Lima Orange TGV - safe buy?

[scott]

There's a set on eBay that I might get for Anders (yes, really for him....), but I have no idea what the quality was like on these. Anybody know?

[to2leo]

 

There's a set on eBay that I might get for Anders (yes, really for him....), but I have no idea what the quality was like on these. Anybody know?

 

Ah Lima, my first train set was from them in HO Scale.  Is this a HO Scale? 

 

If it is N scale, I would rather recommend you to buy the tried and tested Kato (Eventhough I am cursed with them).  Because the last thing you want is a quality issue trainset and have no where to send it for repairs.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Martijn Meerts]

Lima H0 models weren't the most detailed, and were very noisy, but they were surprisingly robust. When I was a kid we had a lot of Lima H0, and my brother and me used to put various things on the track to see if the trains could ram through them ;)

 

I also seem to remember trying some head-on crashes to see what happened, but the trains just kept on running ;)

[Guest ___]

Wow, I can't remember the last time I saw a Lima set running. It's been eyars.

[Bernard]

The Orange TGV - I have one Lima N scale train an it was alright, not the best motor unit when you compare it to Kato, Tomix, Altas, etc. I think the Lima TGV you might be looking at is n scale.

 

But also let me add this, the Kato Orange TGV model the pantographs are very very fragile.

[scott]

Yeah, the one I'm looking at is N.

 

FWIW, I have one Lima EMU already (a model of this one), and while it is occasionally a little jerky, I put that down to a long time in storage before I bought it.

[Bernard]

I've seen that model by Lima. The other consideration is the price the Lima TVG is going for, it shouldn't be nearly as close to the cost of the Kato. (I got mine for about 125.00 USD)

 

Let me modify this a bit, I bought the Kato TGV 5 years ago at a local hobby store that was glad to get rid of it.

[scott]

Wow--I expected the Kato to be much more expensive than that. Maybe I'll just wait then...

[Guest ___]

The KATO is pretty expensive from what I have seen so far of the ones on eBay.

[to2leo]

Speaking from a TGV enthusiast with 5 Kato TGVs and counting.  Here are the stores that can save you some money...

http://www.modellbahn-kramm.com/E/komplett.cfm?fid=450&wgid=14&requesttimeout=100

http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=cst&num=10001

 

Use Ctrl F and type in TGV.

[Mudkip Orange]

I have one Lima EMU already (a model of this one)

 

That's a sexy train. What is it?

[scott]

It's a Deutsche Bahn ET 403 emu; first used for Intercity services, and later as a Lufthansa airport express. Some people think they were funny-looking, but it's one of my favorite designs; it was really cool to find a model.

[Bernard]

Speaking from a TGV enthusiast with 5 Kato TGVs and counting.  Here are the stores that can save you some money...

http://www.modellbahn-kramm.com/E/komplett.cfm?fid=450&wgid=14&requesttimeout=100

http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=cst&num=10001

 

Use Ctrl F and type in TGV.

 

Leo - since you are the main guy who collects TGVs, has Kato improved the pantographs on the later model as compared to the French Orange one that was extremely fragile?

[scott]

It's a Deutsche Bahn ET 403 emu; first used for Intercity services, and later as a Lufthansa airport express. Some people think they were funny-looking, but it's one of my favorite designs; it was really cool to find a model.

 

Leo's link to Modellbahn-Kramm reminded me that Hobbytrain is going to re-releases both versions of this train soon.

[Guest ___]

Well it's about darn time.

[to2leo]

Hey Bernard,

Kato have not improved the TGV pantographs, I also found the locking mechanisms between compartments even more fragile.  For instance, if you don't pull apart the train directly on the track, you will risk breaking one of the holds in the compartment.

[jappomania]

just my opinion

 

Lima TGV in N scale is good, maybe the orange color is better than Kato (is like real TGV color, Kato is a little bit much "yellow") but not all have good painting (sometime white strip is a little bit too much clear and you see the orange-dark brown below (for used model ask zoomed photos).

Motor is a little "G" version (directly connected whit wheels), the same motor is used for ET403/Lufthansa so forget the kato quality...(BTW if you are lucky, for the last production only for Switzerland market TGV,ET403/Lufthansa have an improved engine whit cardanic transmission like Kato, you can verify if TGV is improved whit photo of boogie transmission, ET403/Lufthansa have completely red phanto, curtains(?) on the windows and different coupler (same problem whit painted red stripe, Lufthansa is Ok, much simple to paint;-)

Abount Lima TGV, is really hard to find single cars if you want complete your train.

