My Fine Models E71 scale 1 model

New 20Dec2021, updated on 10Sep2024 (SBB Te 221 from Lematec, SBB Ee 3/3Other short electric locos. [26] new as ref. since I use it at several places. Studio Chilap, NSB EL 1, Photo of driver end 1, Print out PDF of driver’s base only, Märklin 37480, MSRS v.5.0, Pantographs, Roco, I caused a vertical bar to fall off. Figure Lutz, Järnvägshistoriskt forum, more on EL1 and Oc-loc (Oc-lok). Fig.17. Prototype couplings. Moro photos of the wagon. Revision date. Manufactured and designed in Korea). This note is in subgroup My Crocodile locomotive pages of group MODELS. I will try to describe this very fascinating and beautiful model from Fine Models in Germany, of a rather small Prussian «proto Crocodile», predating the long «Swiss Crocodile» (SBB Ce 6/8 II-III) by some five years. I hope that the contents will reveal my liking of this model! I consequently use «E71» and not «E 71» which is also used a lot. I also describe a small luggage wagon. Railway terminology is difficult for me, please comment or mail me when you find any error.

Background and references

Fig.1 – The Preußische E71 (Var.1 of K.P.E.V. EG 513) from Fine Models on My Shelf’s Railway Strip (MSRS v.4.0)

The model on fig.1 probably is maximally twisted, half way into my home made switch with radius 1.02 meter, from a left to a right curve.

Initial reference

I first discovered this model in a magazine. Read about it at 201:[E71, Preußische EG 511 bis 537].

Wiki-refs

English

History of rail transport in Germany.

German

MODELLBAU-WIKI [25].

About the later called E71 DR series (baureihe) E71.1 locomotive, the Preußische EG 511 bis EG 537 (this is the text that was used in the User Manual (translated: Prussian EG 511 to EG 537). K.P.E.V. is Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung (translated: Royal Prussian Railway Administration) – which seems to be some alias for Preußische Staatseisenbahnen (translated: Prussian State Railways).

About the per design preceding the E71, the EG 2, later called E70: Bayerische EG 2 (translated: Bavarian EG2). It was built for the K.Bay.Sts.B. (KBayStsB) Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahnen (translated: Royal Bavarian State Railways). It was ordered in 1912 and probably designed quite early, but not delivered before after WW1, in 1920. I think it has a stiff frame with two bogies mounted in each end, just like the Norwegian El 1 (El1).

My loco: EG 513 / E71 13

[16] is a very good reference for all about each E71 locos. Here are som extracts from the translated E71 part of it, and where I have picked out my loco, the EG 513:

The E71 series, also from Prussia, proved to be ideal for the Wiesen- and Wehratalbahn. The third locomotive, the EG 513, was first documented on October 6, 1915 in the Nieder Salzbrunn depot in Silesia (Schlesien). In 1920, 6 locomotives are documented: EG 511, 512, 513, 514, 515 and 516. All 6 locomotives were then in the Wroclaw State Railways in Silesia. In 1922 and 1923 they returned to the Halle Directorate. From the beginning of 1924, this type of locomotive was also stationed in the RBD Magdeburg, they were housed at the Magdeburg-Rothensee depot.

As far as I understand from the German Wikipedia article the EG 511 – EG 537 were renamed in 1926 by Deutsche Reichsbahn to the E71.1 series with numbers E71 11 – 37. Even if the EG 512 had been destroyed they did not drop «12». This means that my loco would have been renamed from EG 113 to E71 13. In other words, the engine frame still remains!

From the English translation of [16] (Die E71 (translation)) I have copy pasted everything «13»:

The third locomotive, the EG 513, was first documented on October 6, 1915 in the Nieder Salzbrunn depot in Silesia. In 1920, 6 locomotives are documented: EG 511, 512, 513, 514, 515 and 516. All 6 locomotives were then in the Wroclaw State Railways in Silesia. In 1922 and 1923 they returned to the Halle Directorate. From the beginning of 1924, this type of locomotive was also stationed in the RBD Magdeburg, they were housed at the Magdeburg-Rothensee depot.

In the years 1930/31 the E71 11, 13, 14, 17, 23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33 and 35 are stationed in Basel. On December 31, 1943, the following E71s were still in stock in Basel: E71 13, 14, 22, 26, 29, 32 and 33. May 1945 in Basel: E71 13, E71 22 and E71 33 were parked with war damage. In order to be able to resume full electrical operation as quickly as possible after the war, the E71 13 and E71 22 that had been damaged in the war were refurbished in a Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) workshop. E71 13 shunted from 30 August to 15 November 1946 at Olten. In 1946 the following 5 E71s were present in Basel: E71 13 (returned from SBB on 11/15/46), (plus some 5 more). In 1958 came the final end for the E71. On August 1, 1958, the E71 13 and E71 29 were put back from repairs. On November 29, 1958, they were finally retired.

Remaining locos

As far as I can see there are three remaining locos, also from [16] (2002, but I have updated Nov2022). See the Verblieb chapter at the German Wikipedia, here.

  1. E71 19 is in Augsburg Railway Park (Wikimedia Commons, here)
  2. E71 28 is at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin. (Wikimedia Commons, here)
  3. E71 30 is at the Dresden Transport Museum. (I have some pictures in this note, since I have seen it. Wikimedia Commons (here))
  4. E71 13 drive or engine frame, only as at the Eisenbahnmuseum Neustadt

Fig.7 – E71 with flash and a white paper as diffuser

Collision avoided!

Fig.2 – The Preußische E71 (Var.1 of K.P.E.V. EG 513) from Fine Models on MSRS v.4.0

Observe that on both of the above pictures the driver has halted for a second, since the cabin light is on. It is switched off automatically when the loco starts. Driver?

From my album

Fig.3 – The articulated E71 30 at Verkehrs Museum Dresden and a stiff EL1 2011 at Norsk Jernbanemuseum (Hamar)

Aside: for the right, bottom picture, read about it at [8].

