Steam Engines

It is apparent that a major appeal of Arnold rapido to the German market was that the Arnold model train product line represented the modern German railroad scene. So, from a North American perspective, the presence of steam locomotives in the Arnold line is a bit of an anachronism.

In fact, the steam locomotive was still quite present on the Deutsche Bundesbahn at that time. In that era, Germany was still in a state of recovery from the debilitating effects of World War II, and the German Federal Railroad was very cost conscious. While diesel fuel came from imported petroleum, the steam locomotive used coal from the Saarland. As a consequence, the steam locomotive remained on the German railroad scene until the mid-1970’s. And, because of the DB mechanical department’s practice, this presence was a colorful one. The red color on the wheels and frames of their steam locomotives had a practical side in that the bright color made it easy for locomotive inspectors to examine the engine’s running gear for metal fatigue and cracks. This practice appears to date back to the 1920’s, when the German railroads unified into one major company.

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	In 1966/1967, two American Market locomotives were produced. The 0223S and 0225S were both modified versions of the Arnold locomotives of the same model number. In the case of the 0223S, the engine was lettered for “Pennsylvania” [Railroad] and in the case of the 0225S, the locomotive was simply numbered “225”. Presumably, these modifications were done at the request of Charles Merzbach, the US Agent for Arnold at that time.



	In 1968, Arnold entered into a business relationship with Revell, a well known plastic model kit manufacturer. Revell had offered an H0 scale series of trains in the mid 1950’s, and the relationship with Arnold would bring Revell into the N-Scale arena. The earlier relationship with Charles Merzbach of New York apparently continued for some time after that.


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