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Moved to here 26Jun2025. Updated221Feb2026 (Fulgurex News. E69, Bockholt). Moved from 229: My Fine Models E71 scale 1 model. In group Models. I try to use English, not American spelling, so «color» is «colour» etc.

Other short electric locos

This chapter is a great «aside». At least when it was a part of note 229.

This note is limited 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. Plus, I must admit, with coupling rods is quite nice. And they must pass curves of radius 1.02m, or even worse: pass my wye-switch. Update: after the information about an announced Saas Be 4/4 I have decided to go for max. 39 cm between buffers.

Obs. Standard Disclaimer [1].

Ruled out

Newest entry at the bottom

1. The above rules then excludes the DB-Baureihe Klv 12 (here) from MO-Miniatur Modellbau since the original had a gasoline engine
2. Also the nice gasoline Breuer Lokomotors from Fine Models is ruled out, as shown in Faszination Spur 1, #32, 2Q 2025 (Modellbahn-Kurier special 52) pp 18-21, in the article «Breuer Lokomotor» by Oliver Strüber. See Breuer lokomotor at Fine Models
3. Also ruled out is the very tempting SBB De 6/6 (Seetalkrokodil) (Seetal crocodile) from Dingler, which would be 43.75 cm long. See My Krokis notes. It’s just too long.. and just too expensive..
4. Also the Kö1 (Kö 1). One from Dingler (here). Diesel or petrol, see Wikipedia. But see Ka/Ks 4012-4015 (Dingler), where the original certainly has en electric motor, albeit no pantograph..
5. The type DH 500 Ca diesel hydraulic locomotive from Märklin. Very nice, very short, very nice price, with coupling rods. Should I yield if none of the electric locos here won’t arrive as I want? See 55500 and New Items 2026, page 116-117 (here). The only one (so far?) without horisontal stripes is the RAG DH 500 Ca Diesel Loco, IV (Ruhrkohle AG, RAG), see 55501. I think it’s orange, since the Märklin 28501 from RAG is orange. I could not find it in this rangierdiesel list. There are several others, see «Compatible products» on the Märklin pages: 55504, 55505, 555011. Missing numbers probably means even more to appear. Some of them even made it not Norway: Rj.B. 19–22. German Wikipedia (here)

With coupling rods

DR/DB E 60 (E60) (Märklin, Wunder)

See two lengthy articles on the E60 (++) in 1:1 and models at 216:[Scene 4].

Length 1110.0 cm / 32 = 34.7 cm.

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 Koblenz–Luetzel, a local branch of the Transport Museum in Nuremberg.

Examples

• Märklin
  55604 Class 160 Electric Locomotive (New fall 2025, in catalogue p38). 35 cm., 3.6 kg. R=1020 mm. Red. «Reworked tooling», as compared to 55603
  55603 (red, 2015-17) (Sold out)
  55605 (green, 2015-20)  (Sold out)
  55607 (green, 2017-18) (Sold out)
• Wunder Baureihe 160/ E60 (13037, 13038, 13039, 13039, 13041) (several colours) (Sold out)

SBB Ee 3/3 (Dingler)

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 = 28.3 – 29.7 cm

Aside: There is a nice picture of the SBB Ee 3/4 (one axle more) by SBB Historic on their Wikimedia page, see here. According to Google AI this is a prototype for the Ee 3/3, used at borders, equipped to handle four electrical systems. The 16301 exists in San Paolo (which is where a Crocodile SBB Ce 6/8 III collided with an SBB Be 4/6, see here.)

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.

As for 1/1 there also is the SBB Te III  (here).

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. The suggested price is extraordinary high! The smaller the more expensive? Compare the price of CHF 3650 price with Breuer Lokomotor (Traktor) from Fine Models at €1195.