I have actually been inside one of the remaining E71 at the beautiful Verkehrs Museum Dresden (Transport Museum Dresden) [5]. Plus, a stiff, single body version of it, the NSB El 1 (El1) at Norsk Jernbanemuseum (Norwegian Railway Museum) at Hamar in Norway [6] and [14]. Its single body frame has one bogie in each end, just like the mentioned Bavarian EG 2 (EG2). But the original E71 is a true articulated locomotive with two pivot joints, three body parts altogether – and it could certainly twist like a crocodile. In initial comments (above) I discussed whether this locomotive could be categorised a «crocodile» at my. There is no doubt: it is a crocodile type locomotive!

Fitting the driver

Fig.4 – Fitting the driver (Mr. Lutz from Fine Models) into the E71 (PDF) at the end 2 cabin

The loco didn’t come with any driver mounted, but it came with a nice, standing driver. He is Mr. Lutz, nothing less, «handmustered» (hand made) and very well dressed up, with his eyes fixed on the track ahead. (Update 16Apr2023: in the description of the loco it says «Lokführer von A. Lutz: €20,-«. Maybe it’s not «Mr. Lutz», but somebody «A. Lutz» who made it?) It was possible to fit him in, standing in front of the seat (which may not be tilted upwards), holding his hands on the steering wheel. But I needed to make a base for him that I fit on the floor behind the hot air input, as I did with the Märklin loco [7]. I basically used the same procedure as described there.

Also this time I didn’t want to glue him in place. (Him? I’ll get a second driver as well, one of these days.) I have no idea how you do this out there, but this works rather ok. Comment below for any better ideas!

Fig.6 – Waiting for switch direction

Yes I know, the fitted driver on the Märklin 55681 is glued to the floor. But none of those drivers fitted by me will be glued. What happens when somebody (hypothetically, of course) is just a little too curious – with the floor? I couldn’t bear the thought of it.

To preempt some: even if my solution covers perhaps a little too much of the very nice wooden plank floor. But painting my base with Humbrol enamel colour (color) gold(?) «MET 16» (AQ0016, here) – the result certainly protects the original floor and is ok enough. The structure of the enamel is quite nice as compared to the appearance of the floorboards. On the second base I also painted the hoops that hold the shoes in Humbrol «MATT 173» dark brown (since I didn’t have black). I also painted the brown lines between floorboards with this paint, with a very, very thin painting brush. It was only a brush I could use to mark the places where these lines should be, on a test placement of the base, inside the loco.

Then to the point: I started with a small piece of thick paper and gradually made newer that were larger, and then also had to trim them. But you can stand on the shoulders of this giant (..me!) and just print out the PDF of the base (here or here, the latter with slightly different end 2 and 1 bases). It should be to scale if it’s A4 – you can check that the red line is 100 mm long.

Fig.46. – Driver #2 for end 1

If so, you can cut out the bases in cardboard and then test-fit it in. For the end 2 I had used a 0.6 mm glass fibre board with some layout. For end 2 I used something called «Bendflex» (written on the few sheets I did recover from the waste bin at work), probably from the eighties, a 0.55 mm glass fiber (or bakelite from the smell of it when I soldered) board. Both had copper on each side. Observe that I did the scan of the bottom of the base. The red marks show where I bored holes for the copper straps, which I soldered in place. On the paper template base I drew a grid and saw where the figure could stand [2]-[3] of fig.4. It’s really keyhole surgery, or rather zero invasive surgery, so I used tweezers (with plastic on the tips!), plus that I took a plastic tube and used dental floss to hold around fig.4 [4]. The right photo is shot before I did the wider and better version, seen on the leftmost photo of [4]. Don’t tie the floss in a loop, because you want to just pull it out to remove it. See fig.46, where you may notice that the second Mr. Lutz does not have the same uniform as my first. Nice, so I won’t mistake one for the other. Both came from Fine Models.

This door never closed precisely into position, as did the other doors, when I received the loco. I now saw the problem. There is a magnet inside, just beside the feet of the figure, that will click the door into position. The problem was that the door was a little bended. I carefully bent it with my fingers, and now it shuts perfectly well. This magnet may stop the figure’s base, but if you lower it into and below the magnet, it should work. (Aside: The locking mechanism also was a problem for both of the fuse compartment doors. These also have magnet based locks, but the doors came as more or less friction based, hard to open. But I did succeed on carefully pushing the tab with my fingers to get the tab ready for the magnets. But the tabs may have been placed some small part of a millimetre too far «out» on the door, by design. With all respect (the model is very well designed and built) miniaturisation isn’t easy for anybody, I assume.)

Once in position, after trying a lot of times – I pressed the feet into the straps, almost with an inaudible click. Now the figure stands firmly in place without any glue. And the base is also loose. Meaning, if I tilt the loco or turn it upside down I may have to refit the base and driver.

You can see the result in the lower row of pictures. It’s just so nice.

E71 model

Which end is which?

On my model (Var.1 of K.P.E.V. EG 513) there is no lettering or numbering showing the end type or direction. I have stored the drawings of the other variants from the time when Fine Models presented them (I found them again, see [12] at «E71 Painting- and Lettering-layout»). Var. 2 to Var. 6 have a ‘H’ and ‘V’ on the locos, which I assume is «Hinten» (rear) and «Vorne» (front). The Var. 7 loco has ‘2’ and ‘1’ on it. On my loco, Var. 1, the drawing shows «END 2» and «END 1» beside the loco, not on it. But the User Manual says that functions «F8 = Panto FS2» and «F7 = Panto FS1» which would show the end type when you actuate them.

The arrows are the left and right indications on my Märklin Mobile Station 2 (MS2). Observe that the side of the red conductor has a meaning when that roof is placed correctly towards the insulators of the pantographs. There is a knife switch in each end.

Fig.5 – The younger SBB Ce 6/8 III (end II) with its older sibling E71 one late night (end 1)

Pantographs

See 201:[Masts]. There also is a chapter there, headed «Pantographs to reach wire?».

