Hello!

Here's my review of Re 421 (Re 4/4 II) from the M* starter set 29481:

In the box the loco lies on a long strip of felt - I should have dusted her before taking the pictures.

The locos has yellow LEDs (three front lights, one tail light), no red tail light. Tail light cannot be switched off separately.

Loco looks very detailed.
The dark frame at the big "g" from cargo is not prototypical. The mould is prepared for the number plate that the loco had in earlier eras.

The loco has spoked wheels and two different pantographs - just like the prototype.
It includes closed front skirts (that can be mounted after removing the NEM pocket).
However, the closed skirt collided with the truck - a piece of sandpaper solved this.
Before (left) and after (right) the sandpaper treatment:


The loco can be operated from catenary - but the manual is outdated (it describes a switch that was replaced by a jumper; this has been discussed here before, but though this is a new model they still have the wrong description in the manual.
The Mobile Station that comes with the set already includes 29481 in its database; the MS offers to set ACC and DEC separately (which is not supported by the decoder).

The decoder is mounted on a 21 pole plug underneath the PCB (there are free solder pads on the PCB and the light module):

Is there a way to activate red rear lights? I don't know, but maybe somebody else can tell...

The loco has a decoder of the 60760 type and the normal 5-pole high efficiency propulsion.
14 speed steps only, but with a long acceleration and braking delay it works OK.
The motor is rather quiet compared to other 5-pole locos (not as quiet as a c-sine).
Since the decoder is only plugged on, it should be simple to convert this loco to mfx (or DCC ).

The print looks very good and very detailed:

Manufacturer signs printed silver, other information printed white.
The text SBB CFF FFS Cargo should be on the height of the door handle, so it's too deep on the model.

You can see through the engineer's cab which has a reproduction of the interior.

Two more pictures:



I was too late to get a 37345 so I'm happy to have this loco now.

The major difference between this model and the 37345 is that the red painted area on the left end of the locomotive extends further than it did on the 421 397 (37345).

As far as I know, only that locomotive had the shorter red area, the rest having been painted with equal red areas on each end.

The 421 397 has been almost exclusively been used for passenger trains on the Zuerich-Lindau route. The 421 374 has also been used for this purpose, but has also seen use as a freight hauler into Germany.

I think that I will pass on this lok, because I already have the 37345 and also Hag's Re 420 307 in the same colours.

I would consider a model of a Re 4/4III (11351-11370) if either Maerklin or Hag release one in the Cargo livery.

AFAIR the 37345 did not come with a red taillight. That feature was only on the 37343 TEE lok. The 37345 came with high beam LEDs, the same as the lok from the 29859 set.

Regards

Mike C

"The text SBB CFF FFS Cargo should be on the height of the door handle, so it's too deep on the model."

See the following link. There is an example with a lower printed numbering but not for this road number unless Maerklin has a picture of it as modeled. Nice model anyway. You can see how it looked before the repaint near the bottom of the web site.

http://www.trainweb.org/re2/Re420_421.htm#Re_421

Thanks for the photos - they make this look so good, now I want one too!

Very nice!

My wish list just keeps getting longer.

Ray

Hi: Märklin makes the 26534 set with an mfx Re 4/4 II in green with three passenger coaches. Is the guts of this Lok the same as that? If not what are the differences? Also, the 26534 Lok has no sounds, is that also the case with this Lok? Thanks.--MM

If you look at the pictures that I posted for the 421 374 and 421 397 you can see the differences between the loks.
The major difference was the size of the red painted area on the left side of the locomotive, followed by the positioning of the SBB CFF markings.

If Maerklin took the time to correctly reproduce the red painted area, why wouldn't they also apply the logo at the correct place?

Once again, an example of Maerklin's not fully following through on design. Somebody at M should have noticed that on all of the loks (except 421 397), the logo is in a slightly higher position. Especially after they took the care to reproduce the other differences.

Lutz, if Maerklin made a model of Re 420 276, would you expect it to have the short (Re 421) handrails or the original Re 4/4II version?
Would it be OK if Maerklin missed that detail too?

Regards

Mike C

Lu , how does one get an invitation to see and comment on a Preproduction presentation.??
does one have to work for Marklin or be in Senior management. ???

If a person got lucky and received an Invite does Marklin pay for travel and Hotel expenses???

Mike , have you ever received an invite??
No ??
Not like LU, you can only comment after production begins.

