Front Page

NUREMBERG 2009 REPORT

As always this report is based on the lines we sell rather than full coverage of the whole Fair.

Much has changed over the previous 12 months with firms folding and others amalgamating. This years' models appear to be on the conservative side.

BEMO: there are three completely new moulds this year. They consist of two versions of the RhB Low-floor Driving Trailers (3249103 BDt 173 & 3249108 BDt 178), BRUNIG "Bella Vista" Coach (3276433) and RhB Baggage Van (3236112). The rest of the new items appear to be reliveries or upgrades of existing models - new livery "Bernina" Panoramic Coach (3293112 / 113 & 116), "Crossrail" Containers on Low-loaders (2289122 / 129), "VALSER" Haik Vans (2288103 / 106). In locos there is 1262471 an HGe 4/4 in Zentralbahn livery, 1259311 MOB Ge 4/4 III "Gstaad" livery, 1259148 RhB Ge 4/4 III "Lanxess" livery and 1255116 RhB Krokodil no. 406 in 30's guise. As far as the METAL COLLECTION locos go there are two RhB Mallet Locos no. 29 (1293149) which has an order cut off date (30/4/2009) and No. 25 (1293135) which will go into the standard programme together with two Rack Steam Locos - one for the BVZ No. 7 "Breithorn" (1292527) and one for the DFB No. 6 "Weisshorn" (1292596).

There are also five Steam Loco variants in the German HOe METAL series.

By the time you read this report most of our Club members will have received their new items leaflet but we still have some copies available for other interested parties who send in a couple of "large letter" stamps to cover postage please.

BRAWA: again here there are a lot of reliveries and most of the items are early Epoches. There is not much in the way of Swiss or Austrian outline which is our forte but some items to note are - DR BR191 Steam Loco (40404) also a DRG version (40400). There is an early KPEV T11 Tank Loco (40354).

Our BRAWA 2009 price list is now ready. Although it does not include the complete range we will gladly order in items using our pre-order scheme.

BUSCH: again tonnes of new scenic accessories and road vehicles. There are now some very nice building kits, some of which look as if they are real wood. There is a superb Goods Shed (1421) that is so realistic it would be at home on any BEMO layout! This also goes for a Covered Road Bridge (1420).

D & R: no new releases this year. However the long awaited "Glacier Express" Set of 4 x MGB Panoramic Coaches should be available in the next couple of months. Our new price list for this range is now ready.

FALLER: again here there are a few new and interesting kits in HO. This year's Exclusive Model is 130540 a Riding Centre and Stud Farm with accessories. Other kits of note include 130480 "ARAL" Filling Station / 130981 "DHL" Logistics Centre / 130483 Motorcycle Shop and 3 great Alpine style kits - 130331 "InterSport" Shop / 130329 Alpine Chalet "Moser" and 130330 "Enzian" Chemist's Shop. Also there is 130479 a Fitness Centre / 130568 Children's Petting Zoo and 130522 Stable Block. In the Fairground range - 140316 Children's Merry-go-round and 140340 a Fun Fair Set which includes a Big Wheel, Bouncy Castle and a couple of other booths. In N gauge there is 232343 a Prefabricated House under construction / 232362 Farm Implement's Shed / 232364 Farm and 212110 "Feuerbach" Station.

HERIS: well at long last they have done a new catalogue (Issue III) but it contains much the same as the previous one with the exception of the Narrow Gauge Loco. HERIS are obviously struggling to keep up production and we still have masses on back order with them. Whilst at the show I did put in an order for more of the "CAT" Sets and "Nicki Airlines" variant alongwith more individual CityNightLine Coaches and some more of the Bogie Tankers in SBB, OBB and French versions, all of which are in current stock over there in the warehouse.

HAG: HAG continue to plod on with the usual reliveries. The GTW 2/6 THURBO units should be available late June but other than that it's 10 new Ae 6/6 variants / 6 x Re 4/4 II variants / 2 x Re 4/4 I's and 3 x BLS

Ae 8/8's - one of these being in green which as far as I am aware never existed?