Loco meditation at low speed

I tried to run both the Märklin 55681 SBB Ce 6/8 III and the Fine Models’ E71 locos at the lowest possible speed. I have a Märklin Mobile Station 2 (MM2), using the first step there. I assume that’s the lowest possible step sent to the loco. I ran them from end to end on my 224:[layout MSRS v.4.1] – this is 199.1 cm buffer to buffer. Observe the elevation of 8 mm from left to right. For this test I had no sound.

The 55681 runs 199.1 – length 62.5 = 136.6 cm. It used 70 seconds in both directions. The drive mechanism and the regulator’s pulsing added no extra noise.

The E71 runs 199.1 cm – length 36.25 cm = 162.85 cm. It used 222 seconds running in direction 1 (uphill) and a longer time of 270 seconds in direction 2 (downhill). If I lifted the loco off the rail and placed it in the opposite direction, then there were the same running time and time difference for uphill vs. downhill. In other words, when the motors needed to deliver more power (uphill) it ran faster than going downhill. This is the opposite of what I expected. If I try a black box reasoning here (since I don’t know how the regulator is working) then: might this be called undershoot (PID regulator may give overshoot (here)..)?

The E71’s drive mechanism makes quite some noise due to the pulsing of the motors’ regulator when running uphill. At first I thought this somewhat surprising, maybe even somewhat annoying, but once I’ve got used to it then these meditative moments aren’t ruined at all! I have now ran it several times with my stopwatch app. Yes, it is meditative!

Some facts about the model

From the German Wikipedia article Preußische EG 511 bis EG 537. It was produced by AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG) (Find Ten Differences?) (I had to download it for scaling reasons: source: Wikipedia Commons, here)

  • This 1/32 model is manufactured in Korea, for Fine Models GmbH. Source [11]. Update Jan2023: After I bought the GwL 9257 Epoche 2 braungrün Deutsche Reichsbahn (FM 856313) wagon (below), I mailed them, and got the understanding that both that wagon and the E71 were also designed in Korea. Pretty skilled people over there!
  • This model is from epoch (epoch, era: here) 1d (1915 -1926)
  • This model came into Fine Models GmbH [2] through Kiss-Modellbahnen Deutschland [9] when Kiss went insolvent in March 2020. Another part of Kiss became Kiss-Modellbahnen Schweiz GmbH [10]. Source [13]
  • Seven variants were produced. Summing up all the variants then 300 units were produced [11]
  • Length buffer to buffer 36.25 cm (times 32 = 1160 cm). According to the German Wikipedia page the length was 1160.0 cm. Weight 3.0 kg. Smallest radius R = 1.02 m. Update 20Sep2022: It says in [14] (Aspenberg) that the three first locos were 11.200 m, but the rest 11.600 m. I assume that my loco then should have been 11.200 / 32 = 35.0 cm long. I assume that Fine Models used the same drawings for this whole series. However, the German Wikipedia page does not mention this: Preußische EG 511 bis EG 537
  • I have some quite interesting Q&A going on with Fine Models / Kiss, see chapter External (below)
  • Also search for [16] here
  • The axles have working internal springs. The leaf springs look very nice, but they don’t work, like they do on the GwLBay96 baggage car (partly [26])
  • The model may be pushed in both directions, with some resistance (partly [26])

Locomotive’s letterings and sign plates
Each end
HAFTPFL. b. 21.6.16
UNT. HL. 21.6.15

Each side
AEG BERLIN E. Nr. 1577 1914
K.P.E.V.
EG.
513 HALLE
LUFTDRUCKBREMSE [KNORR] Wheel flanges
460 SLO 55 45291 M90N
Underneath

fm FINE MODELS

More gallery

There are several pictures of the E71 at Fine Models’ own page [23]. From there to the weathered (patinated) models by Michiel Stolp at becasse weathering, see photos at [24]. I have never seen a dirty locomotive that pretty! And read his praise of the model. True, every word!

Fig.9 – The E71 with striped background

With the My Shelf’s Railway Strip (MSRS) v4.2 I made a new background from some fabric. See 201:[MSRS v.4.2]. I think it quite successful, look and feel wise. Photo wise, I may need some time before I get used to it. I guess that the stripes mask the catenary wires. Or maybe this effect instead draws attention to the locomotive?

But then on 201:[MSRS v.5.0] I have expanded the railway into the nearby closet, making it possible for the two trains with my wagon to change place between the inner and outer left double track.

Aside: I pulled the fabric behind the shelf and down to make it smooth. This is possible since the whole shelf is stiff enough to be hanging by the short ends only. It’s actually two shelves that are firmly connected, the lower is used for the Märklin Mobile Station 2 (MS2) plus flat books and magazines. However, the black aluminium column at the middle certainly helps holding the shelf, used to make sure any grandchild’s weight won’t end the locos’ lives on the coach below. You can see the column in the picture. The fabric is hanging in a 6*20 mm wooden list in a fold of the fabric. I had to splice about 10 cm at the end and then iron it flat. I used the sixties’ really lovely Husqvarna CL21A sowing machine for the project. My late mother in law, Aase enjoyed this machine before Mari inherited it. They both have kept it well oiled and serviced.

Fig.17 – «Hello there, where are you?» («Hello, wo bist du?»)

GwLBay96 baggage car

Update 08Apr2023: Observe that My sharp curve wye switch is too narrow for some loco-wagon combinations.

In Jan2023 I received my Fine Models wagon (waggon, car) [20]. It is of type GwLBay96 and was built by K.Bay.Sts.B. (KBayStsB, «Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahnen» (in German) or «Royal Bavarian State Railways» (in English, here)). Mine is DRG GwL 9257 and is from era 2 (1925 – 1945, here) and has revision date «9.8.31«, as printed on each end. Some time after 1920 K.Bay.Sts.B. was taken over by «Deutsche Reichsbahn» (here). DRG in the type comes from «Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft» (DRG, 1924 – 1937) (in English «German Imperial Railway Company» here).