NN

Lutz,

where you seem to have a problem and appear to be pissing off a lot of the other members of this forum is that not all of us are in Germany and can attend the Messe and the various other shows.
Our local dealers do not have New Items Presentations. We are just lucky to get the New Items Brochure by early Summer or to see the flyer on the web.

So, we cannot browse the models in February. We count on people like you who can attend the fair and then inform us through this and other forums and also provide feedback on glaring errors to Maerklin and other manufacturers on our behalf.

You assume that we all benefit from the same opportunities as you do, which is far from the truth. Yes, I could go to the Messe and spend a couple of thousand EUROS, but that would use up much of my yearly budget allocated to the hobby.

So, if you want to be of use, provide us with better information in February, so that we can be aware of new models and bring corrections to the attention of the right department on a timely basis.

Appreciate the fact that you are in Germany and assist those of us who are not, instead of getting on our collective alarm clocks.

Respectfully yours,

Mike C

Oooh noooo!! [V]

This topic is starting to head down the path of topic "60212 Central Station not discontinued!"

I don't think we can have every topic currently in discussion degenerating like this every time.

Very nice model. I have a green version from the earlier starter set (this one is nicer). These kind of models make me want to have a 2nd era V layout next to the DRG era II layout I already have.

By the way, the big empty footprint on the PCB look like that of the BST51/BST52 darlington transistor (SOT 89 package) I have some of those left. The other footprint are for resistors and BC857 (SOT23 footprint). You can use them to amplify the AUX3 and AUX4 outputs of a lokpilot V3, and thus install the high beam lights as in the green ReII. I wonder whether the necessary LEDs are present on the LED board. It would be difficult to install them afterwards as they seem to be bonded directly to the LED PCB.

Bert

Getting back to the model, for those who may be interested, Maerklin is releasing a limited edition double pack of Re 4/4IIs (one red/one green) for this Swiss market.
It is reported that these loks will have "bright white" LEDs. It should therefore be possible to order the LED panels for this new set and retrofit older Re 4/4II models to the new LEDs.
Whether the new panels will also house either high beams or single or dual red LEDs is unknown.
The only thing that I would like to see is that if they do include red lights, that the options be as follows.

F2 3+1 white/3+2 red.
F3 2 Red

With the earlier models, the red had to be manually selected and the main lighting (f0) had to be deselected to avoid appearing pink.

But, honestly, I would rather see a Re 460 with dual red LEDs first.

Regards

Mike C

Lutz, my information came from one of my Swiss dealers, who provided the information based on a list of models obtained from Maerklin or from people connected to Maerklin. The set had been described to me as a Cargo Re 4/4. I corrected the info when I obtained more info from a few more sources.



1) The opinion that members of this forum seem to have of you would be greatly improved if you would post more pictures of new models at Messezeit and we could then use your information to plan our yearly purchases. Imagine if people were thanking you rather than calling you names.

2) You originally reported that the 29841 would have bright white LEDs, which turned out not to be the case. At least I corrected my posting when I learned it was not a Re 420 but a 421.

3) I live in Montreal. The nearest Maerklin dealer with any stock is about 400km away. The nearest dealer with a reasonable amount of stock is 500km away. These dealers DO NOT go to Nuernberg. It is lucky if they receive the New Items brochures by June. I cannot afford to go to Germany just for the Messe, so I have to rely on Internet Shops, forums and other sources for reports on the Messe, New Items and more. Miba is a good resource, but do not have all the details. Mags and websites often post manufacturer photos (touched up) or digitally rendered.

You are lucky to live in Germany and can attend these and other events, like the new model presentations at dealers, digital seminars, etc, not to mention the open house(s) at Hag and other companies and the like.

I am asking you to post photos of Swiss and Swiss related new items, so that I can see them in more detail before they are released. I am sure that other members would appreciate you sharing photos of their preferred models as well. It would not take too much time to set up a gallery of new items for us.

You seem to prefer arguing than being constructive.

You will recall that I had posted that I had contacted Maerklin regarding the 26544 Set. I emailed them to remind them that the Re 484s were used only on the Milano-Bern and Milano-Geneva segments of the Cisalpino routes. The only Gotthard related route operated by Re 484 was one late night run from Milano to Bellinzona and back in the morning. These loks would not be seen on the Gotthard route in normal operation. In the areas of operation of the Re 484, the trains were composed of ex-SBB EC stock painted in the CIS livery. Other trains on the Rhone river valley had Trenitalia IC Plus coaches.
I thanked them for the model and wrote that I was looking forward to the Set, although more for the coaches than for the lok.
I then posted a message about my concerns on this (and other forums), which you criticized.