RhB Te 2/2 (scale G or IIm)

This is a big aside! This loco will never appear as scale 1 since it’s a model of a Rhätische Bahn narrow gauge 1000 mm locomotive (here). I discovered the KISS 610 133 Spur IIm Rangiertraktor Te 2/2 #4926 (Bimmelbahn (eBay) 30Mar2025). It runs on garden railway 45 mm track and then is in scale 1:22.5 (G scale, G-scale). See G scale and LGB (trains) on Wikipedia.  There would of course also be other short locomotives on RhB. Search for the Magnus manufacturer, and Geaf 2/2.

E71

E71 (Fine Models)

See My Fine Models E71 scale 1 model.

Length 1160 cm / 32 = 36.25 cm.

E71 (Spur 1 Austria)

The E71’s. See spur1 at https://www.spur-1.at/e-71. Also see Spur1Info (229:[spur1Info]), where I mention their comparison of the Fine Models and the Spur1 versions of the E71.

Length 36.3 cm.

E71 (Bockholt)

A 2012 German built 5 kg steel model in a series of 50, with sound, from Bockholt-Lokomotiven (Egon Bockholt & Söhne Feinmechanik und Lokomotiv-Modellbau GmbH) (1973-2022) (here). (Also until it’s sold, on eBay at Reiner Saile Modelleisenbahnen (url 02Feb2026)).

E163 (Wunder)

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. (E 163, E 63)

As of Jun2024 it is 25% finished as a model from Wunder. It has been promised since Dec2022 (Spur1Info). On 24Mar2025 Spur1Info published pictures of a hand sample stating that «The hand sample is now being examined for discrepancies, corrected and produced and is expected to be delivered at the end of 2025/beginning of 2026 (here). See http://wunder-modelle.de. Update: Despite the 25% finished status the E63 was presented in Faszination Spur 1 #32 (2Q 2025) pp 38-43.

I think you may see them at 17.22 at A Private Handmade Collection 1 Gauge 1/32 Scale Model Trains by ReynauldsEuroImports.

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] .

Aside 2: The rather similar looking (at least) SBB Ee 3/3 as a scale 1 model would also have been nice. See Ee 3/3 and pictures here. The longest is 9510 mm /  32 =  29.7 cm.

E32 (KM1)

E 32 is almost short enough for my criterion! German Wikipedia at DR-Baureihe E 32. Length 1301 cm / 32 = 40.6 cm.

KM-1 made a model in 2014(?), see Support and FAQ – E 32 and Die leichte Personenzuglokomotive E32 on YouTube.

BLS Ce 4/4

BLS Ce 4/4 (Fulgurex)

Spur1Info mentions that Fulgurex has the Swiss locos BLS Ce 4/6 and BLS Ce 4/4 on their list. (24Oct2025: here, for paying subscribers.)

For me, here, the Ce 4/6 would not meet my short length criterion – 45.0 cm being too long.

I guess that the ultimate reference is the Loki spezial 130 pages magazine [2]. It was suggested at the DBB page, but they couldn’t sell to Norway. It is a joy (I did find a seller).

The BLS Ce 4/6 (301-317) originally had two pantographs. But when some (308-317) in the fifties were rebuilt to BLS Ce 4/4 all of those were equipped with only one pantograph. (Some or) all of the remaining 4/6 (301-307) were also rebuilt with one pantograph. The only remaining, not functional BLS Ce 4/6 (307, here) now has two; retrofitted between 1973 and 1982 (page 123 of [2]). There are two remaining BLS Ce 4/4 (312, here and 315, here).

Also, the shorter Ce 4/4 has two less noses, two less joints for those noses gone (the idler wheels are connected directly to the boggies [2] p34), two less axles, lots of less guard rails, so it must come out as the least expensive, perhaps suited for my wallet. That is, should it appear before the Saas Be 4/4.

Dampfbahn Bern (DBB) has some info at Biografie der Ce 4/4 315, with lots of photos and history. They own one of the three remaining Ce 4/4 locos (315).

German Wikipedia has an article at BLS Ce 4/6 which also covers the BLS Ce 4/4. According to it it is 12.34 m long, div 32 = 38.56 cm between buffers. I found a photo of the 313 as standard brown here. And 311 and 313 here. I found the 309 here, but also in the DBB page here.

