A insteresting tid bit.
Did Lindberg every place this kit into production, back in the mid-1970’s?
There was a column in Model Railroad News some time in the past three years on the Lindberg U25B of 1967-1968, which is most likely the locomotive that you are thinking of. Early U28Bs were virtually identical to late U25Bs.
The short version of the story is that, no, it didn’t go into production. There appear to have been a small number (perhaps even fewer than ten) built for advertising photos and to send out for review or to show distributors, but it didn’t get any farther than that.
Photos exist of the models painted for the New York Central, the Southern Pacific, and the Milwaukee Road.
The planned mechanism was shown to be similar to the belt drive, using a spring as the belt, that Lindberg used on its die cast 600HP SW1-like switcher of the early 1960s.
There was an extensive conversation regarding this locomotive on the Atlas Rescue Forum back in 2014!
http://atlasrescueforum.proboards.com/thread/2548/lindbergs-u25b-junes-model-railroad
Rick Jesionowski
Fritz, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the diecast SW-1 was offered by Lindsay. IIRC all Lindberg products including their sprung trucks were in plastic.
The Lindberg SW1(aka SW600) was plastic not metal.
As a teen I foolishly bought one.The spring drive belt made the engine jerk going down the track and would break every few feet.
Complete junk.
Lindsay didn’t make an SW1. They made an NW2. It was their model L-400.
Ed
Yes, the Lindberg switcher was a plastic SW1, although photos seem to show that its proportions may have been a bit off. I can’t tell from photos whether it had the pre-1950 or post 1950 cab/hood design.
I do recall that Lindberg’s trucks were about the most free-rolling of their time.
Tom