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Please read this
carefully, particularly if this should be your first visit to the
website. When you have read and understood the text below please select for delivery to either metropolitan France or for the other western european (EEC 12) countries. Doing so should take you to the product pages. |
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Ernst Paul Lehmann
Patentwerke started producing the Lehmann Gross Bahn at their factory in
Nurnberg in 1968. The first models were based on the small narrow gauge
rural trains operating in germany and austria. Although not wedded to a
specific scale the nominal for the narrow gauge prototypes is 1:22.5 so
using the generally accepted G gauge of 45mm this gives a representation
of 1012 mm full scale (a scale of 1:22.2 would be more accurate for
metre gauge but close enough for most people). The scale for the "standard
gauge" north american prototypes is unknown, full size rolling
stock can definately run on metre gauge (S. A . R. being an example) but
the LGB models are not "1:32 scale gauge 1". Despite the size
of the scale most of the locomotives and rolling stock can deal with the
tight R1 (600mm radius) curves and pointwork, allowing the possibility
of putting a compact layout in to an average room. Naturally, if you
have a garden, there is often more space outside and it is not
surprising that from the outset care was taken to allow the electronics
and mechanisms to operate in the great outdoors with particular choice
of uv resistant plastics and rain and dust resistant designs, indeed the
common use outside has suggested to many that the name was more likely
to be Lehmann Garten Bahn. Incidentally children tend to appreciate the
size of the models and carrying capacity of the freight wagons, though
for the very young the Playmobil G scale products might be a better
suggestion. The models are not indestructible but with adequate cleaning
and lubrication many are operating decades after purchase with the next
generation of users. Lehmann was a family run business but in the latter
1980's, as with so many other toy firms, it faced financial difficulties
and was taken over firstly by Hermann Schontag and then in 2007 by Märklin.
Production now takes place in Hungary with servicing and support moved
to Goppingen near Stuttgart.
I started using LGB in 1988 or 1989. Compared to chinese sourced G scale items from brands such as Bachmann and Aristocraft their pricing may seem high but the difference in design and manufacturing quality is noticeable. I simply would not expect Bachmann or Aristocraft items to hold up to lengthy running or outdoor conditions in the way that LGB products can.
I sell most Märklin group products, this section of the website being their LGB indoor-outdoor G scale model railway items. As I have only been accredited as a dealer in 2020 I would not expect to hold large stocks in comparison to other shops but would hope to provide a simple order and delivery service at an attractive price. I order on a roughly monthly basis. If the items are in stock at the warehouse it will probably take a week to reach me and another week in the post before it is due to be delivered to you. It must therefore be understood that there could be a four week delay before delivery. In some instance it might be quicker but you should not rely on that. If this delay is not acceptable then please do not place an order. I am trading under the Micro Entrepreneur regime, I pay the equivalent of TVA/VAT sales tax up-front when I buy goods and I can not exempt this for any purchasers who might be TVA/VAT registered. Due to my location in the countryside of France's Massif Centrale I am not expecting passing trade but that is not to say that I do not like meeting other model railway enthusiasts or possible potential customers. If you would like to meet up then please do not set off in blind hope, contact me to arrange a rendez-vous first. I do sometimes post on the AFRM website (a group of english speaking railway modellers in France). French is not my natural language, and for the limited range of words that I do understand my speed of translation is slow. If you are able to speak english I will be able to answer your queries more quickly. If you want to contact me please use email. If you speak french (or another language) then please either use a translation facility (such as deepl.com) or at least understand that I will be trying to use such a system on your text so please avoid abbreviations, slang or idioms that are likely to provide problems for a silicon based translation. I am happy to post within metropolitan France and also the "western" EC countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Republic of Ireland) plus the Channel Isles. When using the site please select between the "France" or "other country" shipping option (if you should make a mistake on this then you can zero out the shopping basket and start again).This is not to say that I may not consider posting to other countries such as Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Japan who generally have a reliable delivery system and if you happen to live in one of those and would like to buy anything then please contact me and I will see what can be arranged for shipping. A further comment on postage costs: I am initially having to guess at the likely cost of posting single items. I would agree that adding in a duplicate item ought not to double the cost however I am having to make a choice within the options of the Paypal shopping cart and have defaulted to the method where there is no postage discount for multiple items (which worked for my previous web shops where multiple item purchases were not that common). If you are buying lots of compact and lightweight items then I can either offer to refund the excess postage or, if you prefer to pay the correct amount in the first instance, send me an email with your items and I can then make a specific invoice for that bundle. You should also understand that some of the older items in the catalogues will be out of production whilst newer ones may not yet have been produced. My individual product line pages are intended to show the items that are available in the warehouse now or slated for production and open for pre-order. Please understand that I use the predicted production dates as provided by the factory or importer and these may be subject to delay. Unlike most other model firms the Maerklin group does not maintain an easy to access image bank for their dealers. I have managed to obtain their images for perhaps 95% of their current stock. If I have not provided an image of an item that interests you then I would in the first instance suggest using the usual search engines and if that fails then by all means email me and I will make a direct request. If you happen to like Gauge 1 or O gauge items in live steam or electrically powered models in Gauge 1, O, S or Ho (or Standard or O gauge in tinplate) then I also sell MTH and Accucraft products. The Hornby Hobbies group covers OO gauge for Hornby, Ho for Rivarossi, Jouef, Lima and Electroten together with Electroten TT and Arnold N. When you have read and understood the text above please select for delivery to either metropolitan France or for the other western european (EEC 12) countries. Doing so should take you to the product pages.  |