This wagon is from Fine Model’s series II of Bavarian luggage wagons. Mine is Fine Model’s 856313. There are four to chose from, and two versions of each. The series goes from 856311 to 856318. I assume that this reflects the Bavarian (?=) wagon directory sample sheet number 631, genus 0 («Wagenverzeichnis 631, Gattung 0» in [21] . «Vognfortegnelse» in Norwegian? «Musterblatt 631» in [22]]). The E71 does not have any product number, it’s just be name and position in the list.

This series is presented in [21], where there also is a picture of the GwLBay96 as seen from underneath. The article comments that both these series are about quite short originals, nice for space limited lines. Like mine. As seen later, the capital «L» in the generic designation stands for light («leicht»).

I measured my model to be 270 mm long between buffers. It weighs about 1050 grams.

On Fine Model’s page, here’s the accompanying text in English (attempted rewrite from Google translate):

The luggage car GwL96 was used with 159 units on the main line and almost every branch line, in freight trains, up until Era 3b. With our Bay. Wagon it forms the typical image of the local railway.

Same ref, about the model:

Completely made of brass and stainless steel. Loading area and platform made of real wood. Luggage compartment door to opening spring buffer. Spring buffer. With lighting. Original screw clutch. Epoch-appropriate lettering. Ball-bearing stainless steel wheel sets. Functional leaf springs. All variants with Westinghouse braking system. Step foot boards.

The leaf springs are indeed working! And the lights are lit with F3 on my Märklin Mobile Station 2. Default address is DCC 3, which I had to change to 4.

There will be more detailed photos, but here are a couple of in site photos on my My Shelf’s Railway Strip 4.2 (MSRS v.4.2).


In [21] about the background of an N-scale model I read that:

Baggage wagon of the K.Bay.Sts.B., GwLBay96, Ep. I (until 1920)

Even before 1900, a special group of cars from the K.Bay.Sts.B. – the local railway cars – the picture on most Bavarian branch lines. The light, weight-saving construction and the simple equipment were the most obvious features of these cars. The large «L» in the generic designation refers to this group of cars.

From the GwLBay96 (model sheet 631) 159 cars were built in the years 1896 to 1925. At the end of the DRG in 1949, 137 copies were still available. In 1950, 74 operational cars with the new designation LPwBay96 were still listed on the DB. The last copies were retired in 1962.

To my surprise, from the below texts I learn that they allowed ten people standing on each of the end platforms! But it was forbidden to remain on the platform (stage?) when the bars (doors?) were open. I wonder how the was done when the brakeman needed to serve the brake on one of the ends.

Wagon’s lettering and sign plates
Each side
GwL 9.st. 8.63m LI
Von Nach
9257 Nürnberg
DEUTSCHE REICHSBAHN

Each frame side
Gew. d. W. 9500 kg
Vereinslenkasten L.ü.P. 8.63 m
Radst. 4.50m
Nürnberg 9257
Luftdruckbremse [West] [G-P Wechsel] 

Heimstation Roth
Unt. 9.8.31
Nächte Unt. 9.8.33
JOS. RATHCEBER MÜNCHEN 1898
Each end
9257
10 Stehplätze
Der Aufenthalt auf der Bühne bei geöffneten Gittern ist verboten
Haftplicht b.9.8.31
Anstrich b.9.8.33
Nürnberg

Underneath
fm FINE MODELS

What’s in the bag

I did not understand what the parts in the accompanying plastic bag were for. The info said «originalschraubenkuppung» or original screw clutch or heat clutch. I mailed Fine Models, and they helped me. The result is seen in the instructions I made. Press the photo to read.
I also mention the chain on each end, meant to stop and hold the walkway. You may have to re-hook them. But with a magnifying glass and low-shaking fingers it’s not too complicated. But I haven’t been able to close the upper ring well enough since it seems to disconnect rather easily. It will – on my next trial!

By the way, the two did not have the same amount of links. I think that one had 24 and the other 27. But they both stopped the walkways in the right positions. I can only guess that differing paint layers on the links might make up for the difference. It’s not that easy to paint such small chains, I assume.

More photos

I find it increasingly difficult to take pictures of models, even these large ones. I am not a photographer, so I don’t have a studio. I am getting more and more critical of my work. But I tell myself that I am a (happy) photographer amateur.

I have used both day light and low light conditions for this. Observe that light in the car. Quite nice.

Just enjoy the photos of this lovely wagon!

Focus stacking

The below photo has been assembled by hand from three photos. One with focus left, one with focus middle and one with focus right. I have used Apple macOS Pages for the splicing and Adobe Photoshop Elements to smooth a few transitions. In the manual of my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100 camera (here) (English version, chapter Post Focus, page 210) I read that the quality of the generated bitmap is normal, not high, not low. Still it needs an UHS Speed Class 3 SD-card. Even if all the 30 pictures delivered in that mp4 movie file each are «4k» (3504 * 2336) the internal jpg clearly shows the visual artefacts from the normal coding. Just look at the «10 Stehplätze» on the end here. It’s not bad painting by Fine Models’ manufacturers in Korea. It’s a limitation of my camera’s Post Focus function.

I have written more about focus stacking in 207:[About my poster].

But still I am rather satisfied with the photo. I may try to make one with manual focus one of these days, and then start the focus stacking from raw files (rw2). Stay tuned.

Asides

Prototype couplings

Both the loco and the wagon have prototype couplings. I replaced the Telex coupling for the crocodile Ce 6/8 III to make the couplings similar. See 201:[My Krokis notes – Prototype coupling instead of Telex]. There also is a picture of the wagon there.

