I'm on the fence with this one. I was going to pass but looking at the specs and its history in the Insider Club news has my attention. This thing is huge! 105mm over the buffers would make it far and away the longest loco on my layout. Plus it is one of a kind. I figured it would not impress on the track with its rather bland styling. But I do like massive loco's ;)

I was a fan before it was released. I already thought about kitbashing BR216's..

Really loved that V320 release and didn't think twice to call my dealer!

Look around on eBay. Or perhaps someone wants to order it for you.
I don't have the membership, still I own a few Insiders..

Marklin says “two driven wheel sets per truck”. I do not see any mention of a minimum turning radius.
Apparently this will be coming with a long warranty.
I’m feeling that as a current insider I may as well get one. They are easily traded if I change my mind or don’t like it and it’s better to have them around than not ;)

Thanks Alan, that's a very kind offer - I might take you up on that!

All the best


Chris

Did this locomotive launch yet? I've been waiting for it for over a year now. It was pushed to "Spring 2023" and now it's just part of the Marklin site. Has anyone received this locomotive? Thanks - Barry

It's even announced in another pack
https://www.marklin.nl/p..._torrpdb_pi1%5Blang%5D=2
06/2023 :)

Yes, I contacted my dealer Z-Scale Hobo and he said June. I know there isn't a lot of excitement around this loco, but it fits perfectly into my 8910 Toporama!

Some are already delivered to stores :)
Waiting on mine

Hello everyone, hope all is well.

I may be way off with this idea, but I have been told, there is always someone who will not be purchasing a certain model. Perhaps as a member, there is an entitlement to purchase all insider models, across all scales. Because of this, there is someone who’s is into the HO items who has no interest in purchasing a Z item. This persons membership (insider number)could then be used by another.

Your vendor would have to make this happen, if this is correct. I am testing this now, I pre-ordered the Insider ETA, and don’t have a membership.

Just a thought, perhaps a defective thought, but maybe worthy of consideration.

Take good care.

Dwight

Hello again.

This might support my statement above, but I don’t have experience with the Marklin Insider club.

It is possible, Marklin just wants a member number and provides the product to the vendor. Where it goes after that is not a concern for them. Seems if a member item is not purchased by the holder, and thereafter goes to another purchaser, they still sell that item. From the viewpoint of Marklin, it is preferable to sell an item which would otherwise remain in inventory.

The member items still remain limited and desirable to some, but are of no interest to others.

Take good care.

Dwight

The Insider items are only made in the quantity that is ordered by 'members'. Some of these members may be phantom members registered by shops to increase the number of items they can order without having fully signed up members because they know they will be able to sell the items anyway.

My dealer contactee me. Ready for pickup! 🤩

Sooooo small update

Hopped in the Miata and went on my V320 mission.
A few accidents and heavy traffic forced me on to the B roads.
Luckily it's a nice spring day with blue sky and plenty of sun 🌞

About an hour later I picked up the V320 and was zooming on the highway back home.

Back home I took the time to take a closer look. She's detailed. Weights a fair bit and is quite long!
Money well spent 😉🤭

Hello, hope all is well

I got this and there is more about this prototype on the Marklin site.

Here is the link: https://www.maerklin.de/...ts/details/article/88320

Just scroll down and click on the arrow to read Prototype Information.

Take good care, have a great evening.

Dwight

Congratulations! Please do tell us about the running characteristics once you've had the loco on the track!

Cheers


Chris

Well I divide budget between photography/the mx5/trains.


With fuel getting more and more expensive and speed limits stricter... The trains collection grows and the car stays at home more.

Didn't yet put my test track up. But the look and feel make it clearly a winner.

Here it weights 47 gram !

What gives you that idea?
Locos need a schedule overhaul every 8 years.

It was overhauled for use with Wiebe in 2000. So there must have been another schedule overhaul in 2008.
In 2015 an axle bearing had a damage and caught fire and they decided the loco wasn't worth repairing and paying for another schedule overhaul in 2016.

I noticed that when I was adding 88320 to my list.

