GBP: Do you think that this 'making money' did also work regarding the before mentioned specialty series? And the 'Desing Tuning' thing was abandoned just because not enough money was made (verbatim translation: 'too little was left over')
H.-Jürgen Neumann: On and off the LGB program offered rolling stock where it was obvious they wouldn't make much money with that. That was obviously quite alright then because occasionally decisions were made based on different reasons. As Rhineland'ers we use the term 'just for the fun of it'. The propeller driven "Flyer" for instance was such a vehicle. I am less worried regarding the "Frank S". I just thing that this model's profit margin was big enough to allow for selling a few price-reduced engines when her term expired. The LGB management itself was pretty excited about the live-steam "Frank S". And the scale of LGB (engines) was predestined to dare go for such a project. I myself utilized the "Design-Tuning' project quite a bit back then; maybe I was the one who placed the most orders with them. The original concept implied to just use two car types to create your desired option. They didn't contemplate the onslaught that would swamp them. Then again, the LGB factory benefited from this since the creativity of the LGB fans knew no boundaries. And some (of these) models later made it into series production. I refer to the the Saxon cars in green/brown and complete brown that I had them made for me and later those were added to the LGB manufacturing program. The "Gourmino" dining car was also a customer idea. In general the time and effort that went into these tasks was extremely huge. I know so because I've been there when it happened, consulting desired-option models on-site. The designated Lehmann employee for (hand-made) samples for scheduled new products also worked for the "Design-Tuning" department but more and more new products were added (to his time-schedule), so in the end they had to close the "Design-Tuning" department because of that. I still like the idea today and I am thankful for the opportunity back then and I give kudos to the decision to offer something like that. There is probably no other model train manufacturer worldwide ever to offer something like that.
GBP: And what about the Aster series that got dropped all in a sudden?
H.-Jürgen Neumann: The first series of the Aster metal-models saw a high demand, the customer had to make a quick decision and then pre-order with his dealer. Later on, years after they recognized the worsening economy in Germany. Just remember the constantly increasing unemployment rates back in those days. LGB recognized that as well. And to be a bit critical I have to say they weren't always that cautios when it came to choosing an archetype. You could have done that differently. The RhB trailing-tender steam loco G 4/5 would have been a nice model for being made by Aster. But it was made by Magnus and Kiss.
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| Sinsheim Model Train Fair in 2006 presented the LGB layout owned and displayed by LGB- Friends of Much and was very well liked by Wolfgang Richter. The hand written note by Wolfgang Richter reads: "Just to see this wonderful showpiece by the LGB-Friends of Much was worth the trip to Sinsheim" an attendant standing next to me just told me. Right he is! Carry on (having) safe travels. Best Wishes (combined) with LGB-Pfiff (translates into smarts as well as whistle) Wolfgang Richter |
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