# LGB DSP&P Mogul



## tomplatten (Sep 12, 2008)

Just picked up one of these moguls. Runs great! I noticed the hand rails on the locomotive are plastic, yet my friend's are brass. When did they make this change?


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

tomplatten said:


> Just picked up one of these moguls. Runs great! I noticed the hand rails on the locomotive are plastic, yet my friend's are brass. When did they make this change?


Is your mogul an "original" #2018D?


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

tomplatten said:


> Just picked up one of these moguls. Runs great! I noticed the hand rails on the locomotive are plastic, yet my friend's are brass. When did they make this change?


Is your mogul an "original" DSP&P #2018D?


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Tom,

Metal handrails were available from Train Li not to long ago as I recall. That said one could simply get some piano wire form local hardware store and bend your own quite easily IMO. If memory serves me the handrail is simply one piece shaped in the form of a U. Then again it may differ on some of the Mogul offerings.

Michael


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## tomplatten (Sep 12, 2008)

It was listed as a 2018D made in Germany. It was very clean! No mention of when it was actually made!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

tomplatten said:


> It was listed as a 2018D made in Germany. It was very clean! No mention of when it was actually made!


I bought my mogul new in January 1986. Made in Germany and numbered as 2018D. I will have to look to see if the hand rails are plastic or brass. I haven't looked at it in years, but I believe they are plastic.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

The Original 2018D had plastic handrails and less lateral motion in the center driver axle, making operation on R1 curves not as smooth as later models. The handrails changed later on. LGB did so many variations of the moguls with different trim levels, sound/no sound ect. I think LGB found the original plastic handrails where prone to breakage when picking up the engine, which many do by grabbing the boiler instead of using 2 hands, one on the cab and one by the cylinders/pilot. Mike


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I have seen over 50 moguls in the shop and none had metal cab rails.
Boilers do have brass rods.


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

*couple of pictures here I go*

As an owner of a first generation #2018D Mogul, I can confirm that the earliest of production absolutely had plastic handrails on the boiler with the stanchions cast as part of them. They are flimsy and warp over time and have broken more than once.










However later on in production of the 2018s, and then the blue/grey 2028s they received straight brass rods with separate black stanchions, though not connected in the front.










I believe once the #2019 Colorado & Southern coal burning moguls began being produced, reflecting the modernized variants of the real DSP&P Cooke moguls, those received connected brass rod in the previously mentioned long U shape.










It seems the handrail designs reflect the age and value of the model's production. The earlier red and green 2018s have plastic, later 2018s and 2028s with smoke and sound have separate brass rods, and the 2019 C&S moguls with everything on board have the connected brass rod.

However, having parted out an LGB 2019S a while ago, I ended up cheating and mounting the U shaped brass rod to my own 2018, giving it a much needed cosmetic upgrade with a little work. The stanchions fit into the same spots, and the handrail works around the front of the headlamp with a hair's width to spare.










Gives the old girl an interesting, different look from all the others.  Plus its solid metal so it's not likely to break any time soon...


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I assumed that hand rails were the ones on the side of the cab.
The rails on the boiler were plastic on early versions, it is the vertical grab rails near the cab doors that were always plastic.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Has anybody here done or have a sound mogul that has onboard battery power? I see absolutly no room in the tender of my 2019s, its stufffed with those huge early sound boards, and I am not sure if there is room enough in the boiler even once the extra weight is removed. I normaly use RC car batteries and have done so successfully in a mogul, but it lacked sound, so the tender had loads of room. Mike


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## tomplatten (Sep 12, 2008)

Where did you get the stanchions for the brass rod? I have brass rod. I was thinking of cutting off the plastic hand rails, carefully drilling out the stanchions and inserting brass tubing.


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

tomplatten said:


> Where did you get the stanchions for the brass rod? I have brass rod. I was thinking of cutting off the plastic hand rails, carefully drilling out the stanchions and inserting brass tubing.


Unfortunately the separate black ones are hard to find, and as such, their cost is through the roof from the premium of rarity.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LGB-MOGUL-20190-KETTLE-HAND-REAL-HOLDER-2-pcs-/252517175499

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LGB-2018-2028-2019-MOGUL-BOILER-RAIL-HOLDER-PARTS-/331925426445

...At least on eBay, that is. Took a looksie through Train-LI's pages and it doesn't look like they have those pieces in stock readily.


