Category Archives: SBB

z-bahn: SBB passenger coaches

Z-bahn type EWII coaches from the late 60’s and 70’s are works of art, they help complete another area of z scale railroading. Coach sets were delivered in foam lined hinged aluminum boxes as elegant as the coaches themselves. Z-bahn was the first to model this type of Swiss coach in z, but they were also the first to produce interior details and seating. Marklin finally produced a perfect loco for this era of Swiss railroading with the 88590 class Re 4/4 II general purpose loco in green paint scheme. Earlier Marklin SBB locos in green paint scheme are also suitable, but the Re 4/4 was more common.

from top:

z-bahn #30120 – Swiss Federal Railroad (SBB) class EWII two car set: 1- 2nd class coach and 1- 1st class coach with “Komfort” stripe.
z-bahn #30050 – Swiss Federal Railroad (SBB) class EWII five car set: 1- 1st class coach with “Komfort” stripe, 3- 2nd class coaches with “Komfort” stripe, and 1- baggage car. *Top right and lower left picture.

Railex: Auto Transport BLS

The BLS operates an auto and people mover through the Lotschberg Tunnel connecting Kandersteg and Goppenstein. Passengers drive their own cars onto the rail cars which they occupy for the brief trip through the Lotschberg Tunnel. A quick and efficient means for travel in Switzerland are the many tunnels that have been well engineered and maintained. Railex was up for a challenge with this car set that features all metal construction with filigree metal roof supports and numerous details that are true to the prototype. Features a simple coupling system compatible with Marklin that allows distance adjustments between cars.

Railex – Autotransportzug der BLS, 5 car freight set for transporting lite vehicles through the Lotschberg Tunnel: “Kandersteg – Goppenstein.” Full metal construction with numerous separately applied parts.

FR Locomotives: Switzerland

Switzerland is home to many exciting railway adventures. And many model railroaders gravitate toward modeling Swiss prototypes and scenic byways. FR’s first foray in Swiss z locomotion was modifying Marklin locos, one such example is the class Ae 3/6 electric. Not a great runner out of the box, FR redesigned it with an FR custom circuit board and motor with a flywheel. In order to allow the flywheel to spin freely window glazings had to be removed on that end of the loco. But another very interesting loco for Switzerland was designed and built from tip to toe by FR for the railway Rorschach Heiden Bergbahn, the model is entirely constructed of metal with separately applied details, and the first model of a cog railway prototype in ‘Z’ scale. It also incorporates the new technology of coreless motors.

Marklin 8851 loco modified by FR with upgraded FR circuit board and motor with flywheel. The brass flywheel can be seen in photo #3. I purchased this second hand, it was missing all the glazing. Later I found a shell with complete glazing, and I was able to file the bottom edge of glazing, with very careful positioning I was able to keep all glazing intact. The running characteristics are very good with the FR modifications.

FR – Rorschach Heiden Bergbahn (RHB) class Fzeh2/4 cog railway locomotive privately owned and lettered for RHB in Epoch 2 paint scheme.

*Siding: FR recommends teflon based oil instead of Marklin oil for its locos available from Hightech Modellbahnen.

FR: SBB rolling stock

SBB and DB are the big heavy weights in Marklin’s long list of z scale offerings since 1972. Much has been produced for SBB, and much has not been produced in SBB. Marklin certainly isn’t to blame for any missing locos or rolling stock, the SBB has a rich and varied history and probably too much to cover by a single manufacturer. More on this topic will follow, but for now let’s talk FR’s SBB rolling stock. For the first time in z FR has produced K3 box cars types and other interesting items for freight hauling in and around the charming and majestic landscapes of Switzerland.

FR #ZF300a – BBC, type Fbkk hoppers for recycling haulage, lettered for the firm BBC. Full metal construction.

FR #ZF300c – SBB, type Fbkk hoppers for recycling haulage. Full metal construction.

FR #41.331.01 – SBB, type K3 box cars.

FR #41.331.02 – SBB, type Gms box cars formerly K3

FR #41.331.11 – BT, type X286 (former K3) box car

FR #41.331.12 – SBB / Sersa, type Gleisbauwagen V (former K3) box cars.

FR #41.331.22 – SBB, type Gms (former K3) box cars with graffiti and weathering. Limited edition: 25.