So, if I do make a suggestion, you criticize my action and now, if I don't I am criticized for that too.

So once again, you have not much credibility here. Take some time and think about how you want people to think of you.

I am not a rivet counter. If I was, you would be hearing about the molded on wipers instead of separately applied ones, about the oversized UIC socket between the windows, about the incorrect pantograph, that the side window frames should be painted blue or black and not red or whatever other minor flaws that could be detected. My concern is only that the model be as accurate as possible, so when I criticize green windows (Ae 6/6) or skirting (RAe) these are not minor rivets.
I understand why the Hectorrail 189 has the cameras and wipers while the 474 doesn't.
I am far from a rivet counter. All I ask is that they put a little more effort into continuity and into design verification. The LS Baggage and the Gottardo could have used major help, The new 421 just a minor touch (logo height) and the red Re 4/4I could have had gray or silver pantos.

As far as I know, there are no rivets in windows, decals and pantographs.

I am glad I could take a few minutes out of my day to debate this issue with you.

Regards

Mike C

I think it's good that Members of the forum should point out deviations between the model and the prototype. This is welcome, and usually doesn't put anyone off buying it anyway!

What is a bit annoying is when some members "trash" a model completely, especially when others have paid good money and are proud of their new model. This hasn't happened in this post, by the way.

Let's all be constuctive, informative, but above all, polite!

Ray

However, when I look at the length of certain postings in this thread (and earlier Swiss model related threads which developed - or might I use the expression degenerated? - in a similar fashion...), I just can't refrain from wondering about the excess of free time some lucky guys seem to have (or how little paperwork evidently clutters their office desks) - but I also can't help musing about how much more satisfaction other people can draw from simply enjoying our great hobby instead of measuring the size of UIC sockets, etc....[:0]

Tom excellent pictures . Pity the thread spoiled again.
For me a model does not need to be an exact replica of the original as I probably wont see an orginal anyway but I appreciate the views of those who do wish to spend their cash on a model which can look more like the original with little difficulty.
I see nothing wrong with both views.
What will annoy people even more is that i usually buy HAG for my Swiss locos not because they look better but just because I like them.
Romans post and Stephans are pretty much both on the mark.

David

First, thanks for the nice review Thomas!

Hi Mike. How do you like your HAG Re 420 307?

Very good and clear pictures, Tom.

There you have it. Another subsidary of FLASH ENTERPRISES, INC.

oh forget it

As per all my other Hag models, I am very impressed with the finish and the running characteristics.

As this lok was part of a Re 10/10 Set with a Re 620, I have been doing some experimenting on being able to operate the loks either together or separately.

I attached a slider to the Re 620 so that it could receive it's own power.

My second observation was that Hag isolated one of the lighting contacts so that only the frontmost and rear most lights of the MU would illuminate. I discovered that using the settings for the built in ESU decoders (AC Motorola), that the lights could be shut off using decoder settings, both in analog and in digital operation.

All that is then required is to drive each lok onto the programming track and set the lights to operate normally and then drive off in normal mode. I was then able to shield and stow away the connecting cable between the two loks and make coupling/uncoupling easier.

I am also considering trying to see if I can power the second lok using Maerklin's new current conducting coupler (72020).

All in all, I am very pleased with all my SBB Cargo loks.

Next on the list is probably the Roco Re 482.2, if Maerklin and ACME can't finally get their AC models onto store shelves.

The other Cargo loks I may take the plunge for would be a Re 430 (Re 4/4III) and maybe the Mehano Am843 if the price is right. I may go for the Infra version instead.

As far as Maerklin is concerned, I hope that the Trix Traxx eventually come out in AC, and same for the ICE 1 in 1:87 (but with the Swiss pantos.)

Regards

Mike C

Thanks for the reply Mike! I've been admiring the HAG Re 10/10 in Cargo livery since it first appeared!! Maybe someday........

If the ESU 1601 has a 21 Pin plug then yes I think so.

The problems with swapping decoders comes when the locos has a Compact C-Sine I believe.

Regards
Ashley