Roco 72999 DB BR 360 with digital couplers

Railwriter

As things have been mostly quiet here lately, I thought I would report on my latest acquisition.

For some time, I have had my eye on a Roco 72999, an HO model of a DB BR 360 three-axle diesel switcher, as the factory switcher for the second largest industry on my planned layout. The industry will be Metallwerke Mittelstadt (MWM), a metal fabrication company, that can generate all sorts in and outbound traffic, from tank cars to coil cars.

The plan is to cover the DB logo and number with a computer generated sticker "MWM 3." The back-story is that MWM bought the loco used from the DB. (The DB has actually sold off some of these switchers to a variety of parties.) The back-story for having the loco numbered as 3 implies at the company has been around for a while and at one time there were other earlier switchers – or, perhaps locos 1 and 2 are in use at another MWM plant not included on my layout.

The DB BR 360 is part the V 60 family of switchers that were built starting in the 1950s, and some of which are still around today. (My layout will be era 5/6 and the Roco model shows a 360 in era 5 appearance with ocean blue body and some ivory accents.)

　

Last week, I finally ordered it, and it arrived today.

　

Okay, the reason for the interest in this particular loco was that it is factory-supplied with digital couplers. (Roco also offers an AC digital version with digital couplers and a DC version without decoder or digital couplers.)

　

This is a very small loco, only 110 mm (about 4 ¼ inches) over buffers. But it has very good pulling capability due to its small drive wheels and low gearing. Like the prototype, the model is geared for low speed operation and it runs very smoothly at those speeds in both analog and digital operation.

(My upstairs digital test track – with a Roco Multimaus – is basically a programming track but allows me to run the loco for about five feet back and forth. My downstairs test track is still analog, with a loop and lots of switches.)

　

The cab has an operator figure and a view clear through – which is not always easy to achieve on a small loco.

　

The digital couplers are operated via the F1 function on the control unit. Both digital couplers operate together and are not direction dependent. The decoder automatically cuts power to the uncouplers after a couple of seconds – even if F1 is not a momentary function on your controller.

The digital couplers are fun. They work well even with my older Kleinbahn cars, which have permanent loop couplers. The digital couplers are very similar to the Roco universal couplers, and, of course, work well with those. I had no problems coupling and uncoupling. In analog mode, the uncoupling tool that comes with the Roco universal couplers still works fine.

　

I do need to report that some of the descriptions of this loco are wrong. Unlike the description on the Roco factory web site, this loco does not have any traction tires. This is understandable, as, with such a small wheelbase, you want to use all six wheels for electrical pickup. Also, some of the Roco brochures that included announcement of this product showed a BR 260 (very similar except for minute details). The loco I received is a DB 360.

　

Despite not having traction tires, the loco handled nine good-sized freight cars on my test loop. On a test incline of six per cent, the loco handled four freight cars, though I had to operate carefully to avoid wheel slip. The planned spur to the MWM industry will be a five per cent downgrade. The loco will have operating rights to come into the main station freight yard to pick up cars, but would typically only operate with two to three freight cars at a time.

The digital couplers are fun and should make operation within the industry a whole lot simpler. I still plan to have at least one track uncoupler to be able to uncouple between cars.

My downstairs test loop does have a few switches without polarized frogs, and at very, very slow speeds, I managed to stall the loco on some of these switches. So, I will need to make sure that the switches in this industry all have polarized frogs.

　

The loco came with four different types of documentation:



The basic loco instructions, including disassembly for servicing when needed – and how to mount the supplied detail parts. (There are lots of additional handrails that I will leave off for now.)

The spare/replacement parts sheet

Instructions for the digital uncouplers (basically some cautions as to what not to do)

Instructions for the supplied decoder (Zimo) that has provisions for the digital uncoupler.

　

I really like this loco.

And, I now feel confident in either purchasing additional locos with digital couplers or in installing these on an existing loco (with the appropriate decoder).

If you model the DB, this loco would work well as a switcher at a small station or freight yard – or, like me, you can use one as an industrial switcher bought used from the DB.

-- Ernest