Märklin E71 (H0)

Update 26Sep2022. Märklin is issuing an E71 in H0/HO: Class E71.1 Electric Locomotive. It’s called Märklin 39771 to be released in Oct2022 – for Märklin Insider members, to be ordered by 15Aug2022. As not being a member, I am indeed late. Quoting from Märklin’s web page:

«Road number E71 26 enriched the still small Baden electric network for the Wiesen and Wehratal Line (*1) starting in 1929 as the Baden «Flat Iron» between Basle via Schopfheim and Zell or Bad Säckingen. It was placed into service in 1920 as road number EG 526 and it was part of the first regular procurement of electric locomotives for the Prussian State Railroad for freight train service. This locomotive was characterized by a modern propulsion design for that time using two trucks driven by coupling rods. It was initially used in the Central German network at Halle (*2), and as early as 1929 road number E71 26 went to Basle for use pulling passenger and freight trains. It remained there until its retirement on June 2, 1957.

Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) class E71.1 electric locomotive. Bottle green basic paint scheme. Locomotive road number E71 26. The locomotive looks as it did around 1954.»

Update and aside Jan2024: The Märklin 37480 Class E 70.2 (E 70 24 as of 1950) «Toy Fair Locomotive for 2024» is seen on page 100 of the New Items 2024 catalogue (here). Nice and sweet, with a fictious paint scheme (who said 1950?). There were built two E 70 (E70), as Bayerische EG 2 (EG2), see here. I think that the EG 2 is not articulated, ie. that it does not twist around in curves, its frame being more equal to the «Norwegian» EL 1 (EL1). Search for «EG2» here.

Update 16Jan2023: thanks to JC for helping me out with this:

  • (*1) The Baden that is regularly mentioned is never the Swiss Baden. It’s the German state of Baden (Republic of Baden), today Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg)
  • The Swiss Baden is a rather small town, but famous for another thing: the first railway line in Switzerland, the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn (..Spanish-Bread-Railway…, officially Swiss Northern Railway: Swiss Northern Railway). It has however nothing to do with the E 71
  • The Wiesen- und Wehratalbahn is in Germany as well (though close to the Swiss border)
    The E 71 only did some shunting in Switzerland, apparently in exchange for being repaired
  • (*2) This was at Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Close to Leipzig in Germany
  • The below chapter I have kept because I need a second round with JC:

Roco E71 (H0)

I did not find the obsoleted E71 model from DR in the Roco database. But Roco support helped me to find it:

These analogue DC locomotives from the above PDF seems to cover all of these BR E 71 types:

  • Roco 43514 – E 71 28. Green
  • Roco 43031 – DR E71 32. Blue with 4 coaches and a 120 page book: «40 JAHRE» of Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB). Plus all of it is packed in a book-looking cassette box
  • Roco 4196 or 094196 – E 71 33. Green

As of Apr2023 I found all of these on eBay.

Here, there and everywhere..

I find it so hard to get this city placement stuff in Switzerland right. Please mail me if I am off! Also mentioned in the German Wkipedia article is that several E71 resided in Baden and at the Basel depot; both are in Switzerland. (Even if the city Basel has a border with Germany, and some with France. This has always been an important railway junction.) My loco (see My loco: EG 513 / E71 13 (above) I think was running in Switzerland, based in Basel and Olten, at least half of its life. So, these locos are part of the Swiss railway history. But I cannot find any E71 photos at SBB Historic‘s Wikimedia Commons data base (here). But with almost 11500 pictures and limited searching possibility, there may still be some E71 in there? Like here?

Swapping BBÖ 1029 and E71

Being fascinated by the Austrian BBÖ 1029 / ÖBB 1073 / DR E33 (E 33) (Wikipedia here – and Rivarossi H0/HO model (here)), I read in that Wikipedia page that in 1947 the Germans exchanged two of the remaining 1029/E33 locos in Germany for the two remaining E71 which were in Austria. This is also mentioned on the E71 Wikipedia page (here).

(The rest of the remaining 1029/E33 were back in Austria by 1952. The German «Anschluss» of Austria was on 13 March 1938, and the occupation ended on 27 April 1945. In 1938 BBÖ was taken over by Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR); that’s when German nomenclature was used. Those who believed they were the master race consequently believed that they had the right to do these kind of things, of course. Millions of dead people later, after the war, the company name was abbreviated ÖBB.)

Not invented here

This chapter has been moved into 201:[My krokis notes: E71. A crocodile exception?] since I already had so much about the discussion of the E71 vs Ce 6/8 II and III in that note. Are they both «crocodiles»? Is there any competition of which came first? The German or the Swiss version?

I caused a vertical bar to fall off

When I lifted the loco then a misplaced finger of mine pressed a bar out of its holders! When I carefully tried to mount the bar back, this was possible without giving it some spring-like bending it to make it temporarily shorter. But it came off again. When I pushed it up with a pair of pliers, both holders would hold it. Should I try some clear coat, silicon, glue, rubber, just something in the bottom hole to keep it there? Or in the top hole? Something must have happened with «the margins», maybe it was paint or maybe some brass? I didn’t find the cause since I couldn’t observe anything. But I did realise the long term effect of doing nothing. Sooner or later it would fall off again and totally dematerialise. These things happen in the universe. Especially in a house with openings between the floor planks 201:[Floor track 1.0].

The reasons why my fix was successful I guess are that the loco is made of brass, and that I made a screw clamp (or vise, vice) that had a firm grip over tenth of millimetres. Brass is quite soft. But still some power was needed to rotate the wing-nut. I used my hands. To me it looked like half a rotation was enough. First a quarter, then I felt I needed more. Now the bar sits in place and shouldn’t fall out by itself anyway.

Fig.18 – DIY screw clamp to tighten holders of the vertical bar which came lose after inattentive lifting

Text on the photo: DIY screw clamp (vise) to tighten holders of the vertical bar which came loose after inattentive lifting. (3 mm machine bolt has 0.5 mm pitch). DISCLAIMER: Hooks, bar or painting may be destroyed! You do this on your own responsibility!

  1. Bar may fall off
  2. 180° turn is 0.25 mm. Obs. add angle of upper arm
  3. Bar sits in place

Other short electric locos

This chapter is a great «aside». I will limit it to units that in the original had electrical motors. With pantograph(s) or without them but battery only instead (German: Akkulokomotiven). Plus, they need to be short. I think this means that the E71 would be the longest in the list, around max. 36.5 cm between buffers.