There are some interesting new loads on the Rs and Simmnps Wagons.

JAGERNDORFER: on show were six variants of the OBB Class 1163 together with details of the OBB Class 1822 in three different liveries. They also had some Coach sets including Driving Trailer in the new OBB "Railjet" livery.

Further details of models from this range will appear in our Newsletters when available.

KATO / HOBBYTRAIN: this was the first year I have actually sat down with anyone from this company and have a chat. We are quite happy to order in any of their products, including the German and Minis range. If we can increase our turnover with them we will get a better rate which in turn means we can pass the benefits on to you the customer so please help us out here.

We are still waiting for the Swiss Double-deck Coaches. At least this year there were some mouldings! Also to come in 2009 - SBB CARGO E474 (2903) / SBB CARGO E189 - yellow version (2904) / ES64 in "MRCE" livery (2902) and DB "Railion" (2901). The TAURUS is represented by an OBB red version (2710) / OBB black & silver (2711) / OBB "EU" livery (2712) and orange & silver "RTS" (2713). The Class 66's come in two new versions "Transpetrol" (10819) and "ACTS" livery (10820).

KIBRI: KIBRI are still consolidating. They are trying to clear some of their existing stocks which they appear to have accumulated. There are a few new items - in HO: 8075 a Water Mill with working wheel / 8512 Solar Powered Work Station / 8451, 53 and 55 are houses in various stages of being built / 9839 "Rumpelhausen" Station / 9531 "Steinheim" Station / 8602 3 x Solar Powered Houses. There are also five new boats and 9166 a Lighthouse. 9351 is a 3-stall Electric Loco Shed which I believe is an "old model" in a different colour.

In N gauge there are eleven new items, five of which are Swiss Alpine Houses. Also four modern buildings and two 2 x 2 Family Bungalows.

In Z there are also five Alpine buildings, a Post Office (6842) and two High-rise Apartment Buildings.

There are also a number of Vehicles but we only supply these to order so I will not mention these in any detail. Our 2009 KIBRI buildings price list is now available.

KLEIN Modellbahn: Oskar Klein has sold the name and moulds to the Modelleisenbahn group. It's not certain whether items will be run using the KLEIN Modellbahn brand or parts will go into the ROCO range. Rumours are that Oskar may set up a new small company to produce some products which he has had in mind for a few years.

LS: LS appear to be going it alone. They continue to produce new items at a reasonable rate for such a small firm using Modern Gala in China (BEMO also use this manufacturer). They soon hope to publish a magazine a few times a year - this may well be worth subscribing to if you are keen on their products. They also intend to produce a loose-leaf catalogue that can be regularly updated. LS is linked to another French supplier (FPM) some items of which could make a valued addition to our range. Anyway back to LS - announced new for this year and projects for 2010 - DB Bctm 257 and Bcm 243 Coaches / WLABmz NightZug Coaches / SBB Restaurant Coach in original red / SBB Am, Bm, ABm and RIC coaches in green & grey / SNCF BB15000 / SNCF BB7003 / SNCF BB9400 and 9600 Electrics / SBB RBe 2/4 "Red Arrow" Railcar / Belgian RER EMU and SBB Habis Wagons.

LILIPUT: all very strange here. We have a New Items leaflet and a new catalogue. There are some new items which are in the catalogue but not the new items leaflet so I think I will just give an overview of both. First of all they have gone into LGB scale with 92130 a General Diesel Loco with V11 on the side. To go with this there are 95751 Flat Bogie Stake Wagon / 95750 Stake Wagon in a different colour with a tree trunk load and two Bogie Beer Vans - 95981 "Lowenbrau" and 95982 "Spatenbrau".

In HOe the new Zillertal Diesel which must be just about to appear is announced in StLB markings (142122). There are 3 new Bogie Coaches - one standard OBB green (375508) and two marked for Zillertalbahn (375507 and 375509). There are also three new Vans - two plain brown / one DR (294231) and one OBB (294230). The others carry Beer adverts - 294281 "Murauer" / 294282 "Zillertal" and 294280 "Stiegl".

