Liliput 95752, G-Scale stake car

I was in doubt whether to do this review at all. After all, it's just a freight car. A single freight car. Does it deserve a separate review?

But then I remembered that whenever I'm considering buying something, I'm looking it up on the internet first. And what I usually find is just some official photos without any useful first-hand information. And then I wish people shared more...

So this review must be worth it! And I'll try to make it a habit to always share at least a little bit about everything new I get. So this time it's Liliput 95752: a stake car in G-scale.

The car comes in a sturdy box 18 x 8 x 5 inches in size. At first sight - it looks good. Let's take a look inside...

There's actually quite a lot inside the box. You'll find:

• the car with "wooden" logs
• LGB-like couplers (with installation manual)
• knuckle couplers
• hand-brake wheel
• plates for various railway companies

This is the car taken straight out of the box. As you can see, the couplers are not installed at all.

One thing to be noticed immediately is that both the stakes and the logs are removable. Actually they're very loose. It's very nice in case you want to model a scene like the one below but might also be problematic in case you just want to run your trains. I might consider attaching them permanently...

The car itself is made of a good quality plastic that feels nice when held in hands. The same cannot be said about the logs. Those are made of cheap-looking, light, empty inside and glossy material. Slight disappointment here but let's assume the logs are not the most important element of the set.

The car comes without any couplers installed. Two types are however included so every user should be happy. We can either install an American knuckle coupler:

Or a more traditional (for us in Europe) LGB-like coupler.

In both cases the installation is pretty easy. Still - the manufacturer decided to provide an installation diagram for the LGB coupler.

One thing I was worried about was whether the car would still fit into the box after the installation of the couplers. Well, it does fit... barely... or should I say: perfectly?

The car features a lot of details. We have plenty of handles and some of them are movable. They seem fragile, too...

The under-frame is quite rich. All those rods are separate parts that are not glued and can be moved. Yep, those feel fragile, too...

There are two extra details that can be installed. One is the railway company logo that goes on the side of the car. And there are several to choose from. Here I have attached an Austrian Railway plate:

The other is a hand brake wheel. It looks great although that's one more part that does not feel very durable. Especially if you consider that all those logs are loose and can hit it easily...

A very nice surprise is the car's wheels. They're made of metal and are pretty heavy. They really feel like a solid piece and make me believe I bought a quality product. And they do feature an interesting design, too.

Since the car is complete now, let's take a look at some more photos:

Summary

I like the car a lot. My first impression is that the money was well spent. I'm a little worried about the fragile parts and might consider gluing some of them. But I absolutely love the metal wheels!

Pros:

• lots of details
• selection of couplers
• nice metal wheels
• very good price

Cons:

• fragile parts
• wooden logs made of cheap plastic