So this rules out the DB-Baureihe Klv 12 from MO-Miniatur Modellbau since the original had a gasoline engine.

Obs. Standard Disclaimer [3].

DR/DB E 60 (E60) (Märklin, Wunder)

Length 1110.0 cm / 32 = 34.7 cm.

E60 10 Koblenz Luetzel 02062012

Wikimedia

Photo from Wikipedia (press on it for original).

Historical DB electrical locomotive E60 10 hauling E71 19 during a locomotive parade at the open-air exhibition ground of the DB Museum in KoblenzLuetzel, a local branch of the Transport Museum in Nuremberg.

Examples
  • Märklin 55603 (red, 2015-17), 55605 (green, 2015-20), 55607 (green, 2017-18) (Sold out)
  • Wunder Baureihe 160/ E60 (13037, 13038, 13039, 13039, 13041) (several colours) (Sold out)

SBB Ee 3/3 (Dingler)

Elektr. Rangierlok SBB Ee 3-3 Nr. 16404 in Gossau SG

Wikimedia

German Wikipedia SBB_Ee_3/3 . Observe that there are two distinctively different types of this locomotive. One as on the photo and one with the driver’s cab at the one end. Plus variants SBB Ee 3/3 II and SBB Ee 3/3 IV.

Model by Dingler here (Sold out).

Length some 9060 – 9510 mm / 32 = 28.329.7 cm

SBB Te II 221 (Lematec)

The SBB Te II 221 (also named TeII), on the German Wikipedia page Rangiertraktoren der SBB is stated to have had a length of 650.0 cm / 32 = 20.3 cm. They were delivered 1927-1933. Te stands for Triebwagen and e for electricity from overhead line.

In scale 0 they also have TeII 221, 223, 233, 235, Ee 2/2 16001. Those models were from 2011. The photo is from Lematec’s gauge 0 (1/45) model of the 223 (here).  I did not find any 221 on any «future» gauge 1 on Lematec’s page

I found this on the Zugkraft Stucki web page where it is scheduled to arrive 15.12.2026. I write this in Sept2024, so this is more than two years ahead for the Scale 1 model! According to Spur1Info’s monthly gauge 1 project list (the one from Sep24) the SBB Te II and III, announced in Jan2024, are to be delivered in 2Q.2025.

E71 (Spur 1)

Spur1 Austria

The E71’s. See spur1 at https://www.spur-1.at/e-71. Also see Spur1Info (below), where I mention their comparison of the Fine Models and the Spur1 versions of the E71.

Length 36.3 cm (the Fine Model is 1160 cm / 32 = 36.25 cm).

LEW EL 16 (Studio Chilap)

Screenshot (ok’ed by Studio Chilap)

German Wikipedia page LEW EL 16 is here. Length 310.0 cm / 32 = 9.7 cm between buffers.

From here I read that «Studio Chilap consists of three retired friends from Hong Kong who share a passion for making fine miniatures. We began working together in 2017 to develop a series of layout modules for 1:32 model trains.»

It is so seldom that these companies flag their people’s names that I add them here: CHENG Chi Lap, Andrew LEE and Leo CHEUNG.

To my attention here is the ASF EL-16 SERVICE VEHICLE (1:32) (EL16, EL 16) (here) where I read «Just like all of our other work, the EL-16 was designed, developed, finished and tested in-house here at Studio Chilap by no more than two different pairs of hands. The upper shell is primarily made of high resolution 3D printed resin, then painstakingly hand polished to remove layering lines and other printed imperfections. Brass and real glass was used to represent hand rails, window panes, rivets. A brass CNC chassis and running gear, along with “Goldcap” capacitors and Zimo MS450 DCC sound card allow smooth slow speed performance (from below 0.5 scale km/h to 6.0 km/h). Each model is individually painted and weathered so the finish of each model is unique.»

Enjoy! They also have a Spur1Treffen Youtube channel and vimeo movies. Also a Spur1HK Facebook page. Another model is their narrow gauge FELDBAHN SYSTEM (1:32, SPUR 1F) JUNG EL105 (EL-105, EL105).

You may also read about it at Spur1Info (here), but you need to have a subscription. Plus see photos of it in the paper magazine Faszination Spur 1 #27 and #28 (2024) in the article «Rangierspaß auf kleinem Raum» by Martin Meimberg.

E 69 (KM1)

E 69 05 (photo ok’ed by KM1)

The German E 69 German Wikipedia is here. Length about 750.0 cm / 32 = 23.4 cm.

See KM1 page https://km-1.de/html/e_69.html. Entitled «E69 – Baureihe 169» on KM1’s page. These were ordered by Lokalbahn Aktien-Gesellschaft (LAG) and named LAG 1 to 5 in 1905. In 1938-39 they became E 69 (E69) as Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR).

The E 69 wheel and power arrangement is Bo or 0-4-0 (Whyte) or 0-2-2-0 (also Whyte) telling that it has two axles and four wheels, but that each axle has independent motors (the ‘o‘).

E 69 03 vs 05 (KM1)

E 69 03 (photo ok’ed by KM1)

The smaller 1905 machines LAG 1-4 with 5,5 kV 16 Hz were converted to larger machines for 15 kV og 16 ⅔ Hz in 1954/55, somewhat like the original and LAG 5.

KM1 will produce both the higher body type 05 and the lower body type 03. (See the German Wikipedia page (above) that clearly shows which type is which.)

As of Jun2024 it’s being built now and promised 4Q 2024. (It was first informed about the coming release in Dec2020 (Spur1Info)).

E163 (Wunder)

File:E63-02.jpg

Wikimedia

Wikipedia photo by By Heinz Seehagel – Self-photographed, Public Domain, Link

The German E163 (German Wikipedia, here) was delivered starting 1935. Length 1020.0 cm / 32 = 31.9 cm. Entitled «DR Baureihe 163/ E63» on Wunder’s page.