Fulgurex’s page is here. The bad news is that the BLS Ce 4/4 has been in the Fulgurex catalogues since 2014 (below), and that I have found no trace of any physical unit out there. The Fulgurex page neither contains any photo of BLS Ce 4/4 model, nor much detail about it, like minimum radius or price. (Update 22Feb2026: but I have discovered it mentioned in their Fulgurex News of Oct 25 (here), where it says that «Planung steht noch aus» – planning is still pending. But it’s mentioned!.) Another matter, I don’t understand the Ce 4/4 date below as 1952. Wikipedia says the the rebuild was 1954-1956. (Ref. [2] says on page 72-73 that 313 was converted to Ce 4/4 on the 22^th of July, 1955. On the same occasion it was repainted to colour standard brown (together with 302 and 309, all three had been colour green for some years [2] p43 ff). 313 was dismantled in Sept., 2008. Below is from Fulgurex’s page, where 1262/3 either must be a 4/6 for the year and colour to be ok, or changed to after 1955 and brown if it were meant to be a 4/4. According to this, on the Fulgurex page there also is a problem with Ce 4/6 302 which was not colour green in 1958.

1262/3 BLS Ce 4/4 no 313, ca. 1952 vert/grün
1262/4 BLS Ce 4/4 no 309, ca. 1961 brun/braun

These two models are also described in the following catalogues: 2020-2021 (here), 2018-2019 (here), 2016-17 (here) and in 2014-15 (here) only a

1262/2 BLS Ce 4/4 no 309, (1954?) brun/braun

(Fulgurex in 2010 made a scale 1 model of the SBB CFF Ae 3/6 II, see here. It is made of brass and steel, in a full series of 45 locos. I have mentioned the Ae 3/6 II in several notes. By the looks of the Ce 4/4 it’s kind of a smaller cousin, isn’t it? At Bimmelbahn24.de I found one in Oct2025 for 7300€, see here. I do hope that the Ce 4/4 will not be in that price range. Also Märklin made an HO/H0 version of the SBB Ae 3/5, see New Models 2026 page 80 (here) or 38350. In scale 1 this would have been about (12.8 * 87) / 32 = 34.8 cm)

The first 4/6 that was converted to 4/4 was 309, on 8^th of February, 1954. Then, around 1960, nozzle grilles for the engine cooling were installed in the side walls, valid for the above 1961 version(?).

I found a nice picture of a Rivarossi H0 model of the BLS Ce 4/4 here. It is 140 mm long. Reverse calculation and loss of accuracy then in scale 1 it should be about (140*87)/32 ≈ 38.1 cm.

Without coupling rods

SAAS Be 4/4 (Spur 1 Austria)

German Wikipedia page at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAAS_Be_4/4 (translated).

BT
Series 1
1200.0 cm / 32 = 37.5 cm between buffers.

EB / BTB / SMB / EBT
Series 2
1240.0 cm / 32 = 38.75 cm between buffers.

According to German Wikipedia this «The Be 4/4 was built according to a concept that was very modern for its time. They were the first standard-gauge bogie locomotives with single-axle drive in Switzerland. The locomotive, with a B0’B0′ wheel arrangement, has two bogies. Each wheel set is individually driven by a Sécheron hollow-shaft spring drive, a further development of the Westinghouse spring drive. The four traction motors are fully housed in the two bogies..» (From here by Google translate)

According to the German Wikipedia page the Be 4/4 was designed as based on the BBÖ_1170 (translated) and BBÖ 1170.1 (translated), with which Austrians had already had positive experiences. Then related locos were BBÖ 1170 / DRB E 45 BBÖ E45 / ÖBB 1045 / MBS 1045 BBÖ 1170.1 / ÖBB 1145. The photo is of me in 2014 when we visited Lokpark Ampfwang in Austria, on one of the BBÖ 1045s. Lokpark Amflwang’s page of this loco is here. They have two of them, BBÖ 1045.01 and BBÖ 1045.03. They also seem to have a ÖBB 1245, used for museum rides, ÖBB 1245.518 / BBÖ 1170.2. I have a 1245 in H0/HO as Roco 48494. See 216:[Scene 1].

