REVIEW: Minitrix Bavarian S 3/6 #12259

I say:

This is a very pretty locomotive but I cannot recommend it.    It's operational characteristics are very poor.  I want this to be excellent, I wish this was my favorite, but it just does not work well.   The audio fails.  It produces random sounds more often than not.   When it work, it does not last.   Run this train for  a while and sooner or later the audio will go horribly wrong.  Reset CV 910 to 1 to fix the issue, but only for a while, and only for the forward running sounds.  Unreliable.  Reversing sounds seem truncated as well.  Sometimes the reversing movement is jittery too.  It's very pretty, and it cost a pretty penny, it's a real shame that it's one really cool feature does not work well.   I suggest you avoid the sound equipped model, and I say this as someone who loves DCC sound.   It's not worth the grief in this case.

I probably should send it back, but the last time I had a defect issue with a Trix train it took a year to get the engine returned, so I'm not inclined to go through that hassle again.

I found this thread on a German language board discussing issues with this model:

http://www.1zu160.net/scripte/forum/forum_show.php?id=370034

2/4/12 UPDATE: I've sent this back to Trix for repairs.  It's worth it, otherwise this is just a very pricy paperweight.  Will let you all know how it goes.

1/10/15 UPDATE:  Wow!  It been three years and today I finally have closure.  I just heard from the shop that the factory has lost it!  Well, not a huge sunrise, given the timeline, but here's the good news:  the factory issued a credit to the shop and the shop then to me.   So, while I lost what was doubtlessly my most attractive locomotive, bar none, I did get the please of it for some months, and now I get to spend that money again.   Yes, it's certainly inconvenient that it went wrong and I do miss it and probably would have replaced it with the same were it still available, but I feel both the store and factory have done the right thing given the circumstance.  The store is www.eurorailhobbies.com and I entirely recommend them to anyone in North America interested in continental trains.   

So, it's been less then 24 hours, has the money already burnt a hole in my pocket?   You bet!  I've just ordered the Minitrix SBB RAM TEE 4 car rail set, with factory DCC and sound!   Hopefully this unit will have a happier life then my last Trix factory sound loco.   Somewhat worrying is the fact that both are of the same generation of had ware, but I hope my poor lost 3/6 was just an anomaly.

The manufacturer says:

Prototype: Royal Bavarian State Railroad (K.Bay.Sts.B.) class S 3/6 express locomotive. Early production run with a streamlined engineer's cab and gas lighting. Used for fast passenger trains, express trains, and cross-border long distance trains. Era I.

Model: The locomotive and tender are constructed of die-cast metal. The locomotive has a powerful motor with a bell-shaped armature and a flywheel. The motor and the gear drive are built into the locomotive. 3 axles powered. Traction tires. The locomotive has a digital decoder for DCC, Selectrix, and conventional operation, built into the tender. The sound effects circuit with a speaker is also built into the tender. The headlights change over with the direction of travel and There is a close coupling between the locomotive and the tender. Length over the buffers 134 mm / 5-1/4".