Best LIMA Diesel Locos Ever Made

[Graham Radish]

Hello, on this one i'm curious, which in your opinion were the best LIMA diesel, diesel/electric locos ever made?

 

First train set i ever owned was a LIMA in the early 80's (about 1983) it was some sort of shunter, possibly a german rebrand? looked a bit like a class 14

 

Anyway any thoughts on this, i do have a soft spot for lima!

 

cheers.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Graham Radish

[Guest Half-full]

Just now, Graham Radish said:

Hello, on this one i'm curious, which in your opinion were the best LIMA diesel, diesel/electric locos ever made?

 

First train set i ever owned was a LIMA in the early 80's (about 1983) it was some sort of shunter, possibly a german rebrand?

 

Anyway any thoughts on this, i do have a soft spot for lima!

 

cheers.

For me, in order

 

Class 47, 101, 31, 60, 73, HST PC, 92, 59

 

I also rate the 156 - bodyshell is great, just the underframe lets it down

 

WIth a little bit of work, all the above can easily hold there own against more modern releases.   I stand by my opinion that the shape of the 47 and 31 are better than the latest versions, and the 101 is miles ahead of the Bachmann model (fine detail and drive train excepted)

[John M Upton]

Before the current era of super detailed straight out of the box models, Lima did do some decent diesels and the odd electric loco in a wide range of sometimes somewhat fictious liveries and towards the end before the paint on the real 12 inch to the foot version had barely dried.

 

There were good ones (the 31, 59, 60 and 73 spring to mind) that with a bit of work and some reworking of the comedy Italian soldering could produce a decent model, indeed some of these are still in the Hornby portfolio.

 

Their earlier efforts with continental diesels in BR liverys were however appaling!!  Their small N range with the exception of the Mk1 CCT was also an almost long forgotten curio as well.

[Clive Mortimore]

The Best Lima diesel was the Brush type 2 the body shape is the best of any of the RTR  class 31s. I always liked their 40 despite its cab problems.

 

I have never been a fan of the Lima 47, saying that I have 8 or 9. Their 37 had no end of errors as did the 20. The 27 and 26 were good. The 33 wasn't bad.

 

 

[doctor quinn]

I’d nominate the Alco C420 that Lima made for MRC, all wheel drive and pick up with a central can motor https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ho-scale-rivarossi-lima-mrc-alco-c420-206508848

[GWR-fan]

Lima did a few Australian outline diesels in "h.o.",  that in a time when nothing of super detail quality was available locally,  the Lima bodies were more than adequate when repowered with Athearn or Kato drives.  Probably the most detailed body as regards applied livery,   was the class 42  NSWGR diesel in the 125 year anniversary of rail in NSW.  The candy coloured liveries were also very attractive.

[Graham Radish]

Thing is with lima apart from the comedy couplers, they can be real nice models, i think lima are absolutely brilliant for DCC as you have the room to fit very large speakers, should imagine it wouldnt be too hard to fit NEM couplers

[Sam Moss]

Moulding wise, some of the stuff Lima achieved where other manufacturers now rely on etches was second to none. 

soft spots for me include their 31, 47, 52, 73, 101, 121 and the 156 scrubs up well too. 

[47406]

46 minutes ago, Sam Moss said:

Moulding wise, some of the stuff Lima achieved where other manufacturers now rely on etches was second to none. 

soft spots for me include their 31, 47, 52, 73, 101, 121 and the 156 scrubs up well too. 

 

I have to agree with Sam and most of the other posters so far, those models mentioned were pretty darn good for their day and don't look embarrassing or out of place on a layout amidst today's 'usual suspects'.

 

The 47 would be top of my list. With some work to the cab handrails, a repaint and hacking off the D-couplings and maybe some better glazing, they hold their own with the Heljan, Bachmann & VI Duffs. I sold a few of mine in the last 10 years but have kept the majority and am slowly working my way through re-motoring with either CD type motors or Vi chassis. If opportunity presented at the right price, I would pick up more for repaint projects.

 

 

['CHARD]

Their Met-Cam DMU, in both 2- and 3-car formations, still provides the sturdy backbone of my multiple unit fleet, well into double figures.  I have no reluctance to renumber, weather and adjust the yellow end treatment on these.  Quite what to do with my two Bachmann twins remains to be seen - no centre cars are forthcoming but the drive and underframe/ chassis detail is exquisite.

[Il Grifone]

My favourite is the DSB MZ diesel electric. I have two and the chassis of a third powers a Märklin MY, the body of which cost more than the other three put together. Their DSB MR DMU is rather nice too.

 

The Lima 09 is not unreasonable - I gather there are dimensional errors and the cranks leave something to be desired....

