Lindberg's U25B from 1968 in June's Model Railroad News

[tonycook]

Long time model railroaders will likely recall the late 1960s announcement from Lindberg for an HO-scale U25B diesel. The model never saw regular production and didn't make it to hobby shop shelves. You'll get a look at this never-released U25B in June's "From the Archive" section in Model Railroad News.

If anyone has additional information on this model or perhaps another pre-production sample, I'd be very interested in hearing from them.

Thanks,

Tony Cook, editor
Model Railroad News

Attachments:

[jaygee]

A very few of their SW1 switchers actually hit the market. Never owned one, but understand they use a spring belt drive ...like a brass import trolley car from the old days.

[tonycook]

May 27, 2014 16:49:15 GMT -8 jaygee said:

A very few of their SW1 switchers actually hit the market. Never owned one, but understand they use a spring belt drive ...like a brass import trolley car from the old days.

Lindberg's SW1 arrives in the early 1960s, along with the company's HO-scale freight cars. The same belt drive design used in the SW1 is also found in this pre-production U25B model. Perhaps a reason for its failure to reach the market in the late 1960s was the belt drive.

Attachments:

[theengineshed]

Perhaps a reason for its failure to reach the market in the late 1960s was the belt drive.

Or getting the paint to stick to that DuPont Delrin body...

[stevewagner]

The Lindberg ad in the preceding post calls the switcher an SW600. It certainly lacks the SW1's characteristic "bump" on the platform in front of the hood.

I believe the Illinois Central itself offered a Lindberg train set with the switcher and a few freight cars, all with the IC's traditional very conservative lettering.

The Lindberg stock car, caboose and tank car are all somewhat oversized for HO. (The stock car can be compared with J. Harold Geissel's scale drawings for the Reading prototype, published in Model Railroader and a Kalmbach paperback on building freight car models. The caboose seems to have been based on the "Northeastern" type used by the Reading and several other lines. The tank car is substantially bigger than more recent models of 8,000 gal. types.) Too bad. Many of these cars later reappeared with big weights as Mantua "heavies".

Lindberg's trucks really did roll much more freely than anything on the market when they were introduced.

[Brakie]

What's not to like about Lindberg SW600 drive? See all the fancy springs and saw blade flywheel that gave that SW600 "super smooth operation?" LOL

hoseeker.net/lindberg/lindbergswitcherpg1.jpg


Buying one of those junkers was the worst mistake I made as a teen.

[jaygee]

Got me some belt drive KMT interurbans, CA&E, in the early '70's...with the spring belt drive. They were as bad, or worse, than my Athearn rubber band F units ! Glad I could avoid the Lindberg pseudo-pony !

[Spikre]

Tony,
there was a pic of an SP Lindberg U25B in RMC,but dont recall
the exact issue,either late 66 or 67 ??
[the pic had Lindberg President Ken Rathke holding the unit.]
Edit- Tony was there a different pic somewhere ?
also said the Drive was Improved over the SW600 drive.
a person in Nortern Virginia had a test shot in the 80s.
it was lent to Steve Stewart to go over before the Stewart U25B
hit the market.
dont know if Mr Stewart still has the unit[maybe just the body ?],
or it was returned to its owner ?
guess it depended on where one was,there were Plenty of Lindberg SW600s
in Northern NJ.
maybe a Distributor thing on feast or famine of the SW600s.
would have Self Destruct races between the SW600 and the Athearn GP30 with
the Herringbone drive,never could be sure which one would fall apart 1st.
Spikre

[tonycook]

May 31, 2014 10:41:03 GMT -8 Spikre said:

Tony,
there was a pic of an SP Lindberg U25B in RMC,but dont recall
the exact issue,either late 66 or 67 ??
the pic had Lindberg President Ken Rathke holding the unit.
also said the Drive was Improved over the SW600 drive.
a person in Nortern Virginia had a test shot in the 80s.
it was lent to Steve Stewart to go over before the Stewart U25B
hit the market.
dont know if Mr Stewart still has the unit[maybe just the body ?],
or it was returned to its owner ?
guess it depended on where one was,there were Plenty of Lindberg SW600s
in Northern NJ.
maybe a Distributor thing on feast or famine of the SW600s.
would have Self Destruct races between the SW600 and the Athearn GP30 with
the Herringbone drive,never could be sure which one would fall apart 1st.
Spikre

Attached is the picture you remember that appeared in December 1967's Railroad Model Craftsman.

Attachments:

[tonycook]

Here's the other decorated pre-production U25B model from Lindberg that I know to exist. This attached ad dates to the same late 1960s to 1970 period and shows a Milwaukee Road example.

The sample Spikre mentions residing in Virginia and reportedly loaned to Steve Stewart for reference on the Stewart Hobbies HO-scale U25B is the one I obtained for the Model Railroad News "From the Archive" article appearing in June's issue.

Stewart Hobbies U25B came out in 1987 with Athearn drive and later with Kato drive in 1990 and offered in multiple production phases.

Attachments:

[Spikre]

Tony,
the gent with the U25B body started the HO only mag "The Scale Coupler" in
the mid 80s.
wanted to buy it from him,but no go.
offered to do several articles for the mag,but no go.
then was told it was passed off to Mr Stewart at Timonium.
so in the mid 90s tried to buy it from Mr Stewart,again,no go.
never did find out how the Body or Unit came into the owners possesion,he
was very elusive about that.
so was it just a body ?
or a complete unit ?
how were the handrails ?
am intrested as this has been on my mind since 85 at least.
Spikre

[carrman]

Looks like Lindberg got the class lights right.

[tonycook]

Jun 2, 2014 12:28:25 GMT -8 Spikre said:

Tony,
the gent with the U25B body started the HO only mag "The Scale Coupler" in
the mid 80s.
wanted to buy it from him,but no go.
offered to do several articles for the mag,but no go.
then was told it was passed off to Mr Stewart at Timonium.
so in the mid 90s tried to buy it from Mr Stewart,again,no go.
never did find out how the Body or Unit came into the owners possesion,he
was very elusive about that.
so was it just a body ?
or a complete unit ?
how were the handrails ?
am intrested as this has been on my mind since 85 at least.
Spikre

There are multiple big color images, including a shot of the shell component pieces and drive mechanism in the current June 2014 issue of Model Railroad News.

The model I have is about 90% complete. My example is missing handrails...which I don't see on the other images (MILW or SP) either, so perhaps never done by Lindberg? Sand hatch covers on the nose and rear hood are not there but holes exist for them, no air horn on the roof, and no clear plastic cab windows, and though most of the drive/gearing is present there is no motor. AAR Type B trucks are well done for the time and made of metal.

The New York Central lettering is obviously custom work on this sample and not pad printed, appears to be a combination of dry transfer (long hood lettering, which is no where near NYC's typeface) and decals (nose herald, which is also wrong...too old a version of the NYC herald for use on a U25B).

I think the biggest surprise was the completely package. For a model that never got off the ground, Lindberg had a box and insert finished for its U25B. I was curious about this model since I was a little kid, so like you I was very excited to discover its existence.

Thanks

[Spikre]

Tony,
next You should cover the Alexander Cast Metal U25B as used by GE at the 64/65 NYC Worlds Fair.
tried to get a body in the 70s but Mr Alexander had lent out the molds and maybe never got them
back.
in a 63/64 RMC Bill Schoop powered one with Hobbytown drive parts.
they were crude,but did look like U25Bs.
as to the Lindberg U25B,possibly the AHM/Rivorossi U25C made them hold up on releasing them ?
Spikre