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## stevedenver (Jan 6, 2008)

tomplatten said:


> Just picked up one of these moguls. Runs great! I noticed the hand rails on the locomotive are plastic, yet my friend's are brass. When did they make this change?


 to answer the question "When", 
Probably in the last year of production for the 2018, 1988.

heres why I suggest this. (none of my guides address this feature specifically no less by date or series/version) 

1. my 2018 red boiler version, (old non forgiving chassis), has a faded gold sticker which indicates it was built 1988, and it has the soft plastic railings like yours
2. the new for 1988 2028 (blue/Russian iron boiler) DSP mogul had the brass railings. Some of the early 2028 had no rerailer and an different DSPP tender font. So, the tender too was in transition, using old 2018 parts/ stock??.
3. The Official Guide to LGB indicates 2018 production from 1985-1988
4. 1988 introduces the 2028, with brass rails.

Thus, I speculate that some of the last, late 1988 production red boiler moguls were produced with these new solid brass handrail parts.

fwiw, my old 2018 bendy handrails still look decent and have lost almost zero plating. Where they have lost plating, I touched them up with gold leaf paint. Mine are still quite straight too. The loco, outside today in the garden as a matter of fact, has had so much use its drivers are almost all down to the brass, and through the chrome plating. But, its still running superbly and smokes profusely on its second smoke insert if I recall correctly.

While red boilers are......well.....off putting to some extent, as DSP did not have them, (one of their Masons might have (Breckenridge)), I have resisted the many thoughts over the years to repaint it. Mostly due to those I have seen repainted never seem harmonious with the green cab and tender, to my eye. Perhaps a 'wine red' overspray would sufficiently tone it down, and make it less plastic in appearance and still work with the green.???

I have replaced the red pilot with a black snow plow, (which requires a newer style mogul leading truck) to tone down some of it's redness. Of course DSP never seemed to have had butterfly plows (or any on locos from the many photos I have seen).

Over the years, however, the red has grown on me. Not sure why. Possibly because the loco is so iconic when it comes to LGB moguls. It was pictured in so many of the early how to publications, that is almost has legitimacy due to sheer publicity. Possibly, with dullish mineral red and plain white cars only in tow, it somehow fits.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Mike Toney said:


> Has anybody here done or have a sound mogul that has onboard battery power? I see absolutly no room in the tender of my 2019s, its stufffed with those huge early sound boards...


You may be able to fit a Li-Ion pack in the space under the coal bunker if it's one of the coal-burning versions. I don't recall exactly how much space those old "sound" systems took up, but I know it took up a lot of the tender.

Are you looking to just power the motor and feed the sound board off of the motor output of the speed controller? If that's the case, you should have room in the boiler for the speed controller, depending on whose system you're using. Something the size of a Revolution receiver should fit. An Airwire board, not so much. (If you're going Airwire, get a Convertr and a Soundtraxx Tsumani2, Econami, or TCS Wow!Sound decoder. Much better sound quality.)

Later,

K


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The LGB mogul has a large weight in the boiler and all the electronics are in the firebox area. Older tenders do have a double stack board with horrible sound, thus little or no room for additional electronics/batteries.

I would remove the tender boards and weight, then install batteries and new electronics in the tender. And you can hollow out the top under the wood/coal load for more room if needed.
Also replace the small speaker with a high quality speaker.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

I removed the electroincs, it all still worked so I sold it thru another large scale forum. I removed the boiler weight as excessive weight cuts run time and increases wear on the plastic slots in the chassis. All previous moguls I have owned, 2018d, 2119d and a bear trap C&S all would slow down in my R1 curves. This was on track power with all factory weight in place. This 2019, sans any sound, boiler weight, and all track pickups just glides thru my R1 curves with ease. I can pull more cars than I normaly pull and there is no slipping, even thru the reverse S curve. I put the battery, one of my usual 7.2vt, 5000mah, Nimh batteries in the boiler where the weight was, then a charging port and on/off toggle switch under the firemans side of the cab. Smoke unit was removed as I never use them, and they are a battery drainer!, I retained the flickering fire box lighting and the front headlight, both wired to the same feed that goes to the motor tabs at the top of the drive chassis. I put 3 hours run time in pulling 3 heavy USA wood side reefers and my caboose. Was running the same speed after 3 hours that it started with and no binding in the curves. In time, maybe next spring, I will upgrade to a basic RC control, probably one from RCS that I can also use to control my live steam Frank S. The 7.2vt battery does away with needing any special circuits for the LGB bulbs, and the speed is right at where I am happy to see it run, a nice steady narrow gauge road speed. Now to find a butterfly plow for it, watching fleabay now. Mike


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