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Has to be the Great Western 'Flying Banana' diesel railcar.  Not just the looks but what a useful model to bash as well.

[cheesysmith]

Generally the old Lima is good in the body, but let down in the underframe department by the use of a square block with details on and generic motor bogies, resulting in some models with incorrect wheelbase bogies to fit their standard motor bogies.

 

The 31, 47, 87 have good bodies, but the bogies are wrong.

 

The 101 and 156 are both good bodies, with correct bogies, but the square block underframes.

 

The 73 is a good body, but I have not checked the bogies on them.

 

 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Another vote for Lima's Brush 2. If Hornby would just slap correct versions of that body tooling on their current centre motor chassis, that would be design clever.  Looks right, excellent drive; and with no lights, opening doors and moving fans to add expense in assembly it could be made very competitively.

 

This would probably be a good move by Hornby, as of current DE models the 20 and 31 now look to me to be the weakest of the 'large fleet' models which can be endlessly churned in multiple liveries: there has to be a competitor looking at these as opportunities.

[Ouroborus]

For me, it is an NSB EL13 (second version) which came with a body held on by its buffers rather than tabs and a set of clear plastic glazing for you to change the recessed glazing into flush.  It also had lighting, albeit just a bulb.  Not a suprise given its age.   The usual pancake motor, but the wires are nearly clipped together.  It still stands up well to the NMJ version

[Les Bird]

I suppose it all depends on your interpretation of "best". I have an elderly Class 33 which was modified to a Class 27 more years ago than I care to remember. I fitted it with snow ploughs and, one winter, I decided to try it out for real. It was left out in the garden for two weeks until it was completely buried in snow. As soon as power was applied it emerged unscathed and proceeded to carve a path through the snow. It is now used to haul a Dapol track cleaning wagon around my layout. a little out of place in a 1950's East Anglian setting, but I'm reluctant to part with it..

Edited July 5, 2020 by Les Bird

[Steamport Southport]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the 50.

 

 

 

Jason

[Guest Half-full]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the 50.

 

 

 

Jason

The 50 was poor even for its time!  Starting with the HO scale bogies...

[Steamport Southport]

4 minutes ago, Half-full said:

The 50 was poor even for its time!  Starting with the HO scale bogies...

 

Rubbish. One of the best RTR diesels available in the 1980s by a country mile.

 

H0 scale bogies. Look at the track....

 

Seriously. Compare this with the stuff that Hornby was producing at the time.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/66750/lima_l205009_class_50_d400_in_br_blue_limited_edition_of_400/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

 

Jason

Edited July 5, 2020 by Steamport Southport

[Guest Half-full]

1 minute ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Rubbish. One of the best RTR diesels available in the 1980s by a country mile.

 

H0 scale bogies. Look at the track....

 

 

 

Jason

We will have to agree to disagree

 

This isnt about track gauge

[Steamport Southport]

2 minutes ago, Half-full said:

We will have to agree to disagree

 

This isnt about track gauge

 

But we are comparing models from the time. Not how they compare now.

 

I added a link to a Lima 50. Now tell me that what else in 1982 (or whatever it was) was better. 

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/66750/lima_l205009_class_50_d400_in_br_blue_limited_edition_of_400/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

 

Jason

[Guest Half-full]

12 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

But we are comparing models from the time. Not how they compare now.

 

I added a link to a Lima 50. Now tell me that what else in 1982 (or whatever it was) was better. 

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/66750/lima_l205009_class_50_d400_in_br_blue_limited_edition_of_400/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

 

Jason

I'd say the 52 was better that the 50, and the HST PowerCars (I think they came out around the same time)

 

The bodyshell in the link is the modified shell that was done in the early 90's, I think, the original shell represented the as built condition.

[Crisis Rail]

What a refreshing thread.

 

Makes reading the new Heljan Class 45 thread a little easier

 

 

[JDW]

I agree with the above, most Lima locos are fine for their age, and many still stand up reasonably well alongside more modern models, things like the 156 as has been said benefit from updating the chassis (see my thread!) and others such as the 31 still look good and benefit from a little detaling. I think they only really show their age alongside a modern model of the same type, so tend to try and avoid mix-and-matching them, but they can still hold their own well enough to satisfy most people's needs.

[MJI]

I like Lima as they are cheap to bash into something else.

 

50 is a nice moulding with a few inaccuracies and rubbish bogies. But it gave me some class 50s.

 

One is running on stretched bogies using spares box gears, brass strip and WM bogie frames (suspect MTK).

 

47 is not bad, but I think the Hornby model says 47 a little better.

 

117 is a good base for suburban DMUs, for about 80-100 you can have a really good DMU model of a 116, 117 or 118.

 

I like the Western.