SMI – 8656: Hbis car type

Marklin special imprints pertaining to the Hbis car type with few exceptions are of Swiss origin. Car type is SBB Hbis. And with few exceptions produced in an edition size of 300 total.

1. Roland Zweiback (two sided – opposite: Roland Sticks), Marklin #88656.1, Koll’s #93701, Miba/Monk #791. Released 1993.

2. Feldscholosschen Bier, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #824.

3. Dunkle Perle, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #825.

4. Hopfenperle, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #826.

*2-4 originally sold as a three car set: 3 beers brewed by Feldschlosschen Brewery, Rheinfelden, Switzerland. Released 1994.

5. CARGO DOMICILE, Marklin #88656.6, Koll’s #94701, Miba/Monk #880.

6. Kaselocher – “Swiss Cheese”, Marklin #88656.5, Koll’s #94702.

7. Haco FARMER I, dunkel ohne Wagendaten, Marklin #88656.4, Koll’s #94703, Miba/Monk #868. Released 1994.

8. PEPSI, Marklin #88657.2, Koll’s #95001, Miba/Monk #883. Released 1995.

9. Schweppes, Marklin #88657.4, Koll’s #95002, Miba/Monk #918. Released 1995.

10. rivella (two sided – opposite: GRAPILLON), Marklin #88657.5, Koll’s #95003, Miba/Monk #995.

11. PTT – Post Schweiz – LA POSTE/ LA POSTA/ DIE POST, Marklin #88656.7, Koll’s #95701, Miba/Monk #940.

12. FONTESSA ELM, Marklin #88657.8, Koll’s #96002, Miba/Monk #967.

13. Ovomaltine, Marklin #88657.9, Koll’s #96003, Miba/Monk #1027.

14. Maggi, Marklin #8657.007, Koll’s #96705, Miba/Monk #1015.

15. sihl + eika papier, Marklin #88656.8, Koll’s #96706, Miba/Monk #966.

16. JURA-SEL AUS DER SCHWEIZ, Marklin #88657.7, Koll’s #96708, Miba/Monk #996.

17. EPA, Marklin #88657.11, Koll’s #96709, Miba/Monk #1016.

18. SULZER BULACHGUSS, Marklin #88657.6, Koll’s #96711, Miba/Monk #1028.

19. Schindler Waggon, Marklin #88657.10, #Miba/Monk #1047.

20. Sihl papier, Marklin #8657.904, Miba/Monk #1048.

21. CFL – ohne Werbeplakate, Marklin #82151.1, Miba/Monk #1049.

22. CFL – mit Werbeplakaten, Marklin #82151.2, Miba/Monk #1050.

23. CFL – mit BW-Motiv, Marklin #82151.3, Miba/Monk #1051.

*21-22 originally sold as a three car set: CFL – Luxembourg Car Set.

24. DANZAS, Marklin #8656.902, Miba/Monk #1068.

25. MIDOR, Marklin #8657.905, Miba/Monk #1079.

26. HENNIEZ, Marklin #8656.900, Miba/Monk #1089.

27. Monte Generoso, Marklin #8657.901, Miba/Monk #1099.

28. Hurlimann, Marklin #8657.907, Miba/Monk #1100.

29. DENNER SUPERDISCOUNT, Marklin #8657.900, Miba/Monk #1119.

30. RiCHiNA TRASPORTi, Marklin #8657.909, Miba/Monk #1134.

31. Bahnruhling SBB, Marklin #8656.903, Miba/Monk #1135.

32. BIERE VALAISANNE, WALLISER BIER, Marklin #8657.910, Miba/Monk #1136.

33. Wie fahrt man Gut? (two sided – opposite: Qui va bon train?), Marklin #8657.908, Miba/Monk #1157.

34. Swisscom Unterwegs zu neuen Horizonten, Marklin #8657.911, Miba/Monk #1172.

35. ascom verbindet Menschen (two sided – opposite: ascom relie les hommes), Marklin #8657.916, Miba/Monk #1230.

36. Spanish Brotli Bahn Chrom, Marklin #8656.905, Miba/Monk #1232.

37. Usego III, Marklin #8656.901, Miba/Monk #1233.

38. 100 Jahre DB Museum (pressegeschenk – press gift), Marklin #8657.026, Released 1999 to celebrate 100 year anniversary of DB Museum.

