Marklin 37421 - Electric Rail Car Train Koploper

Prototype: Dutch State Railways (NS) four-part electric rail car train. Class ELD4, "Koploper" as Intercity powered rail car train ICM-4 in the current paint and lettering. 1 type mBDk end car, 2nd class, 1 type mB intermediate car, 2nd class, 1 type A intermediate car, 1st class, 1 type sBFk end car, 2nd class.

Model: The train is the four-part version. The powered end car has a die-cast frame. The train has an mfx decoder. The train has a 5-pole can motor with a skewed armature and a flywheel, and a sound effects generator. The engineer's cabs in both end cars have interior details. 2 axles in one truck powered. Traction tires. The train has power pickup in the end car at the front of the train; the power pickup changes with the direction of the train. The train has special close couplers with a guide mechanism. The train has factory-installed interior lighting. Prototypical light yellow LEDs are used for the headlights. Warm white LEDs are used for the interior lighting. The interior details vary with the type of car. The headlights, dual red marker lights, and the interior lighting can be controlled digitally. The construction of the running gear and the bodies is detailed. There is a representation of the "Scharffenberg" coupler with a cover on the end cars. A rigid drawbar coupling is included for multiple unit operation. The end cars come from the factory with closed crossover doors. A plug-in part included with the train makes it possible to represent swinging doors with a diaphragm pushed to the side on one end car.

Total train length 114.8 cm / 45-3/16".

• Factory-installed interior lighting.

The "Koploper" In the mid-Seventies, the Dutch State Railways needed new material to modernize its express passenger service. Trains with flexible utilization are required in this densely populated country in order to manage service in the urban areas. As a result, from 1977 to 1994, a total of 144 powered rail cars, the "Koploper" family, were placed into service. These powered rail cars could be quickly and easily separated and coupled at stops. It also became important that passengers be able to change from one unit to the other, when the train was in motion. The engineer's cabs were thus quickly raised up one level and these powered rail cars were equipped with crossovers at the ends. This feature gives the "Koplopers" a brawny, unusual look. The "Koplopers" were built by the firms Talbot, CEM Oerlikon, and Holec, and were designated by the Dutch State Railways as the classes 4000 and 4200, which differed from one another in their motors. A short while ago the "Koplopers" underwent modernization and were equipped with air conditioning and facilities for handicapped people. These powered rail cars can reach 160 km/h / 100 mph and are run in the classic NS paint scheme, but they have also been used as advertising surfaces such as for the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing. The "Koplopers" are certainly a successful development in rail vehicle technology and with their unusual looks they are clearly leaving their stamp on passenger service in the Netherlands.