As a well-known cheapskate - I prefer to be thought of as ‘thrifty’ - I’m always thinking of ways to get or make what I like where trains are concerned. As many know, the present state of Hungary’s surviving NG network is dire to say the least, apart from a couple of very-much-tourist-oriented lines around the better-known geographical features. A couple of years ago, some of you might recall that I converted two cheap Chinese LGB knock-off passenger cars to look like Hungarian NG, with a view to running them along with my Welshpool stuff. There are, in fact, two such cars on the Welshpool & Llanfair railway. However, nothing could hide the fact that the Newqida cars were in 1/22.5, and the Welshpool was modelled in 1/19th…
So I had a thought, and recalling that the two main NG loco companies in Hungary had often based their products on German originals - Pieck and Ganz are both based in Budapést but their products look remarkably Germanic - I though that if I could find a cheap old LGB Schoema diesel switcher, I’d have a go at converting it. I found one in the UK e*** for almost £100, and then on German e*** for just over 80eu. It was a no-brainer, and three short days later it was mine. Lots of work was involved of a finicky nature, and, as yet, the r/c and sound has not arrived, so the video you are about to look at is pretty silent.
AFAIK, nobody else has ever done anything like this before - Hungarian NG is not exactly at the forefront of peoples’ modelling aspirations, unless, of course, you live there.
Trains like this literally ran down one side of the main street in the villages there served- and some still do, to my delight.
Enjoy - there are two little vis - Pt 1 and Pt 2. A few of you here have been sent stills of the loco and cars, and I’d be more than happy for you to post them [hint hint]
Best to all
tac, ig. ken the GFT & A fiúk a magyar kis vonatok elismerését társadalomban.
