It has been five years since, in a quest to assemble a specific train, I acquired a model of an East German dining car in the then typical red Mitropa livery. At the time, I didn’t really know what I had bought – only that the model had been produced in the GDR – but I was surprised at the condition of the model and the still working interior lighting. Subsequently I learned a bit more about the providence of it.
The model had been made by East German company Schicht, which had been founded in 1947 in Dresden and focused on the production of model railway rolling stock. Interestingly, Schicht was a precursor to Piko. The heritage of Schicht lived on in models made by Sachsenmodelle and later Tillig.
Over the years I picked up a number of different models here and there, a surprising few of them here in Australia. My first few purchases were of varying condition – it’s not unusual for certain parts, like buffers and door steps, to be missing, as it doesn’t take much to damage those. As I learned more about these models, I started paying attention to their condition. as well. While it’s not a dealbreaker, the price I will pay for one of these is commensurate to how well preserved the model is.
The models, made in the 60s and early 70s, before Schicht was rolled into Prefo and then Piko, don’t really make you think they could be that old. Their detail level is high, the print quality is astounding, and pretty much the only giveaway is their length, which is scaled to 1:100, something quite common for the time: models were shortened in scale to work better in tighter curves. With the advent of close coupler mechanisms, prototypical length carriages became more viable on small layouts.One little detail I really love is the route signs present on most of the models. With the exception of the CSD sleeping carriage they all show the same route: Berlin – Prague. A great pretext to tell a little story.
My intent is to run at least some of these in a train. Most of these are equipped with interior lighting, but they use old style incandescent lightbulbs and flicker a LOT on DCC track. Upgrading to LED with a buffer to eliminate flickering will be a must. Thankfully these models are very easy to disassemble. This will be an upcoming project and therefore become my first fully lit train.
My first acquisition, as mentioned above, was this model of a dining car type Wr 4g of the MITROPA. It was overall in good condition, with working lights and all parts present, and only a minor nick on the roof. The interior is quite detailed for the time, even sporting small table lamps.I have a soft spot for these red dining cars, and none of my East German express trains are complete without one.
Some time later I bought small lot of these models from an Australian seller, all passenger cars of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR). At the time I didn’t know everything I know now, so these carriages are in very mixed condition. Most buffers and a few of the steps are missing, but at least all the models were clean. There is a good chance I may use the postal car in a train composition, but the rest will live on the shelf. The second dining carriage will probably only serve as a spares donor.
Another local find was this DR mixed class car type ABme, which I got dirt cheap, but it looks accordingly, with not only a few missing bits but a fair amount of dirt. This one will not run in any train, it’s simply too dilapidated for that. But I will use it as a test bed for LED installation and other modifications. I do wish I could find another ABme, but so far I have not been so lucky.
One might think that’s all one is able to get, considering these models are well over 40 years old and would at some point have been shipped halfway across the world. But I would soon learn otherwise. The next local find was two carriages of former Czechoslovak state railway operator CSD, both in very good condition, clean and with all parts present. Looking at these models you’d hardly believe they were made in the 1970s. Both of these will definitely run in a train.
And then, on a trip to Germany, I picked up two more Bme cars from a model railway exchange. Again these were in great condition with working lights and no breakage – much better than the first Bme I got. Which again makes them prime candidates for active duty.
And yet another local find was this Ame, which utterly surprised me. Not only was the model itself in pristine condition – it looked like it had never been taken out of the box – but the box was also almost like new. Most of the time, when you do get these models in their boxes, the boxes are quite worn and sometimes tatty. Not so this one – you’d have a hard time believing it was more than ten years old, never mind over 40.
And the most recent addition to this particular collection was another dining carriage, this time of the CSD. I discovered this one at a local second hand trader, and aside from one missing step the model is in good condition. One of the lightbulbs had come loose internally, and since the lighting fixture as a whole looked a bit worn, I removed it entirely. That also gave me the impetus to start thinking about how to upgrade these models to LED lights, a project I will embark on soon.
There are still a fair few models out there I’d like to add to the collection, even if they won’t run. There are models representing Polish and Hungarian rolling stock, as well as different East German liveries. It may behoove me to also acquire a catalogue of what actually existed. An online find of a later Piko catalogue gives a bit of an idea – it even still uses the same item numbers – but it’s by far not the full view.