In HO we have another version of the SBB "Flirt" (133991). We still haven't received any of the first version in the UK yet!). A Swiss "Ralpin" Couchette (388126) and a beautiful 4-Coach Gottardbahn Coach set in blue (350115) together with two additional coaches (329929 and 329969). Also in Swiss a "PTT" Container Wagon (240035). For other modellers a Class 2060 Diesel (132471) / a covered 6-axle Coil Transporter which also comes in other guises - "E & H Gmbh" (235772) and an uncovered version (235766).

L.G.B. (part of the Marklin group): MARKLIN are in dire straights once again! Although there are new item leaflets for MARKLIN / TRIX and LGB whether production will be made is not known at present.

Anyway some of the LGB which might be of interest to our customers (again mainly Swiss) include two more Refrigerated Vans - CoOp "Broccoli" (48595) and "Bergkase" (46893) / an RhB Haik Bogie Sliding Wall Wagon (41573) / "Glacier Express 2006" 2nd Class Panoramic Coach (33665) / WR3810 Restaurant Coach in red (30523) / Tm 2/2 Tractor No 17 in orange (21410) / BERNINA Railcar in green (23390) and a BRUNIG Tractor in red (24410). For Austria there is a Class 2092 Diesel Loco (23593) / OBB Bogie Passenger Coach in brown (33624) / OBB blue Bicycle Van (41623) / 2-axle Zillertal Coach in red (31077) and a Bogie Zillertal Coach in the same colour (31623).

Most of the locos this year come with fitted or ready-to-fit decoders but only one loco comes with sound and this is a DR 99 7245 Steam Loco (25812).

M & D: Mr Bartell has now decided to retire which means we will have to source our wagon loads from elsewhere. At the moment I have seen two alternatives so as they say "watch this space"!

MARKLIN: as the show draws to a close the MARKLIN rumours continue - the Banks have made certain that the company will continue until the end of March 2009 but general consensus is that it will have to be split up into separate elements.

MARKLIN Z: as to be expected there is very little new in this small scale. A couple of things which caught my eye were 81450 DB CARGO Lime Transport Train consisting of Class 232 and five suitably weathered wagons and 81441 Austrian Express Passenger Train Set which looks good with its green coaches but I'm not so sure about the loco in its 2-tone green livery. I've never seen one that colour before!

MEHANO: MEHANO is still alive and kicking!! Most of the production will be moved to China (if it hasn't already done so) and some fresh supplies will start to arrive again shortly. There will be a few delays on deliveries and not quite so many items will be manufactured each year but in general this is good news for us.

NAROBAHN / TI-HO: no special new releases to mention yet for either the HO or HOe ranges - just watch our Newsletters. I did have dinner with Werner this year - lots of conversation but nothing to do with new models!

NOCH: again loads of figures and scenic accessories - some good, some not so good. There are some small Boats in HO and N, a series of HO Farm Implements and Tractors, most of which look good. A series of accessories such as Furniture - complete with stove, washing machine, fridge etc. Office Furniture, Garden accessories, Garden Furniture and Children's Play Area. Also there is a series of laser cut paper items that turn into Rhubarb, Cabbage Plants, Ferns, Turnips and Water Lilies, all of which (believe it or not) look very realistic.

PIKO: a lot of new items here again in a 12-page leaflet. We tend to concentrate on the HOBBY Range for stock but may extend to the Classic range should TRIX disappear.

In the HOBBY Range there are two BR 101's - 59942 "Ethopian Airways" and 59443 "Kuwait Airways". They also show three black MRCE locos - 57911 as a TAURUS, 57462 as a BR189 and 57595 as a Hercules. 57533 is a TRAXX Electric in "HVLE" livery and there are five G1700's - 59401 being an SBB "INFRA" / 59407 "VPS" livery / 59406 "LTE" / 59409 "Vossloh" livery and 59408 "MKB" livery.