BBÖ was the abbreviation of the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (Austrian Federal Railways) before 1938. After that it was abbreviated ÖBB.

Remaining Be 4/4 locos. There is a comprehensive overview of whereabouts of each of the (6 + 10 = 16) locos in the German Wikipedia page. Eight are scrapped. Three are still operational. The EBT 102 is operational from Huttwil by the Verein Historische Eisenbahn Emmental (VHE): Rollmaterial. Observe that also a BLS Te 2/3 is part of VHE’s rolling stock! VHE also has two non-operational locos, the EBT 104 and EBT 105, one at Uetikon and the other at Huttwil. Then another other operational is BT 11 at Winterthur. It is owned by OpenTrack Railway Technology GmbH. Is this the company that develops railway simulation software? Finally, the SMB 171 is operational by Swisstrain Association from Payerne. I don’t know whether «operational» means that it would run  in a museum train.

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Spur 1 Austria has in May 2025 announced this model. See https://www.spur-1.at/saas-be-44. They will produce versions from BT (12 m → 37.5 cm) and EB, EBT, BTB and SMB (12.4 m → 38.75 cm). According to Wikipedia Spur 1 Austria is then making models from all railway companies that had this locomotive:

In the list below we see the railroads that Spur 1 Austria have made models from. I have added some years, but not recent – but added some merges with →. Only 8 of the 16 locos have been scrapped, and of the other 8 two are still in working condition. Nice for model builders! Handle this list with caution, it’s assembled by me who don’t have a clue about what looks like a rather confusing Swiss private railroad structure. have coloured equal cities:

• BT: Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn (1910) (de: Here. en: Here)
  Romanshorn – St. Gallen – Wattwil (Toggenburg) – Nesslau-Neu St. Johann (58 km.)
• EBT: Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn (BTB + EB → 1942) (de: Here)
  Burgdorf (is in the Emmental valley, no city by that name!) – Thun (73 km.)
• SMB: Solothurn-Münster-Bahn (1909. de: Here)
  Solothurn – Bern – Thun – Münster (175 km)
• EB: Emmentalbahn (1876-81. 1942 → EBT. de: Here. en: Here)
  Solothurn – Burgdorf – Hasle-Rüegsau – Langnau (38 km.)
• BTB:  Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn (1899. 1942 → EBT. de: Here. en: Here)
  Burgdorf – Hasle-Rüegsau – Thun (41 km.)

For the BT models both the length of the locomotive and the box are shorter. The bogies also are shorter. This is series 1, where also the looks are different from the longer series 2 locomotives. All this by carefully comparing the graphics on the Spur 1 Austria web page and data from the Wikipedia page.

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Similar: Have a look at 1:32-Modulanlage Spur 1 Team Austria mit ÖBB 1145.08 for a wonderful scratch built model in brass, in Peter Pernsteiner‘s video. There also is an scratch built model of the ÖBB 1073.14 there. Do enjoy! It’s all in Ampflwang.

Since this loco seems to be not so much replicated as a model, here is what I have found out so far. Searching for Be 4/4 also gets hits from RBe 4/4, which is not the same:

1. Fulgurex (H0 1/87 brass model). Catalogue 2016-2017 – BT Be 4/4, EBT Be 4/4 and SMB Be 4/4, articles 2272(4), 2273(2) and 2274(1)
2. Fulgurex (N 1/160 brass model). Catalogue 2018-2019 – BT / EBT and SMB Be 4/4, articles 1161(10), 1162(4), 1163(2)
3. Atlas Train (H0 1/87, plastic). Be 4/4 Nr. BT-14 1931. This is a «toy» model. Fair enough!
4. Kleinbahn (H0 – who was the first with 3-rail H0 according to German Wikipedia). I think this is an old model of plastic, and it is for DC. It says SBB-CFF on the side, which must be wrong

SBB Historic has two public archives. See sbbarchiv.ch/ or wikimedia.org/. I found about 15 pictures on the first and none on the second. Observe that Be 4/4 12001 does not have the end platforms.

