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Frateschi OO/HO 3103 GE U20C Spoornet Class 34-100. Condition is New. Dispatched with Royal Mail 2nd Class.
Hello and welcome to my store!Up for sale here is an HO gauge model of a General Electric U20C type locomotive, designed and made by family owned company Frateschi Trens Eletricos, of Brazil. Item code 3103, this more precisely represents a loose interpretation of an early South African Railways Class 34-100 diesel electric locomotive, in the Spoornet orange livery worn from the 1990s to early 2000s, though a few can still be seen like this in South Africa today.Now for the model. It is built on a plastic chassis with a clip on plastic body. It lacks the crisp detail of Hornsby or Bachmanns offerings somewhat resembling an early 1990s Hornby or Lima model in quality, though railings for both ends of the loco are included cast on a sprue in yellow plastic, to be fitted by the buyer. The drive system is unusual for what we expect here in the UK, taking a far more American approach, with a centrally powered motor which drives all 12 wheels via drive shafts transferring power to gearboxes on each bogie. Brazils mains electricity does differ slightly in voltage from that in the uk, but the model has been tested on a loop of track using a Hornby controller and transformer, and seems to work good in both directions, with a satisfying grunt not unlike a low revving Diesel engine, a bit like an old Lima model from the 1990s, where this model gets its unusual couplings from. A little running in on a rolling road would benefit this model before entering service.Interestingly, despite the slightly toylike build quality, this model actually has directional lighting (please see photos), with headlights illuminating in the direction the locomotive is travelling in; incidentally, this happens to be a nice, warm yellow, and not the usual atomic white seen on our stock, quite faithfully representing old sodium bulbs!Though described as being HO gauge, this model is actually closer to OO, if many forums online are to be believed, with an approx scale of 1/77 to 1/75 being quoted. This is likely because of the model being based of a metre gauge prototype as used in Brazil; incidentally, on the notoriously narrow OO gauge 1/76 track, it is quite close to the 3ft 6in Cape Gauge when used on OO gauge 1/76 track, as used in South Africa where the prototype of this loco operates. This scale discrepancy would make for interesting use with UK models; perhaps this model could be repainted into the livery of a fictional railway, and you could create your very own little African or South American Railway which uses UK stock as well!Thanks for looking, and dont forget to check out what else I have in store!
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Category: Collectables:Model Railways and Trains:HO Gauge:Locomotives
Location: Nottingham