Funnily enough I was running my BR 232s at the weekend. I think I had my 88132 (34g) loaded up with 8 or 9 bogie coaches and was surprised to find 88136 (54g) could only manage one more, which surprised me given the difference in weight.

Cheers


Chris

Edited by user 04 June 2023 21:26:44(UTC)  | Reason: Translated into English...

Hello, hope all is well.

Great you got one!

I will be interested in how this model does on hills. It has a long distance between the front and rear bogies. I don’t think this will help, but I might be surprised.

Take good care. That 212 is a good medium locomotive, I have the 88690, the first blue one released and it has been a good one.

Dwight

the yellow one has been spotted in the wild too!

Hello, hope all is well.

Yellow!!?? I gotta have one of those!

Take good care.

Dwight

My 88320 arrived today. First impressions are very good - excellent detail and a nice runner - smooth and with good slow speed control.

I think other people have commented that the engine room lighting is a bit bright - very much so at high speed - so I might try and tone that down with a piece of tracing paper or somesuch. My only other gripe would be with the contacts which bring power from the bogies to the body which are bright silver and quite obtrusive. I might try and touch in a bit of black paint to hide them a bit.

Whilst it's a very long locomotive, it's also quite slender and looks almost t a different scale that other locomotives.

Here it is next to 88136



And here it is next to 88203



In case anyone is interested, here are a couple of videos of the loco in action

88320_1.mp4 (16,021kb) downloaded 28 time(s).

88320_2.mp4 (10,015kb) downloaded 26 time(s).

In terms of haulage, it could manage 7 bogie coaches around my small layout with little or no wheelslip, but 8 was too much for it. Meanwhile my trusty 88132 could manage 8 with a bit of wheelslip or 9 with a lot, but it still got round eventually. For all its extra weight 88136 could only manage 10, again with an awful lot of wheelslip. I've speculated before whether the grip improves as the wheels are used and get polished up a bit.




Hope this is of interest


Chris

Hello, hope all is well.

Those are great videos, appreciate you sharing them. You sure do get your mail quickly over there, seems you told us about your purchase just a day or two ago.

I am partial to the yellow Wiebe locomotive, and I am certain it will perform in the same way as your 88320. It is impressive in the red DB scheme, I agree.

I recall a while back watching a Youtube of the Weibe operations and two locomotives were shown almost side by side. Anyway, at first glance, I mistakenly thought these two diesels were a BR 218 and the other a BR 216. I didn't realize until later that I was actually looking at the 320 and a 218. The best I can describe the 320, is to say, it looks like a 216 but stretched out. At the time, I did not know that the 320 is as long at our Swiss Croc.

I have several of the Weibe locomotives and wagons, and was interested in the 81320 set more because of its association to this firm. A bonus would have been for it to be a good puller, but from your evaluation, it seems it is not better that the 232. Most Wiebe wagons are lightweight two axle wagons but a few are the four axle ones. I believe, the 320 will be able to pull all of my Wiebe wagons without issue, but I will have to wait to see. The flat wagons in this set are four axle and made of metal, making them very heavy. It might be a challenge, for sure.

I agree, that contacts should be hidden a bit from the factory. It is strange, it seemed the contacts were coming out blackened from the factory just a short while ago. Now, blackening is perhaps a cost cutting omission and we must take care of this ourselves.

I was interested in the interior light on this locomotive and expected it would have been a feature on the 232 but wasn't. I would hope the bright light could be tamed a bit. Let us know how your solution works. The gauge I use is does the light come thru the shell when it should just come thru the windows or lenses. Coming thru the shell itself is definitely not good. I have used black paper to prevent lights coming thru the walls of my buildings. Perhaps this will work on this loco too or I might use that liquid/paste material which I have previously mentioned. This can be painted on and it will cut down the light or change the color too.

I know there were some notices concerning the 320 before its release and now there are some comments like this on the Wiebe loco. Trainini had this update:

https://www.trainini.eu/...with-v-320-on-the-market

It seems you are overall satisfied with this locomotive, glad to hear. An Insider model is more rare than the standard issue item and is a great addition to your collection.

Thank you for your report. I appreciate it.

Take good care.

Dwight