E69

Two quite different locomotives are both covered by the E 69 nomenclature. The E 69 German Wikipedia is here. They were given names: loc 1 „Katharina“ (E 69 01), loc 2 «Pauline“ (E 69 02), loc 3 «Hermine“ (E 69 03), loc 4 «Johanna“ (E 69 04) and loc 5 «Adolphine“ (E 69 05).

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‘).

→ There is (autumn 2025) a book on this locomotive: Die Baureihe E 69 (article 6079) on Eisenbahn-Kurier (EK-Verlag) by Bernd Mühlstraßer. 192 pages. They also have a DVD: Die Baureihe E 69 (article 8623) from 2022. (Yes, I still have the external DVD drive, but from then on DVDs are rather museal, aren’t they?)

Length about 750.0 cm / 32 = 23.4 cm.

E69 05 (KM1)

See KM1 page Baureihe 169 / E 69 1:32, E 69 05, DB Ep. IIIa, ED München, Bw Murnau or similar. KM1 is making 10 different versions. They say that the loco’s lengths would be like «ca. 23 / 27,2 cm, and weight ca. 2,2 – 2,5 kg.».

Peter Pernsteiner presented it at Spur1-Fahrtreffen München 1/25 – Modellbahn 1:32 mit E69.. in January 2025. Even if it does not have coupling rods, it does have some kind of lubrication cable that rotates with the wheels. It looks very nice indeed. Almost like couplings rods aren’t necessary!

It was also presented in Faszination Spur 1 #31 (1Q 2025) pp 28-32.

It will probably be delivered in 2025.

Aside: The SBB Ee 922, as scale I might also have been interesting. See SBB Ee 922. It’s length is 8800 mm / 32 =27.5 cm.

Aside 2: The SBB Ee 3/3 No. 16404 (photo here) looks like an E69 05 with coupling rods!

E69 03 (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 5 «Adolphine“ (E 69 05) (above) and the lower body type «Pauline“ (E 69 02) (here).

As of Jun2024 it’s being built now and promised 4Q 2024. (It was first informed about the coming release in Dec2020 (Spur1Info)). Update Feb2025: since the 05 has now been shown it is expected that the03 would also appear in 2025.

E69 (Märklin)

Since I discovered this in the 1997/98 full program catalogue (pp. 396-297), and not on Märklin’s web standard search, why not have a look at this very charming blue locomotive, as seen on Reinhold Brenner‘s system, built in the mid nineties. It’s presented by Peter Pernsteiner on YouTube here. 07Jul2019, «Gauge 1 E69 Mountain Railway – local train with overhead … 1:32-Bergbahn-Anlage-Pendelstrecke – E69 Lokalbahn-Zug Märklin 54201 Spur1-Fahrtreffen 7/19 München«. This loco is 23.0 cm long and runs on Märklin’s DELTA/digital system. This is a Märklin Maxi model, made of tinplates. I have seen the blue model presented as «Pauline», which may be correct. (Search for «Pauline» in this note). See this discussed at markin-users.net here. According to this there also is a newer green Märklin 54102 of the same E 69 from DB, from 2000/01. It’s also for DELTA/digital system and also a Maxi type model, and has a smallest radius of R=600 mm.

This locomotive visually is quite like the single Norwegian El. 6 (NSB EL6 2503, Rjukanbanen RjB. 4), which was built in 1911 by AEG/Skabo. See here. But from the link above (in «E 69 (KM1)») we see that the German locos were produced by SSW (Siemens). And the EL6 was 1 meter shorter, 6.57m. vs. E 69 02 = 7.35m.

Battery operated units

LEW EL 16 (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.

Ka/Ks 4012-4015 (Dingler)

I find nomenclature here rather difficult. AEG A 6001 / A 6003 DR-Baureihe Ks (later Ka), Ks 4012-4015. See German Wikipedia AEG A6000–6003 and DR-Baureihe Ks.