The prices of PIKO seem to have increased drastically without taking into account the exchange rates. We should shortly be able to supply some New Item leaflets for the cost of 2 x Large Letter stamps please.

PREISER: again quite a number of new sets of figures and accessories in HO. Four sets of Seated figures, a Children's Play Area (10567) with a Seesaw and Sandpit, 10599 a Mail Voice Choir, 10600 DB Band, 10557 DB Loco Drivers, 10595 Flea Market (Boot Sale), 10586 Robbery, 28140 Hostage Situation and 28119 "Under Arrest". As far as accessories go what I think is a great idea is 17285 Car Park Barriers. Also there is 17008 Safety Clothing and 17117 a Wagon Load consisting of Cable Drums.

The individual figures are also well represented some of which follow: 28139 TV Reporter & Camera Crew / 29094 Homeless Man on bench / 28134 "Caution Wet Floor" / 28116 "Eating Breakfast" / 28133 "At the Cooker" / 28122 Kissing Couple and 28132 The Queen and Prince Philip!!

The other scales - LGB, O, I and TT also have some new additions but there is nothing new for N gauge.

ROCO / FLEISCHMANN: the companies of Fleischmann and ROCO are now under the banner of Modelleisenbahn GmbH. For us it means we can place "mixed" orders which will speed up our delivery times. Although we have New Item leaflets for ROCO / Fleischmann HO and Fleischmann N the way the ranges will be marketed will not be apparent until the new catalogues are released. The aim appears to be that ROCO will do the majority of HO and HOe and Fleischmann HO will concentrate on Epoche III and earlier. The Fleischmann N range will also include ex ROCO N models.

We have a number of New Item leaflets available, all we ask is for some stamps to help with postage -

ROCO 3 x 2nd Class stamps

Fleischmann HO 2 x 2nd Class stamps

and Fleischmann N 2 x 2nd Class stamps

There are far too many new items to list them all but here are just a few bits to wet your appetite!

ROCO HOe: 33264 another Mh6 in DRG livery / 33221 OBB 1099 Electric (red/cream) and 34090 set of matching OBB Coaches.

ROCO HO: 63180 DB Regional Shuttle / 62885 OBB Class 2043 Diesel in red (cream band) / 62645 OBB Class 1245 / 62665 SBB Ee 3/3 Electric Shunter / the much publicised ICN Electric in 2 versions - 63510 7-unit and 63151 5-unit / BLS Re 4/4 in silver & green appears again under code 62691 / the same loco is also available in Swiss Express livery as code 62690 / the BLS 485 reappears with advertising this time code 62498.

What I have noticed with the ROCO New Items is that a lot of them already exist so now we'll move onto Fleischmann HO and after spouting the guff about Epoche III and earlier it's surprising how many modern items are included so if you want to know please send for a New Items leaflet.

FLEISCHMANN N: to celebrate 40 Years of Fleischmann N there is another SBB Ae 6/6 in green (737204). There is an interesting set of 10 x "DHL" 2-axle Containers (824200) and evenmore so a set of 12 Double Container Wagons with "DHL" / "Crossrail" / "Hamburg-Sud" and "Hangartner" containers (824300). The OBB has a Class 1020 Electric in orange - 739402 and 2 x OBB 1010's - 737302 in orange and 737301 in green. The SBB has a red Ae 6/6 (737203), an SBB 482 in "Holcim" livery code 738502 and 775302 Sihltalbahn Loco for the original and now re-run Sihltal Double-deck Coaches. There are also more HUPAC wagons with different lorries on them. Finally the DESIRO 2-car unit is to appear in MAV (Hungarian) livery

(742003).

It appears Modelleisenbahn have dropped the FLEISCHMANN MagicTrain Oe range and this is no longer shown in the catalogues. Having said that there is plenty of stock left over there in the warehouse and we can continue to supply as long as stocks last. Please note there are no Sets left.

