Merkur 9120

The Merkur 9120 is a modern diesel shunting engine with 3 axles of which two are powered. The quality is solid - no compromise- full metal, coarse scale zero. I would not call this engine tin-plate, since the metal sheets used to produce this engine are more like armoured plate than tin-plate. The paint job appears to be a green powder-coating, again a very good 'no frills' quality. The engine runs on DC, so I changed my control center a bit to be able to run both AC and DC engines on my three rail zero layout.

I purchased the engine with Merkur couplers. By removing the two red-yellow front and end boards, I got easy access to the nylon coated metal nut that holds the coupler and replaced it with Bing couplers. I choose Bing style couplers, since they can also couple with Lionel latch type couplers.

The Merkur engine is a heavy weight of 23 cm (9 inch) length, it can both crawl and run. It has no sound system. The motor sounds a bit like a vacuum cleaner when it races over the tracks. The engine has directional lighting, runs smooth and pulls a heavy consist with ease.

Here is the new control centre, with toggle switches for AC/DC and DC direction. Furthermore, it is equipped with an automatic short circuit safety system and many switches for lights and future uses.

Red bridge

Finally, I am finished with painting the bridge. Much better now, I would reckon.
Furthermore, I am learning myself to make 0-scale trees from metal wire, clay, brown paint, wood glue and green fluffy pieces of foam. A hobby on itself, and so time consuming!
The ETS engine runs fine in curves but not on straights. The reason is that the springs in the third rail pick-up push the wheels slightly up from the tracks , which causes loss of traction. So, I need to improve on that.
Anyway, here are two pictures of the bridge.