As of Jun2024 it is 25% finished as a model from Wunder. (It has been promised since Dec2022 (Spur1Info)). See http://wunder-modelle.de.

I think that especially Wunder and Märklin (here) have large plethoras of electrical locomotive scale 1 models. But short ones are not abundant.

Aside: I gave a used Märklin HO/H0 model of the E 63 to my son once. See 216:[Märklin 3001].

Forums

marklin-users.net

  1. Motor regulator of Märklin 55681 regulator vs. others – It runs smoothly uphill, where another loco type doesn’t. Me, 28Dec2021

Järnvägshistoriskt forum

This is in Swedish.

  1. Hadde Oc-loket stiv ramme som EL1 eller leddet som E71? – started by me 21Mar2023. Partly Norwegian. «Did the Swedish Oc-loc have a stiff frame like EL1 or was it articulated like E71?». Update 10Jun2024: Since 11Jan2024 the old forum has been closed for logging in, it is only available for reading. For the new forum, see url in the next point:
  2. NSB EL 1 – started by me 10Jun2024
  3. NSB EL 1 med hjul fra Surahammars Bruk – also started by me 10Jun2024

Model reviews

spur1info

Or spurIinfo as they also spell it.

spur1info Aug21

DB E71 13 from Fine Models by Friedhelm Weidelich (18.8.2021). Read at paid login at https://www.spur1info.com/en/newsreader/db-e-71-13-from-fine-models.html [26]. Quite an interesting read, with 57 very well done photos. Even if this is not about my model, but the Fine Models’ Var.7, I assume that most of the comments would be correct. Like, the lights and lantern bulbs are simulated and made from round LEDs. This article also mentions the competitors, more concretely spur1.at (see https://www.spur-1.at/e-71 and Search[Spur1.at].

Weidelich complaints that the air ventilation openings «are are attached and not pressed as on the competitor’ s model». At least in the open article there is no picture to show what he means. However – see Wikipedia Preußische EG 511 bis EG 537 from «Die restaurierte E71 19 im Bahnpark Augsburg (2007)» which would certainly show the ventilation frames as being on the outside.

spur1info Dec21

Did she really exist? by Gastautor (16.12.2021). «For some railroad models, the question arises for a variety of reasons whether there was a prototype. Bruno Waldmeier has given some thought to this.» Read more … paid login at https://www.spur1info.com/en/news-archive/tag/Fine%20Models.html. This article’s intro depicts the Fine Models’ E71 Var. 5, SBB brown. This is so intriguing! Update Jun2024 (with access): This article discusses how model designers mostly/only have to rely on black/white photos to infer the colour of a model, if they don’t have any written documents about it. There is no discussion of other traits of the original vs. the model.

External

Some Fine Models E71 points – passworded. I assume that some of these points may in the future be moved to this open blog note

NSB EL 1

(EL1, EL 1, EL.1, EL-1). More about it at the English Wikipedia El 1 (El.1) (*)(**).

Jernbanemuseet has two El 1:

  1. EL1.2001 which stands in a shed at the Hamar railway station (and is a «museum locomotive», able to do museum trips). I read in an article by Morten Tranøy in the Norwegian magazine «På sporet» (On the track) #190 Mar2022, headed «Godsvognene på Rjukanbanen» («The freight cars of the Rjukan Railway») that the EL1.2001 was called RjB 14 from 1966, when NSB (Norges Statsbaner) sold it (and another El 1, later scrapped) to the legendary Rjukanbanen (Rjukan Line) at Rjukan. Then, in 1986 Norsk Teknisk Museum in Oslo got it and they gave it its original naming El1.2001 in 1987. The museum then gave 2001 to Jernbanemuseet at Hamar in 2000. By the way, the Rjukan Line played in important role in getting the industrial complex on the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list as the Rjukan–Notodden Industrial Heritage Site.
  2. EL1.2011 shares a hall with several steam locomotives at the museum proper (Fig.3 and Fig.47). However, that hall is not connected to any external rail, so I assume they must have made a temporary track some 50 cm uphill from the normal track line at Jernbanemuseet. There is no overhead catenary there, either. More below the photo below.

Researching more I find differing road numbers on Norwegian and English Wkipedia, as well as on DigitalMuseum EL1.2001 and EL1.2011. Also see [14]

Fig.47 – NSB EL 1.2011

(*) The El 1 (EL1) German Wikipedia article (here) is better than the English and the Norwegian pages. Quoting from the German, as translated to English: «The locomotive is comparable in construction to the Bavarian EG 2 (EG2), but also has features of bridge frame locomotives such as the Prussian EG 511 to EG 537. It has a continuous main frame and two coupled, two-axle bogies, whereby both axes are driven by one motor via a blind shaft with coupling rods. The pulling and pushing devices are arranged at the bogies.» (It’s «stiff»).

About fig.47. In Jun2024 I finally had the opportunity to photograph and prove that the EL 1 is not of an articulated design, meaning that it is not a «crocodile». There is no bellows, since any such is not needed because the frame is stiff (right). The center photo shows how the bogies are hinged onto each other, to minimise the horisontal forces on the frame. I guess that this design comes from its origin, the E71 which also has the solution, for a somewhat different reason I would assume. The EL 1 needed to protect the full-length frame not to be torn apart, but the E71 needed to protect the shorter frame of the box, or kind of «the box itself», to be broken down. The EL 1 does not have «inner» buffers on the bogies. The E71 bogies have buffers in both directions.

(**) Also see entry 1 on Järnvägshistoriskt forum (above), which also has som interesting photos both of the E71 and the Swedish OC loco.

