Model Railway Forum

Hi there

I am a total noob when it comes to this, I have been gifted a really cool little set from my step-grandad, who was a train driver for SAR back in the 50s, before he passed away (which was when I was a child but have recently found it in my parent's loft) and I was hoping someone could give me some information about it?

It's a boxed set from Lima, if that means anything, the train is an Electric South African Railways E444 plus dummy engine and it's coaches and it comes with a Coach Wash and track, it also has a power thingy, does anyone know anything about this set or make of trains, I am completely clueless?

TIA

Hi - welcome to the forum. I don't know anything about the set you mention but someone on here may well, or at least will be able to point you in the right direction. R-

Thanks R I hope so

Hi - Welcome to the forum. There are a number of Lima E444 loco's on ebay and also an E444 South African Railways empty box! Sorry not much help, but a least you now know the loco is still available. BB

I had quick google of Lima E444 set and found some locos for sale and a nice little YouTube Vid of the set which looked very nice new condition from 1978. I have not found any coaches for sale. John

Hi,

Lima was an Italian company that made model trains from quite a number of countries around the world including the UK. When it closed the tooling was bought by the Hornby Group.

I lived in South Africa for over forty years and know a little bit about Lima SAR stock, it was only made for a few years and despite it not being very accurate (the gauge of the wheels is not correct for a start) it is quite collectible in South Africa and commands high prices mainly because it was all that was available at the time.

Things have moved on and highly accurate (and very expensive) SAR scale models are now available but Lima SAR stock remains sought after in SA.

There are a few FaceBook groups devoted to SAR modelling and this club that was local to me when I was there will have members who can supply more information emrig.co.za

Your rolling stock will run on standard 00 track and your controller should work here too. The track that came in Lima sets was usually steel so it might need a good clean with a track rubber before use. You might want to replace it with nickel silver track in the long run.

South Africa’s eBay is called BidorBuy and you will find models for sale there which will give you an idea of value. bidorbuy.co.za

Despite living in SA for so long I always modelled British Outline hence this rather basic information.

I’ve just found this forum which is multilingual

http://lima-modeltrain-collectors.xobor.de/

Ah brilliant thanks so much for your help!