readingtype

Gosh, thank you, just what the doctor ordered ;-) But I am afraid that a search in the books category of Amazon UK and Germany yields nothing; neither does the EK-Verlag shop seem to know about it (or indeed Abe Books). Hopes raised and lowered; I don't suppose there's an ISBN you can locate on your copy? Best wishes, Ben ps. my interest is in painted/stuck on numbers as much as in cast metal -- does 'Lokschild' cover all in this case?

Any objections if I widen this question slightly? I find when I look at catalogues of numbering like these online I very quickly get worried about the suitability in terms of size and colour of the lettering. It's quite slow to find the information in catalogues like this due to the way items are listed, but there's also my ignorance on the correct sizes on the prototype. I start wondering if there's a handy reference. There is this: https://shop.vgbahn.info/miba/shop/anstrich+und+bezeichnung+von+lokomotiven-_898.html (Locomotive liveries and lettering, 1871 to today) but it must be a sledgehammer (however interesting and attractive) for a nut. Leaving aside the companion volumes covering multiple units and carriages, and wagons. Are there more condensed or focused sources? I would imagine such as may exist will be ordered around epoch. Ben

These are interesting, and I like them, but I am not ready to vouch for them because I have no experience of playing with them properly yet. The design is known as die Originalbügelkupplung and the ones depicted are cast nickel silver. At the moment I am fitting the cheaper lasercut plastic cooking variety (available from h0fine.de) to a motley collection of goods wagons and will then be looking for a chance to try them out in service. Both types are hand assembled. Thing is, the designer intends them to be so closely coupled that sprung buffers are essential. On straight track I have already discovered that this means wagons bouncing away rather than coupling up. They are mounted through the headstock so you can choose to be leave the shank projecting a bit further to be more accommodating, and perhaps avoid the need to have sprung buffers. Bufferlocking is also a potential problem. NB the V60 is not three rail! I would prefer to use a magnet than an uncoupling ramp but I cannot see a way to do this. The hoop Bügel (bow or hoop) is made of steel wire and easy to lift from above with a magnet, which I am sure is what the designer originally intended. Perhaps for most they are just a curiosity. But visually they are a real step forward from NEMs (to which they very happily couple by the way). They are exceptionally unobtrusive. Edit for translation error: _Bügel_ is 'hanger' not 'bow' or 'hoop'.