Kof II diesel shunters..

[NHY 581]

Evening all, 

 

I've been looking at small shunters and I've alighted on the Kof II 0.4.0 diesel shunters. 

 

If, and I stress IF, I were to consider a very small cameo type, goods only shunty layout, would one or two of these be suitable for such an undertaking...? 

 

I'm looking mainly at the Brawa examples with a view to either a pre-war  or 1950s layout. 

 

I'd welcome any thoughts. 

 

Rob.

[railroadbill]

I've got a couple of the Brawa ones, very good runners and will run very slowly.  I've seen several of the full size in Denmark over the years, ones on private sidings apart from preserved lines. (DSB had their own version as a standard small shunter apart from imported German ones).   I believe it would have been a very common DB loco.

If you want a Kof III then Roco do a good one, bit bigger loco but again an excellent runner. The Kof II is a very small loco so for a minimalist layout would be perfect.

Just my opinion. 

Edited November 6, 2022 by railroadbill

[railroadbill]

 

Brawa Kof II.  Smaller and lower than the wagon.

 

 

 

 

[jonhall]

What on earth would you use a KoF for if it wasn't in the scenario you describe, although don't go overboard with the weathering 

 

 

Jon

[rekoboy]

How about TT 1:120? The Hornby-Arnold Köf are lovely models and run well in spite of their small size.

Edited November 6, 2022 by rekoboy

[NHY 581]

Thanks RB but I'd have to say no to TT. 

 

 

I'm just curious about these little locos and how viable they are for a small, micro even, layout. 

 

Rob

[Gordonwis]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

Thanks RB but I'd have to say no to TT. 

 

 

I'm just curious about these little locos and how viable they are for a small, micro even, layout. 

 

Rob

 

 

Completely viable - in fact as has already been said - just about the best loco design for a household model railway scenario for anywhere in the world!

 

KoF shunting tractors were designed to move a few vehicles (eg departmental ) around stations or at goods locations with minimal wagon throughput where only one or two wagons needed moving about or transferring to the main line raedy to be picked up by a longer-distance freight working.

 

The ultimate 'isolated' use of a KoF was after the division of Germany, whereby a factory situated on West German (BRD) territory was left marooned without a connection to a DB railway because the line on which the factory was located criss-crossed the intra-German border, so the railway line north and south  of where the factory was was situated on DDR territory. Notwithstanding , they transported a KoF tractor to the factory so that it could shunt wagons around internally.

[NHY 581]

Thanks all. 

 

I'm learning as I go about these little chaps as I know absolutely nothing about German railways. 

 

The scenario alluded to by Gordon, i.e, a  couple of wagons being shuffled about is pretty much that which I fancy. 

 

Mmmmm..........

 

[Gilbert]

Is Sir considering a continental diversion.....?

Chris

[Bernard Lamb]

 One doing what they usually did. Moving the odd wagon or two around a yard. Brandis on the local branch line Beucha-Trebsen. They also worked from here along a spur into a military air base. A bit further down the branch was a large Soviet arms depot that had one on site. They cropped up all over the place. They also gathered in quite large numbers in the odd location. Take care as their charms can be addictive.

 

[Fat Controller]

There is a railway, centred on Arezzo, Tuscany, whose motive power (in the mid-1990s) comprised a Kof and an ex-LMS (via the WD) jack-shaft 0-6-0 for shunting and trip work, alongside some 1920s-vintage electrics for 'mainline' haulage of freight

[Allegheny1600]

3 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

Thanks all. 

 

I'm learning as I go about these little chaps as I know absolutely nothing about German railways. 

 

The scenario alluded to by Gordon, i.e, a  couple of wagons being shuffled about is pretty much that which I fancy. 

 

Mmmmm..........

 

You don’t necessarily have to do German! 
Balfour Beatty actually used an admittedly slimmed down (widthways) version during Channel Tunnel construction.

They’re so small, I wouldn’t bother trying to make one narrower, it would be quite difficult if not impossible but you would pretty much be forced to go H0 - which I guess you’re trying anyway.

 I have two of the Trix models and they are excellent runners.

Welcome to the Continental section by the way!

John

[bbishop]

Towards the closure of the Falls - Gefrees branch, the passenger train comprised a Köf 2 and a single Donnerbüchse.   Bill

[Ian Morgan]

Early 2000's near Giesing, Munich, a small scrap yard was served by a single siding. The big railway would deliver 3 or 4 empty bogie 'gondola' wagons and the Kof was used to move them up and down the siding for loading.

