 Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC) Posts: 9,594 Location: Australia
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I spotted this item on the ESU website some months ago and asked my local dealer to order me one. He grumbled a bit, because he has to buy ESU stock from the USA and the freight cost from the USA in these days of COVID is at premium rates. So I agreed to split the freight cost with him and he placed the order for me.  Yesterday, I was not feeling well so study had to take a day off and I decided to run some trains. After 5 minutes or so, I noticed that my birthday loco from a long time ago  was limping (not unlike me on some days). A perfect time to test out the new Premium Foam Service Tray from ESU. As you can see from the image the major component is two foam sections. The front section is angled to allow for easy access to the side rods to change the tyres. They are separated by a magnetic strip, which is handy when you tip over the loco to eject the holding screws. Because it is foam, I am unlikely to do any soldering on this unit, but is is a good place to store the loco body, small parts and screws while you take the chassis off to do the soldering. I am also concerned for things like pantographs and other finicky things (like the delicate parts on Brawa locos) that will likely get caught on the foam. My thoughts are leaning toward using a tape to line the foam to prevent parts catching on the foam while maintaining the soft landing capability of the foam itself. I am also concerned that the foam looks a little like the stuff that was used to pack Marklin locos a couple of decades ago. A search on the forum will find references to how that product deteriorated over time. A quick review on the Internet shows this item for sale in Australian hobby stores for around A$30. In the USA, it seems to be around the US$20 mark. More details about the product are here -> https://www.esu.eu/en/pr...foam-train-service-tray/Value for money * Usefulness **** Durability *** |
Adrian Australia flag by abFlags.com |
 4 users liked this useful post by xxup
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Joined: 04/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 2,262 Location: Hobart, Australia
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Originally Posted by: xxup  I spotted this item on the ESU website some months ago and asked my local dealer to order me one. He grumbled a bit, because he has to buy ESU stock from the USA and the freight cost from the USA in these days of COVID is at premium rates. So I agreed to split the freight cost with him and he placed the order for me. Yesterday, I was not feeling well so study had to take a day off and I decided to run some trains. After 5 minutes or so, I noticed that my birthday loco from a long time ago was limping (not unlike me on some days). A perfect time to test out the new Premium Foam Service Tray from ESU. As you can see from the image the major component is two foam sections. The front section is angled to allow for easy access to the side rods to change the tyres. They are separated by a magnetic strip, which is handy when you tip over the loco to eject the holding screws. Because it is foam, I am unlikely to do any soldering on this unit, but is is a good place to store the loco body, small parts and screws while you take the chassis off to do the soldering. I am also concerned for things like pantographs and other finicky things (like the delicate parts on Brawa locos) that will likely get caught on the foam. My thoughts are leaning toward using a tape to line the foam to prevent parts catching on the foam while maintaining the soft landing capability of the foam itself. I am also concerned that the foam looks a little like the stuff that was used to pack Marklin locos a couple of decades ago. A search on the forum will find references to how that product deteriorated over time. A quick review on the Internet shows this item for sale in Australian hobby stores for around A$30. In the USA, it seems to be around the US$20 mark. More details about the product are here -> https://www.esu.eu/en/pr...foam-train-service-tray/Value for money * Usefulness **** Durability *** Hi Adrian,  Nice to see a modern version of this helpful aid-to-modeleisenbahners. Yours is truely the "premium" version. I first bought a similar foam loco cradle in the early 1980's from Mössmer (later acquired by Noch). They also made foam roadbed but as I have previously described in posts here, over the years it all crumbled away. Same with the loco foam work cradle.  At that time no one else was selling these units so I went to the local factory that made foam bed matresses and bought a small offcut for a couple of dollars (their asking price was nix !). I then carved this to replicate my crumblée and even recycled the screw-saving magnetic strip. It still remains viable today as seen in the image below (the lower is my original creation, the upper a later supplemental piece; the crenellated lefthand edge of the lower unit is the artwork of my Cocker Spaniel when he was a chewing pup  but he still oversees the layout work.) ... (recognise the current project-at-hand, Ross ?  )  Such items are certainly very useful  . I have not found the pantographs or other delicates of inverted locos catch on the foam, but it may be softer than yours. I would be concerned that tape placed over the foam would not yield to such delicate parts and would break them, whereas the foam submits and conforms. Regards, Philip 
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2 users liked this useful post by PJMärklin
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 Joined: 04/04/2013(UTC) Posts: 1,291 Location: Port Moody, BC
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I bought the Fohrmann Locomotive Cradle and am very happy with it, especially the little trays for the parts, bottles, etc..
Peter
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