 and then just repaint them for every country? Wouldn't you rather have a realistic (but still playable) model? That is all I ask for.
As far as the original posting, I have already stated that the information contained in the New Items Brochure referred to all three coaches in the Set being registered with the SBB. The add-on coach was identified as Italian. Mr. Hemmerich's photo shows that one of the coaches in the set is identified as a ex-FS BH. That information was not available to anybody reading the New Items Brochure, and could only be gleaned by visiting the Messe or inside info from Maerklin.
As with the Gottardo, we rely on information contained in the New Items Pages. If that info later changes, we are not always in the know.
As far as the Set, I had deduced that the Eurofima A was a Trenitalia (FS) coach, because the SBB has not provided any of this coach type for Cisalpino use. One coach could be clearly identified as a SBB A type EC coach, leaving the other as the "open seating second class coach registered with the SBB" (see 4366) which would not be prototypically accurate.
If it is in fact a FS BH, then it is a little closer to the actual model, but still not entirely prototypical. But then it is the text in the New Items Brochure that is not correct, so once again, the inaccuracy is the result of sloppy preparation at Marklin.
This whole issue was caused by either incorrect models or incorrect description, and I as a Marklin customer have the right to bring it up in a forum about Marklin trains without being branded a bean counter.
Regards
Mike C
