LGB 20755, G-Scale BR139 electric locomotive

LGB 20755 is a product that is no longer in production. I noticed the existence of this model a few months ago and was surprised by its rather low price. Seemed that at a cost of a regular locomotive I could get one with a DCC decoder and a sound module. Too good to be true?

So I was thinking about buying it. Considering the pros and the cons. And thinking about it again. And by the time I've made up my mind, the locomotive was sold out everywhere. And I almost gave up looking for it. Until I came across it by luck at the ArsTecnica on-line store.

Seemed they had two pieces available. But soon only one was left. I could not wait any more and bought it quickly. It cost me 364 € but I knew it had to be worth it. After all it could have been the last LGB 20755 available in the entire world!

So what is LGB 20755? It's a G-Scale model of a German BR139 electric locomotive. As already mentioned it features a DCC decoder and sound functions. It's a budget model, it's really cheap compared to other large scale items. Will it feel cheap, too?

One of the icons on the box indicates you should not throw the locomotive into a trash bin. I wonder who would ever do that...

This is my first LGB product. So finally I'm able to see what the LGB packaging is like. The locomotive came in a rather large and heavy box. It feels sturdy and durable. Just as I would expect it to be.

Inside there's another box. The model is completely hidden inside a polystyrene foam case. It really looks safe...

And here's the locomotive. Additionally protected by a plastic wrap.

Let's unwrap it then...

...and see the full content of the package:

We don't really get that much. Four items only:

• the locomotive itself
• a metal plate (of undocumented function) 
• central buffers for narrow gauge operation
• manual in several languages

Somehow I expected a little more to be there. But is there anything missing? I don't think so... After all, I can't even find out what the metal plate is for. More stuff would confuse me even more.

So does the budget model feel cheap?

I would not say that. The locomotive is heavy and feels solid. It does not make an impression of a toy at all. Its body is rather simple - we won't find that many separately applied elements there. Except for the roof which is nicely detailed in my opinion.

The pantographs are extendable. Their mechanism is simple and they tend to rise at the slightest touch but they make a good impression overall. They're plastic though so I will be careful when operating them. And no, they cannot pick power from the catenary wires.

The paint scheme is very simple. It does reflect the original locomotives from that era though. And there are quite a lot of small details painted which is nice. It's just that everything is white-on-green. Rather boring and not eye-catchy...

But why don't we let the photos tell the story...


Looks perfect at first. But if you look long enough, you'll notice a small damage on the side of the model. I wonder how it got there. Here it is magnified:

I haven't had the chance to run the locomotive very much, yet. I did however build a test loop and made it go around a few times. It seemed to perform very well. The motor was not very loud, and it ran smoothly on my track.

The locomotive does not look good on a 60cm (2ft) radius track. It's already too long for such a narrow curve to look realistic. I would definitely recommend a wider loop for this engine.

The DCC functions worked right away. They're fully compatible with Roco/Fleischmann central stations. The DCC sound effects are clear with the exception of the "station announcement" function which could really offer a better quality of audio. The sounds are very loud. Much louder than my PIKO sound module and speaker set. I consider it very good news. I may however have to lower the volume not to annoy my neighbours too much. Here's a short demo of the DCC/sound capabilities.

Summary

The first impression of my new locomotive is very good. Despite the low price, I can't find anything I could really complain about. I don't have any other super-expensive models though, so perhaps I just don't know what I'm missing here. However, if you're low on budget, I don't see why I should not recommend buying this cheaper product.

Pros

• really attractive price
• DCC/sound equipped
• nicely detailed roof
• good general feeling (despite low price)
• loud audio output

Cons

• not in production anymore
• very generic, unattractive look
• audio effects (one in particular) could be of better quality