RIETZE: there is not a New Items leaflet as such. RIETZE tend to produce a leaflet every quarter which announces the next 3 months production. There are a few vehicles listed here that I have asked to come in over during the next 3 month period - 31180 a VW T5 Van with a Swiss Fork-lift Service Vehicle livery / 63953 a general NEOPLAN CityLiner with an eye-catching livery / 60865 IVECO Swiss Juggernaut "Friderici" and 60869 IVECO lorry in "J P Chenet" Livery. 66325 is a German TRAVEGO coach for "Heidi" with a great Swiss scene printed on it. 65818 is an Austrian LIONS Regio OBB Post Bus / 66633 a MB Citaro Bendy-bus in Swiss "Post" livery and there is also one of these in N gauge (16140). The ever popular "Eurolines" NEOPLAN Starliner is also in N gauge (code 16136).

TRIX / MINITRIX: a giant size New Items leaflet of some 150 pages. I am just going to select a few pieces for who knows in 2 months time TRIX may not be here. As I flicked through the pages I got a great sense of dejaveux. I am sure I have seen a lot of this stuff before - maybe I've been in the trade too long!! I suspect they are just MARKLIN models revamped for TRIX.

HO - 22055 Bayern Mallet Steam Loco / two 1920's CIWL Coaches - 23473 in brown and 23474 in brown & cream / 22027 DR Steam Railcar / 22215 DB Overhead Maintenance Vehicle.

N - Bayerische Express Train consisting of 6 Coaches / yet another SBB Krokodil in green (12128) / 5-Coach Rheingold red & cream Coach Set (15860) and matching Class 103 Electric (12194) / DB Class 152 in "CLAAS" advertising livery (12598) / Class 185 Electric "Crossrail" (12596) and believe it or not at least six Wagon Sets - some containing 40 models. I just do not understand the mentality of producing sets of such vast quantities. Unlike some we definitely will not split such sets - it's a mugs game as you always end up with items no-one wants and in turn cannot supply enough of the ones people do want. The only exception to this statement is a "HANGARTNER" set of 5 wagons that looks good but at approx. £100.00 for a set of 5 is out of the reach of most people.

ViTRAINS: there is a new catalogue here which shows the enlargement of the range of Stadler GTW 2/6 and 2/8 HO units. New versions include - SBB, BLS, RM-BLS, DB-AG Regio, DB-AG UBB, Dutch "Arriva" and "Veolia", a Greek variant + a couple of others. Other new sets include 1042 "Elfo" EMU set of the Tosca Regional Railway, 1041 "Lupetto" 3-Car EMU from the Abruzzo Regional Railway and 1040 "Pintoricchio" 3-Car DMU from the Umbria Regional Railway.

VOLLMER: a few new kits here this year in HO - 5780 Scrap Storage Area / 5149 Bus Station / 5137 Summerhouse for gardens / 3860 is a Monastery / 5155 Bus Stop / 3522 "Burghausen" Station / 3150 "Marklin Jubilee" Station (if Marklin still exists in March when the kit is due) / 5767 "Rudesheim" Signal Box / 2413 is marketed as a "Christmas Village" consisting of five kits, four of which are available separately - 2415 Post Office, 2416 Mulled Wine stand, 2417 Gingerbread House and 5140 Hot Dog stand. At the same time VOLLMER are re-releasing some of their previously popular deleted kits - 3700 House "Sonneck" / 3724 Konditorei and 3722 Butcher's Shop. VOLLMER are also producing a range of electronic items - Police Cars with flashing lights and various electronic sounds, all of which are very good. There might be a market for them but I'm not sure?

In N gauge there are 3 new kits - 7580 Bus Station / 7727 Hiking Hut with BBQ and 7612 "Silent Night" Chapel.

We should have some VOLLMER new item leaflets due in with our next delivery at the end of the month . 2 x 2nd Class stamps please if you require a copy. Our 2009 VOLLMER HO price list is now also available.

I hope that the above information may be of help and interest. Thank you for supporting WINCO and we hope to be of further service to you during 2009.

Peter Brett