Length 560.0 cm / 32 = 17,5 cm between buffers.

In the magazine Faszination Spur 1, #32, 2Q 2025 (Modellbahn-Kurier special 52) pp 76-79, in the article «Akku-Rangierböcke» Thomas Montaperti shows two pre-series models from Dingler.

One of them is rather closed (DB 381) and and the other the open (Ka 4012 to Ka 4015) as the photo here.

See Dingler’s pages Akku-Kleinlokomotive Ka/Ks 4012-4015 and Modellinfo I-220 xx.

One thought, the prize isn’t linear with the length, going any much down with decreasing length. I guess the craftsmanship may even increase, at least «per cm». Faszination Spur 1 mentions €1870 – €1950.

Oddities

The Olbernhauer Mühlenbahn

Eisenbahn-Kurier – Vorbild und Modell (2 2025) has a long article showing several photos of a narrow gauge mill electric railway. See here, with this quote: «In October 1981, Matthias Koch was on a photo tour in the Ore Mountains with a train driver friend from Radebeul. On the way from the Weißeritz to the Preßnitz valley, they came to the small town of Olbernhau. At a crossing on the southern edge of the town, they suddenly saw bumps, cobblestones – and a narrow-gauge track. During a short walk around, they discovered a four-axle beet wagon, more tracks and a rustic electric locomotive parked behind the abandoned walls of a mill. What kind of unknown railway was this?» (Google translate)

Read more about it German Wikipedia at Mühlenbahn Großbauchlitz. There it says that it operated between 1905 and 1914 and that at the closure it was «still called the trackless railway». The photo at Wikipedia shows a double overhead wire and a «locomotive» on no tracks, while the photo here shows a system with a single overhead wire and tracks. It operated from 130 V DC, quite unusual at the time.

I assume no company would ever consider making a 1/32 model of any of these locomotives(?) However, as an oddity I thought it nice to show here.

References

Observe that «Wikimedia» above is short for Wikimedia Commons, not Wikimedia, which is the host of Wikipedia, «Commons» etc.

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.

As first sources, for everything Swiss, start at SBB Historic’s archive at https://www.sbbarchiv.ch/suchinfo.aspx. Then, for mostly  photos, have a look at Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SBB_Historic.

[1] See 229:[3]

[2] Die Berner Dekretsmühlen – Die Ce 4/6- und Ce 4/4, sowie CFe 2/6 und Te 2/3 der BLS-Gruppe by Peter Hürzeler and Hans Roth. LOKI Spezial Nr. 46, Oktober 2019, 130 pages. Stämpfli Verlag AG. Order here. Observe that the BLS Te 2/3 also is covered, as also seen in my blog My BRAWA 0571 BLS Te 2/3.

I queried JC (here) at SBB Historic about this strange nickname «Dekretsmühlen» – whether it was translatable into English. Below is the wise answer. Thanks so much for the enlightenment:

«A Mühle is a mill – where you can grind wheat, for example. There is a saying in German which goes “Die Mühlen [ … of something ] mahlen langsam” which means “the mills [of something, usually a higher power or some sort of official institution] grind slowly”. Things can also be caught “in the mills of bureaucracy” – a person can get caught in the mills of bureaucracy as well! I think in English it’s more like “the wheels of … turn slowly” / “get caught in the wheels of […]».
And since the “Dekret” is already the official decree by which it was ordered to have the railways electrified, Dekretsmühle is sort of a humorous name to imply that this is a locomotive that has been brought into existence by official decree. (I don’t think it means to imply that it is in any way slow, though.)
I also looked it up in a book we have on the subject of nicknames, but there it only says that it’s because of the official decree.
Unsure what an English name might be. German is much easier for making fun composite words…
Perhaps something like “the wheels of bureaucracy” ? 😊»

In Norwegian we say «den byråkratiske kverna» using the word kvern for grinder or «Schleifer«.