“Bulli” and “Adolphine”Luise Herr’s puppies

“Bulli” and “Adolphine” Luise Herr’s puppies

(Written by DG)

(and, as always, my husband PG for the parts in italics)

If, instead in France, I was born in Germany, I might have called my cats … Bulli.

…. and Adolphine.

Here, however, we do not want to talk about two cats of a German lady, but of the two locomotives produced in Berlin after World War II, by one of the rare brands of miniature railways founded and directed by a woman (energetic and passionate almost more than me!)

In 1949 Luise Herr, of which my husband has already spoken in his S-Bahn, put into production in East Berlin her first electric locomotive, a funny freelance called Bulli that, even if it is dressed in green and not blue , has every right to be part of the family of puppies

Its characteristic silhouette is inspired by various locomotives to industrial use fairly widespread in those years in Germany ….

…. and in France ….

… .where were nicknamed “Boites à sel” (salt box) ….

… .like that was hanging on the wall of the kitchen of my mother when I was a girl, because of the shape of their body.
The Luise Herr’s Bulli can be divided into two basic versions.
The first with frame and case in zamak …

… Here with functional pantograph and frame made entirely of zinc alloy.
It could however also be equipped with a fixed pantograph and the chassis side panels in aluminum …

… and Frau Herr must have had fun to dress them with different shades of green, however,

always with a black skirt.

The second version has a metal frame and the case colored Duroplast in the mass …

… and handly finished in yellow and red.

In both versions, bumpers, with screw connection, can be in bronze or in alloy steel,  pantographs fixed or working (two different types), the hooks are typical of the brand, as indexed for the 1957 German DIN standards.

Note that the sheet of rules includes the cooplings used in both eastern and western Germany, at least the two Germanys were agreed.

These are instructions of use of our Bulli …

… with the lubrication chart …

The engine of this locomotive, with double induction coil, is suitable to power to DC and AC and the inversion is carried out manually by means of the appropriate lever.

Some of the latest models produced, with case in Duroplast, have the permanent magnet motor and only they work in DC.
And note the very original mechanics of this machine,  I would say unique.

Both axles are driven and the worm screw keyed on vertical axis of the motor meshes on helical gear of the first axis and at the same time, through a cascade of gears, drives a second worm which transmits the motion to the second axle.

Bulli also exists in a pack a bit spartan …

… with four wagons …

… but without the rails, which were provided separately.

In our box, sold in ’50 by the store brand in Lebenbachstrasse 1, in addition to the locomotive and a wagon stock, there are two timber transport wagons … ..

… and a wagon with two coils of electrical wire cord.

Luise Herr had only one child, but, at least for the wagons, was very prolific: they have almost all the same platform metal, a bit as a GEM in Italy.
I suspect that our Luise, a bit as Francesco Biaggi, was an adept of Bacchus

and this has inspired her this wagon with wooden barrels for wine …

… However, for his chariots, we can also find

all kinds of vehicles ….

… that could be substituted on the same flatbed with other provided separately.

And here is one of our Bulli to tow a short freight train ….

… or with a Hruska railcar from the same era … ..

However our written on Luise Herr’s puppies would not be complete if we had not even talked about Adolphine,

which, unlike Bulli, is not a locomotive completely freelance.
The railway company LAG, who had managed the railroad Murnau Oberammergau until 1938, when this came together in the DR, put into service five small electric locomotives, different from each other ….

…. of which, the N ° 5 called “Adolphine”, became part of his drive park in 1930.

It seems that his name has nothing to do with the Adolph of the era, but is derived from the name of the wife of the CEO of the LAG, too such a strong woman to be called by everyone “Geschäftfü Adolphine”

Some years ago, during a trip to Bavaria with my husband, in addition to the castles of Ludwig II,

we also visited the Bayerische Lokalbahnverein, which houses this little engine, at the time work of Maffei of Monaco and still perfectly functioning.
Luise Herr in 1957 he fled to West Berlin, leaving her railway activities in the hands of his son Kurt Herrmann that in ’59 chosed this locomotive to reproduce it in HO scale.

It operates at DC three-rail, with horizontal motor to the longitudinal axis, is equipped with a chassis and superstructure in Duroplast, of the typical cooplings of the house and with aluminum buffers.

It was produced in small numbers, it is now very rare and should not be confused with the similar model produced by Piko from 1964 .

And, finally, here gathered Adolphine, Bulli, KA EF-Bahn together with

“the electric Conti Puppy “.

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