References

Even if this is not an academic text, I have decided to use the below style for all kinds of references, hoping that I can only refer up here when needed:

  1. My 2.10 meter long track, where this model runs, is described at 201:[MSRS v.4.1].
  2. Fine Models GmbH: www.finemodels.de and eng.finemodels.de – sibling company with Kiss-Modellbahnen Deutschland [9]
  3. My standard disclaimer is here («no ads or money, just fun and expenses on these blog notes»)
  4. In the background of fig.1 you see my Märklin 55681 SBB Ce 6/8 III, more at My Crocodile locomotive pages
  5. Verkehrs Museum Dresden (Transport Museum Dresden) (verkehrsmuseum-dresden.de/de)
  6. Norsk Jernbanemuseum (Norwegian Railway Museum) at Hamar in Norway (jernbanemuseet.no and database at https://norsk-jernbanemuseum.mikromarc.no/…). Also see NSB EL 1 (above)
  7. A driver from Fine Models added as the second driver on my 55681: 201:[Driver in direction II and a ground personnel]
  8. Fig.3, lower right: 203:[The biggest motor is in Dresden]
  9. Kiss-Modellbahnen Deutschland (here) – sibling company with Fine Models [2]
  10. Kiss Modellbahnen Schweiz (here)
  11. The E71 model is presented by Peter Pernsteiner on YouTube at Preview/Fahrtest E-Lok E71 13 in 1:32 / Spur 1 von Fine Models – Messing-Handmuster – EG 513
  12. Photos of all Fine Models’ E71 prototypes: eng.finemodels.de/e71
  13. The magazine Faszination Spur 1 #14, see 201:[31] (Eisenbahn-Kurier, EK-Verlag)
  14. Elektrolok i Norge (Electrical locos in Norway) by Nils Carl Aspenberg (FB), on Baneforlaget, 2001, ISBN 82-91448-42-6. In Norwegian. Baneforlaget does not seem to have any web page. This book has a chapter on El 1, containing info about the E71 as well. Plus how the El 1 came to be running on Rjukanbanen as RjB 14 and RjB 15. Also about the remaining two on Jernbanemuseet (El 1 2001 and 2011). It also tells about how the modified E71 model was delivered as «Oc» (I call it «Oc-loc» here for searcing) to SJ in Sweden (*). Both the Norwegian El 1 and the Oc-loc were longer than the E71 (table 45 in that book). While E71 was 11.600 m (as my Fine Models loc: 36.25 cm * 32 = 1160 cm) (11.200 m on the three first locos), the Oc-loc was 12.770 m and the El 1 was 12.700 m. This book also has a rather extensive review of the technicalities of electrical locos, plus how these have developed over the years. I bought mine at [6] in Sep2022. (I have also referred to this at 203:[9])
    (*) Both of the two Swedish SJ Oc-loc locomotives (Statens Järnvägar) were running at the Iron Ore Line (Malmbanan) from the Swedish town Gällivare to the border with Norway, from where the line is called Ofoten Line (Ofotbanen) towards Narvik. After some technical problems they were used as switcher/shunter locomotives. They were scrapped in 1944 and 1957
  15. Photos of El 1 at the Norwegian Digitalt Museum«El 1» (several hundred, mostly relevant), «El1» (one drawing). The space makes a difference, but not adding a «.» or going «EL» make no difference. Jernbanemuseet also uses Digital Museum. Observe that these pictures are shown with much reduced quality. They may be ordered with stored resolution from Digitalt Museum or by mail to foto at norsk-jernbanemuseum.no. Also see the database ref. at [6]
  16. Die Elektrifizierung der Wiesen – und Wehratalbahn by Eisenbahnfreunde Wehratal e.V. Walter Schepperle, see http://www.wehratalbahn.de/Elektr/El0.htm. This is a Swiss page from 2002 (some more here). Further pages: Die Lokomotiven and Die E71 (translated) and More photos. This is perhaps the most detailed source of E71 that I have come across. These pages have some dead url for photos and have not been kept for about 20 years
  17. Hans-Jürgen Wenzel Die E71-E-Lok Erfolg aus Preußen in Modelleisenbahn-Kurier 7/2013, Seite 49. (Ref from German Wikipedia (above))
  18. Oliver Strüber: «Bügeleisen» preußischer Provenienz. In: Eisenbahn-magazin. Nr. 10, 2012, S. 19. (Ref from German Wikipedia (above))
  19. Hochspringen nach: a b Hans-Jürgen Wenzel Die E71-E-Lok Erfolg aus Preußen in Modelleisenbahn-Kurier 7/2013, Seite 50. (Ref from German Wikipedia (above))
  20. Bay. Güterwagen Serie 2 (1:32), Packwagen GwL96 etc, By Fine Models, see https://www.finemodels.de/neuheiten/bay-güterwagen-serie-2/
  21. Bayersiche Güterwagen. Zweite Serie von Fine Models. By RZ. In Modellbahn-Kurier Special 39, Faszination Spur 1 – Teil 19, see https://www.eisenbahn-kurier.de/neue-zeitschriften/25-modellbahn-kurier/6209-modellbahn-kurier-special-39-faszination-spur-1-teil-19 ISBN: 978-3-8446-1952-2 Artikel-Nr.:1952 [2022]
  22. Packwagen der K.Bay.Sts.B., GwLBay96, Ep. I (bis 1920), see https://www.n-tram-shop.de/Packwagen-der-KBayStsB-GwLBay96-Ep-I-bis-1920-Richtpreis. Google translate here
  23. E71 series photos, see https://www.finemodels.de/in-auslieferung/e71/
  24. Die Baureihe E71 von fine Models: Das kompakte Traummodell in 1, patinated by Michiel Stolp, weathered models of the E71, see http://becasse-weathering.blogspot.com/2021/08/die-baureihe-e71-von-fine-models-das.html (2021). Google translate here
  25. MODELLBAU-WIKI: Preußische EG 511 bis 537: https://www.modellbau-wiki.de/wiki/Preu%C3%9Fische_EG_511_bis_537
  26. DB E71 13 from Fine Models by Friedhelm Weidelich (18.8.2021). Read at paid login at https://www.spur1info.com/en/newsreader/db-e-71-13-from-fine-models.html. Also see spur1info Aug21

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