LGB stands for ''Lehmann Gross Bahn'' - the "Lehmann Big Train" in German. Made by ''Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk'' in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany, since 1968
and by
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...
since 2007, it is the most popular
garden railway
A garden railroad or garden railway is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden. While G is the most popular scale for garden railroads, 16 mm scale has a dedicated and growing following especially in the UK. Model locomotives in ...
model in Europe, although there are also many models of U.S. and Canadian prototypes.
LGB caused a revival of garden
model railroading
Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...
in the United States when it was introduced.
LGB is sold in North America through
Wm. K. Walthers
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of model railroad supplies and tools.
History
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., was founded in Milwaukee in 1932—though it started years earlier when seven-year-old William K. (Bill) Walthers got ...
, who took over from Ernst Paul Lehmann's subsidiary, LGB of America, when Märklin bought the LGB assets. Most of the European prototypes were manufactured in Germany, while much of the North American
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
was made in China. Production was later moved to Hungary.
LGB trains are responsible for introducing
"G" scale to model railroading.
The
scale ratio used by LGB is nominally 1:22.5, yet many dimensions are often changed to allow operation on very tight R1 curves. American prototypes especially suffer from this. Other G-scale (and
Gauge 1
1 gauge, gauge 1 or gauge one is a model railway and toy train standard that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly with European manufacturers. Its track measures , making it larger than 0 gauge but slightly smaller than wide gauge, ...
) manufacturers produce products that range from 1:20 to 1:32,
and for the most part, all use the same track and are compatible with one another. Though they can all run on the same track (45 mm
gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
), models representing
narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
versions of trains or locomotives would not normally be run together with models of larger full-scale vehicles. To fit the same standard track the latter must be built using different scales; for example, 1:22.5 scale passengers and/or train crew are somewhat oversized when displayed in proximity with 1:32 models. Though the models may be physically compatible, many people choose a preferred style or era, and pick one ratio (in the range of 1:20.3 to 1:32) for all of their models.
The first loco made under the LGB brand was a model of a small Austrian
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
named "Stainz", in the LGB logo. It continued in production in 2021, although with a sound system and other mechanical differences to the original 1968 model. Most garden railway enthusiasts have at least one example of a Stainz in their collection as it tends to be a robust loco with good pulling power.
Bankruptcy and sale of Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk
With the model train industry in decline, ''Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk'' started restructuring and cost-saving measures in 2002 and further intensified them in 2005. These measures included an employee-supported salary forfeiture and, in mid-2006, transferring Lehman's North American distribution and service subsidiary, LGB of America (LGBoA), to a new United States-based firm, G45. However, on September 1, 2006, Lehmann's financing banks, which had recently been sold to larger, international banks, froze Lehmann's accounts and blocked sale of existing inventory. Lehmann called this a "hostile takeover" and requested
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
protection on September 18, 2006.
Multiple entities, including model train manufacturers Märklin,
Piko
Piko (stylized PIKO, pronounced "peek-oh") is a German model train brand in Europe that also exports to the United States and other parts of the world.
History
Founded in 1949, PIKO was once a state-owned enterprise in the German Democratic R ...
, and
Hornby
Hornby may refer to:
Places In England
* Hornby, Lancashire
* Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire
* Hornby, Richmondshire, village in North Yorkshire Elsewhere
* Hornby, Ontario, community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canad ...
, bid on Lehmann. It was announced on December 22, 2006, that Hermann Schöntag, the then-owner of the German Rügen narrow gauge railway, had been selected by Lehmann's creditors to purchase the firm. He founded E.P. Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG and preserved the factory, offices, and 150 jobs in Nuremberg. However, his co-investors backed out; production stopped on March 21, 2007, and the company filed for bankruptcy on April 23, 2007.
Purchase of LGB by Märklin
The second round of bidders included G45, new owner of LGB of America, and
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...
, another German model train manufacturer. Märklin had recently faced a situation similar to Lehmann's; it had been family owned from its founding in 1859 until 2006, when its accumulating debts led to it being sold to Kingsbridge Capital and
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
. On July 26, 2007, Märklin was selected to acquire Lehmann's assets; the move was criticized because the Nuremberg location and jobs would not be preserved and because it was speculated that Goldman Sachs, also a Lehmann creditor, orchestrated the purchase.
Shipping and production resumed in fall 2007, with the LGB brand intact. Production moved to
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, and service ultimately moved to Göppingen. Märklin faced a trademark disagreement with LGB of America, which owned the LGB trademark in the United States. Without an agreement between the two, product could not be shipped to or distributed in the United States. An interim agreement concerning only already-manufactured product was signed on September 21, 2007, giving LGBoA exclusive distribution and service rights in North America.
On June 1, 2008, Silvergate Distributors, Inc. was formed as a new company by LGB of America president Anthony Castellano. Silvergate was an independent, American-owned, hobby distributor and was not a subsidiary or "daughter firm" of any other company. Though LGBoA was not dissolved, Silvergate assumed distribution of remaining LGB stock as well as current and new product lines.
Silvergate also distributed the
Schuco
Schuco is a German manufacturing company founded in 1912 by Heinrich Müller and the businessman Heinrich Schreyer in Nuremberg Germany's toy capital since early days. The company's specialty was making toy reproductions of cars and trucks in ti ...
,
Brawa, and Piko product lines. In November 2008, Märklin announced that it had resolved the American trademark dispute and planned to resume distribution of LGB products in the United States, with Walthers becoming the American distributor on January 1, 2009. LGB of America and Silvergate Distributors ultimately ceased operations.
On February 4, 2009, Märklin filed for bankruptcy protection in Göppingen. On February 5, 2010, Märklin announced a return to profitability and emerged from bankruptcy on February 17, 2011. On March 21, 2013, the
Simba Dickie Group
The Simba Dickie Group is a German toy manufacturer founded in 1982 as Simba Toys. The Group is the fourth largest toy manufacturer in Germany. The company's slogan is "We love to make toys".
The company's headquarters are located in Fürth with ...
announced that it would purchase Märklin, securing Märklin and LGB's future and giving Märklin's employees job security until 2019.
In popular culture
* The
Comedy Inc. sketch, "Ernest the Engine and Others", uses LGB models, buildings, and track.
* In ''
Stuart Little
''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and it is now widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the subsequently award-winnin ...
'' a
Santa Fe EMD F7
The EMD F7 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD).
Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-h ...
A and B makes a few cameos during the part where Stuart was on the tracks and he almost got hit until he stood up and it passes Stuart in the model railroad.
* In ''
The Santa Clause
''The Santa Clause'' is a 1994 American Christmas fantasy comedy film written by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick, and directed by John Pasquin. The first installment in ''The Santa Clause'' franchise, it stars Tim Allen as Scott Calvin, an ordin ...
'' there are multiple trains which make cameos. The first is in the opening with the song "Carol of the Bells" playing. The second is in the North Pole scene before Charlie and Scott arrive. The third is in the scene in the room in the North Pole where Charlie and Scott sleep.
* In ''
Coming to America
''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Head ...
'' the LGB 2017D steam locomotive and the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...
low sided red gondola is the beer train.
References
External links
LGB websiteMärklin website* Old factory location (Saganer Strasse 1-5, D-90475
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgb (Trains)
Model railroad manufacturers
Companies based in Nuremberg
Model manufacturers of Germany