The LGB Collector -- A Lifetime Story Part 2

The following is a translation of "The LGB Collector", an article by H.-Jürgen Neumann from Spring 2006. Mr. Neumann published it in his own IIm-Online News web page. You can read the original article  at http://www.lgb-much.de/20406.pdf and use a Google translation or similar. To avoid mixing-ups in context with Yours Truly you will find "(HJN)", the abbreviation for H.-Jürgen Neumann,  in places were the original author refers to himself since the article is about his lifelong journey being a dyed-in-the-wool LGB fan.

...I (HJN) had won the prize numbering somewhere between # 11 and # 50: a car of my choice! Writing this is the opportunity for me to make a confession to the former jury: I didn't have enough tracks for the branch-lines. And the photo in the hallway was made possible by me taking off track in the living room, rushing to put them down someplace else! There- I said it, 34 years later. But even back then I didn't have any remorse since 4 weeks later I had bought so much more track material that the layout had grown respectively.

Left: the 'roundabout' tracks on the living room floor.
Right: the branch line , the LGB # 2030 little electro loco just coming out of the bedroom

I picked up my prized car in Nuremberg myself after arranging for a meeting with Mr. Wolfgang Richter beforehand. I was amicably welcomed and since I brought my slide projector did a show of my layout. (Dearest Reader, please know that in the early 70's the worst thing you could do at a German party was make people watch slide shows...Yours Truly...) Frankly, I was under the impression that he really liked my slide show because, after all, afterwards he took me on a tour through the whole factory - unhurriedly. And then I was invited for lunch to a restaurant near by. To me it was like pigs did fly!...Those were the beginnings of a friendship that kept until today (in 2006). But I also made sure that whenever afterwards I scheduled a visit to the factory - which became regular visits - I made sure it fit their plans and I was welcomed to show up. The workload for Wolfgang Richter and then later for Rolf and Johannes increased so much that they couldn't afford hour-long breaks just like that.

A close collaboration then ensued due to the founding of the LGB Club Rhein/Sieg, which had its own club magazine, shows and exhibitions sharing quite often a booth with Lehmann (LGB). This allowed  me to experience great support from LGB for me personally and for our club. We exhibited our club at the LGB Summer Fest 1998 and at various fairs and shows, we managed Specialty shows about historic LGB stock, we hand-built pre-production models, consulted regarding new items and novelties and reported about views, trends and opinions directly from the 'front line'.
Of course I visited the subsidiary "LGB of America" in later years in San Diego/CA. There is still a noce photo somewhere where I make myself very comfortable in the Richter-executive-chair at the desk where they worked if they came over from Nuremberg. I remember very well their  warehouse were all those "treasures" were stocked in droves. Treasures that were highly sought after by collectors here at home. They also had a "Inge" (German female first name short for Ingrid) which we called simply "the American Frau Grimm". (Ms Grimm was legendary in her knowledge -by heart!!- of each and every! spare part and LGB item EVER made, its price and the shelve it was stocked in). As far as the German Frau Grimm is concerned, the 'real' Frau Grimm -chief of the repair department in Nuremberg until 1999- we had an amicable relationship which I always nursed and cultivated even  until today. Ms Grimm was always the first to see when I visited LGB/Nuremberg. Usually I went there on Fridays and you knew(!) it was precisely 7.00 a.m. since I was entering their parking place exactly at that time..( and the bosses' cars were already there...)++++++++++++++++to be continued++++++++++++++++++++++++++