Finally Kato quality I think is better but if you find the first release (not in booklet, inside an elongated box whit light blue foam) verify both sides because if it's put on display for a log time (whit sunlight) you have one side orange and one side orange/yellow!!! (or you can put on display the other side until have the same color ;-P

Spare parts situation is bad for everything (a french guy produce spare couplers between loco and end car

p.s. If someone have old Bachmann TGV..(It's perfect for kitbashing one LA POSTE livery)

 

ciao

Massimo

 

[quinntopia]

Scott, curious as to how this turned out for you as I find myself in the same situation!  I've read other posts on the internet that have similar feedback regarding Lima and their quality.  I did want to confirm something:

Hey Bernard,

Kato have not improved the TGV pantographs, I also found the locking mechanisms between compartments even more fragile.  For instance, if you don't pull apart the train directly on the track, you will risk breaking one of the holds in the compartment.

Most definetly, Kato seems to have a complete failure to understand how to do improve this.  My Thalys is the most frustrating thing in the work to take apart.  It literally is a puzzle trying to figure out which car you need to pull on to uncouple it!  This is what gives us poor model railroaders all this grey hair!

 

Of course, Minitrix has some equally stupid connectors on my NS RAm TEE trainset, but at least it doesn't have the risk of damaging the train in the same way that Leo rightly mentions.

[ToniBabelony]

I had a Lima JNR 485 Series, maybe it was just me, but at one point it just stalled and the motor car went up in flames/smoke. Literally. I'll never ever buy Lima again! Don't know what the chances are with a TGV melting down.

[TedG]

iif you are persistent you can get Kato orange TGV for around $110-150... I've got mint one for $110 CAD.

ANd yes, Kato one is better than Lima.

[scott]

Scott, curious as to how this turned out for you as I find myself in the same situation!

 

I didn't buy it, so I'm no help. And I've stopped even looking anything made by Lima and motorized! 

[quinntopia]

I didn't buy it, so I'm no help. And I've stopped even looking anything made by Lima and motorized!

LOL, that seems to be the smart move given what other owners of Lima have had to say! 

 

I found the Kato set for $125, so I feel like I did okay, although I probably could have done better if I had done some forum reading here before buying!  Now I just need to find a good tutorial on adding a decoder to this set as it doesn't appear to use the same light board system that the newer TGV/Thalys/Eurostar models have.  Anyone know of any information on this?

[TedG]

I didn't buy it, so I'm no help. And I've stopped even looking anything made by Lima and motorized!

LOL, that seems to be the smart move given what other owners of Lima have had to say! 

 

I found the Kato set for $125, so I feel like I did okay, although I probably could have done better if I had done some forum reading here before buying!  Now I just need to find a good tutorial on adding a decoder to this set as it doesn't appear to use the same light board system that the newer TGV/Thalys/Eurostar models have.  Anyone know of any information on this?

 

may be something like this?

http://www.1zu160.net/digital/einbaubsp/kato-tgv-sud.php

[quinntopia]

may be something like this?

http://www.1zu160.net/digital/einbaubsp/kato-tgv-sud.php

 

That's it! Exactly!  It actually looks....kinda easy...I may be able to do this one.

 

Anyway....My new Orange (Kato) TGV arrived the other day.  This is definitely 'old school' Kato...the gaps between the cars are significant, and no close couplers!    I guess that's what I get for whining about my Thalys couplers!    There's also no power contacts for the passenger car wheels...so no lighting the coaches (as is anyway!) with this set!

 

I will admit, I REALLY like this old style TGV in the orange...WOW is it eye-catching! 

 

Wondering out loud....I wonder if there are some couplers or conversion kits for this set given the number of items that I see from Kato that are produced for other older Kato sets (although they all seem to be for specific Japanese models)?  Anyone have any ideas if Kato offered a coupling option for these older models (I'll try and get a photo, but the coupler, if you can call it that, is just a strip of plastic with a crescent shape on each end that snaps around a 'pole' on the cars).

 

Now that I've paid a decent price for the Kato version (its in great shape, no UV fading, original package, and doesn't seem to have been used) I would recommend to other would-be Kato Orange TGV purchasers that you might want to wait for a potential re-release down the road that is upgraded to today's standards for Kato.  I'm glad I didn't pay some of the really high prices I see on eBay for a an almost obsolete train.

[clem24]

 

It's a Deutsche Bahn ET 403 emu; first used for Intercity services, and later as a Lufthansa airport express. Some people think they were funny-looking, but it's one of my favorite designs; it was really cool to find a model.

 

 

 

Check this out:

 

http://www.tee-usa.com/store/product8617.html

 

It's been listed on their site for a while... I've loved this train ever since I saw a model of it when I was maybe 10 or 12. Been seeking a Lima model until I came across this. Not sure how true it is though...