 

I suspect the blue one broke down, so they acquired a second one.

 

[NHY 581]

5 hours ago, Gilbert said:

Is Sir considering a continental diversion.....?

Chris

 

 

Um.........cough...ahem.....um.....I rather like the cut of these particular chap's jibs.....That's all.....

 

 

[NHY 581]

4 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

 One doing what they usually did. Moving the odd wagon or two around a yard. Brandis on the local branch line Beucha-Trebsen. They also worked from here along a spur into a military air base. A bit further down the branch was a large Soviet arms depot that had one on site. They cropped up all over the place. They also gathered in quite large numbers in the odd location. Take care as their charms can be addictive.

 

 

 

I do like that image. What year...ish is that Bernard ? 

 

 

[Bernard Lamb]

27 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

I do like that image. What year...ish is that Bernard ? 

 

 

That would be 1964 when Gunter Mayer, an engine driver and photographer, made a trip on the line.

It does show the machine in context rather than just in close up.

Bernard

[Bernard Lamb]

I posted some of these before but they went AWOL in the crash.

Mainly from the Beucha Trebsen line or machines associated with it.

The quality is not that good but they portray moments in history that were not often recorded.

 

Trebsen in late GDR times when it was a store for track panels to construct emergency lines if war broke out.

Russian soldiers at the munitions dump. Photography was very strictly prohibited. Even the likes of Gunter Mayer did not take pictures near such places.

Henschel advert.

The local crew from Trebsen on the Eastern Front in 1942/43. I don't know if it got there under its own power, but it got back OK the next year.

An accident in Trebsen very early in the war. The people are local railway workers and they have called in a few French POWs and their guards.

Wartime propaganda.

[railroadbill]

Some really interesting Köf II photos, Bernard, and Ian.

 

 

 

This is a Köf II used as a shunter at the Cheminova chemical plant at Thyboren in Jutland.    The plant siding crosses the main road and joins the Thyboren - Lemvig line, the VLTJ.   Had to enlarge this a lot I'm afraid but it does show its rather jolly colour scheme.  This one (T 27) was built in 1958, used by DB until 1982 when the VLTJ bought it and it's been with them ever since.  Took this in 2017.

 

 

As an aside, the DSB had their own version of the Köf II built by the Danish Frichs company.  The bonnet is more plain and the cab is modified.  They had the same Voith hydraulic transmission  as the German built ones but had a Leyland  diesel engine (same 128 hp though).  Only in preservation now.

 

Fun fact:  Köf II weighs 17 tonnes.

 

It seems to me that a micro layout with a few structures/buildings to represent just a part of a steel works or chemical/fertiliser plant, factory, warehouses, GDR era Soviet weapons dump oh perhaps not that one,  or whatever with a couple of lengths of track and a point or 2 would work very well with an Ho or TT Köf II  (or is there an N gauge one as well ?) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by railroadbill

[railroadbill]

Just discovered that the Nene Valley Railway has a Köf II !          Interesting story here.

 

http://irps-wl.org.uk/restoration-projects/international-restoration-projects/kof

[ian]

 

Two for the price of one.

 

They could be loaded and unloaded by overhead cranes and then taken away to the works for maintenance,

 

Certainly on the German railways the driver didn't have to be a fully qualified loco driver.

 

 

 

[Talltim]

How about the Lego warehouse in Hohenwestedt?

https://issuu.com/railbricks/docs/railbricks8/24

Edited November 7, 2022 by Talltim

[ColinK]

I’ve got an N gauge Kof and it runs really well.

[Ian Morgan]

A few more photos of the ones at Giesing (Munich) showing some details which might be of interest and/or use:

 

 

 

And here are some of the wagons they used to shunt, being delivered. The covered van would be dropped off at the Coffee distributer on the opposite side of the tracks to the scrap yard. Sometimes, there would be a bogie covered van to be loaded with paper for recycling at a siding next to the scrap yard. Note the driver would stand on the footstep of the end wagon and control the Class 363 diesel shunter remotely using the box hanging round his neck. This was 2004.

 

[NHY 581]

Well, this seems to be popping along thanks to everyone's posts. 

 

A tangential aside..........

 

Did any of these end up in the old Czechoslovakia ? ........as in running on the CSD.

 

Rob