Locomotive Roster: Liluput "FLIRT" ET6.04 RRX; Liliput L163989

UPDATE: Check out Rintiland's blog(in Spanish) for a MUCH better solution for adding the decoder!  No removing of the shell or unscrewing anything!

A nice 'surprise' at Christmas this year was the arrival of this beautiful model of the Eurobahn Rhein Ruhr Xpress (RRX) FLIRT (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) from Liliput (i.e. Bachmann).  The DB version was released just about a year ago, with an SBB version released last Spring or Summer, leaving me to think that this special livery produced in coordination with Modellbahn Union was going to be forgotten!  However, I got a pleasant email from the shop in Germany where I ordered it almost 18 months ago that it was being shipped to me...in time for Christmas! Whoo hooo!  18 months is a long time in anyone's book to wait, but I have to say, it was well worth it! 

I completed my 'video review' (posted above) which also includes my attempt at installing the decoder (more on that below), but I also wanted to share a written version with photos and such in case the old YouTube connection isn't working for you.

Impressions:
Let me first say that this model is fantastic looking.  Beautiful printing, lettering, and details.  I don't know enough (or anything really) about the prototype to comment on the fidelity of this to its 1:1 inspiration, but given the apparent attention to detail on this model, I have to expect that its reasonably accurate.

What I hope is apparent in the photos is the striking livery of this set in the Eurobahn RRX livery.  The dark grey contrasted with the off-white, and orange highlights really stands out.  The interesting 'digital' design also really nicely complements the sets appearance and I think is one of the best examples of 'design' in contemporary train set livery.

Roof top details also provide a dash of color and some interesting 'texture' to the overall appearance of the set. But its the already installed interior lighting, automatically switching white/red LED lights combined with the overall detail and finish of this model at a pretty amazing price that really sets this model apart for me!

Decoder Install:

There was one small "hick-up" I experienced with this model concerning the decoder installation. I believe it was said nicely by "Putzi" on the Model Rail Forum where the statement was made that the decoder installation is more of a 'medium' difficulty than the 'easy' one I was expecting! Absolutely correct!  And if you've seen the video (and if your in this hobby, I'm sure you can commiserate!) you'll understand a little more of what I'm talking about.  Although its a basic NEM 651 decoder install, getting to the socket is the big challenge!

Honestly, I probably would have broken something if I didn't have this link to a tutorial on the install.

Once you find a nice, protected place to turn this long set on its backside (the cars are all connected - and its heavily implied in the instructions not too disconnect them!) you will need to remove the screw under the 'head' of the cab to remove the front cab 'head' section.  Oh...which side you ask?

Hmmm... I happened to guess wrong and went through a lot of unnecessary effort to open up the side that did not have the NEM 651 socket!  I did later find out that Haltiner Online blog does show you the clue to discover which side has the socket (there is a silver sort of rectangular box on just one end, this end has the socket)

I had some trouble removing what's referred to as the 'head'...until I flipped it around so it was standing right side up then it came straight out.

Your not done yet! Now you need to remove the body shell in pretty much typical fashion.  Although like a lot of the modern models, the plastic seems far tighter than it really needs to be and trying to carefully get the plastic seperated from the chassis is something I could do without!

The easy part...swap the 'dummy plug' in the socket and add your NEM 651 decoder! Whallah! Digital joy is now yours!

Some more cool things about this set:
It might be considered a nuisance to have to keep all four of the cars connected all the time.  But (and I think most of you will agree with this) the good part is that this allows for all the wheel-sets to have power pickup!  Personally, I will deal with the cumbersomeness of lifting all four cars connected together any day if I could get more power pickup!

You know what else is great about this model? The price!  I paid the pre-order price of €155 (figure $200 USD), which is about half of what you would have to pay for anything even remotely close to this from any of the other European manufacturers.  What a value!  The prices seems to have gone up to around €180 - €200, but still a great value in my opinion.

Finally, in terms of operation...smooth and quiet.  Obviously I haven't had it long enough to see how it holds up over time, but its beautiful to see in operation and nice to be able to plant a passenger set on the tracks with all the lights installed! Wunderbar!

So, can you tell that I'm thrilled with this set?  I wish I could say every purchase I have had in this hobby was just as rewarding (and hopefully other FLIRT owners have had similarly positive experiences!).

I'm also curious to see what other liveries Liliput eventually (hopefully?) produces.  It appears that the prototype is quite popular in many European countries and there is a huge list of great looking color schemes to produce for years to come.  This was a very smart move on Liliput's part and I hope that their overlords at Bachmann are rewarded by this investment and continue to produce even more N Scale surprises in the future!