39. Knorr Chirat, Marklin #8657.914, Miba/Monk #1234.

40. Happy Birthday, Marklin #8657.915, released 1999.

41. PTT Union, Marklin #8657.917, Miba/Monk #1238.

42. Lindt 1845, Marklin #88656.9, Miba/Monk #1241.

43. Sinalco, Marklin #8656.910, Miba/Monk #1296.

44. Cargo Domizil (two sided – opposite: Cargo Domicilio), Marklin #8656.909, Miba/Monk #1297.

45. VMB – VEREINIGTE MINERALWASSER AG, Marklin #8656.913, Miba/Monk #1312.

46. COOP – ARNI, Marklin #1998.1.1, Miba/Monk #1137.

47. COOP – GALA, Marklin #1998.1.2, Miba/Monk #1138.

48. COOP – Picanta, Marklin #1998.1.3, Miba/Monk #1139.

*46-48 originally released as three car set in 1998.

49. Bischofszell MIGROS – Gutes aus der Schweiz, Marklin #8657.919, Miba/Monk #1344.

50. Haco FARMER III (grun), Marklin #8657.921, Miba/Monk #1362.

51. EICHHOF (two sided: pictured side depicts bottle of Eichhof Klosterbrau with amber background – not pictured side depicts bottle of Eichhof Braugold with deep blue background), Marklin #8657.922, Miba/Monk #1363.

52. Maggi II, Marklin #8656.916, Miba/Monk #1368, released 2000.

53. FELDSCHLOSSCHEN – Das Leben macht durstig, Marklin #8656.917, Miba/Monk #1388. Released 2001.

54. COOP naturaplan, Marklin #8657.924, Miba/Monk #1428, released 2001.

55. GURTEN BIER, Marklin #8657.925, Miba/Monk #1429, released 2001.

56. Wir bewegen. 25 Jahre Rangierbahnhof Limmattal, Marklin #8656.925, Miba/Monk #1587, Released 2003.

Marklin 88467 locomotive lettered for VSLF

Marklin has produced many versions of the Swiss class 460 electric locomotive since the 90’s, one of the recent releases features lettering for VSLF – the Association for Swiss Locomotive Engineers. The striking design used by VSLF includes a watchful owl depicted on both ends and sides of the 460 locomotive along with a lively graphic design. The Marklin “One Time Series” model 88467 features the removal of the catenary screw on the outside of locomotive thereby providing a more seamless roof appearance, power from the catenary is no longer possible with this model, and the lights are provided by LED’s. One of the most successful 460’s released thus far, and one that will prove to be much sought after in the future.

VSLF is an interesting organization for training and certification of train operators in Switzerland as well as providing representation to their members: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.vslf.com/&prev=search

*You can download wallpaper under the ‘shop’ category at the VSLF site.

Gotthard Tunnel Switzerland – opens June 1, 2016

The 35 mile Gotthard railway tunnel in Switzerland is projected to open June 1st of this year. Construction for the tunnel began in 1996 thus making this a 20 year project to complete. Two videos document the unique challenges and the techniques to overcome those challenges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaTN_R1b00I

z-bahn 30120 + 30050 EW II coach sets of SBB

Exquisite the first word to describe z-bahn models and the fast second is Rare. I have not a lot to offer about the origins and history of this fine manufacturer except to say sadly it is no longer in business. If you are lucky enough to find z-bahn articles for sale buy them, your good fortune may not return for a second chance. Roughly speaking the price you can expect to pay is $100 per coach, they were originally sold in sets of 2 and 5 so complete sets are upwards of $200 – $500 respectively. *Prices based on what I have seen on Ebay in 2015. The production value of the cars is equaled only by the well produced packaging. Sets were delivered in aluminum hinged boxes which were foam lined, a small booklet accompanied each set in German language only. The cars feature Marklin compatible couplers and interior details, yes interior details before Marklin did the same with the 81551 “Airport Express” trainset. Missing is interior lighting. Here we have two sets of EW II coaches: 30120 two car set and 30050 five car set. Set 30120 includes 1- 2nd class coach and 1- 1st class coach with ‘comfort stripe’. Set 30050 includes 1- 1st class coach with ‘comfort stripe’, 3- 2nd class coaches and 1- baggage car. Models are based on the prototype EW II coaches produced 1965-1976, they were used primarily in city and regional express trainsets. Later it has been described that EW I and EW II coaches may have been used in ‘relief trains’ to augment the need for additional coaches in special circumstances.