PIKO Locomotive Roundabout Sonneberg

A Piko model locomotive served as a model for the equipment and color scheme of the locomotive.

After the solemn installation and inauguration of the PIKO roundabout locomotive, Sonneberg has gained another attraction.At the entrance to the town of Sonneberg, in the immediate vicinity of the PIKO company headquarters in the Oberlind district and directly at the busy traffic junction, the PIKO roundabout, the Sonneberg model railway manufacturer created a highlight on June 2nd with the installation of the PIKO roundabout locomotive.A class 23 diesel locomotive, almost 7 meters long and 3.5 meters high, was set up.It was manufactured in 1972 by the locomotive manufacturer LKM in Potsdam-Babelsberg and was used for many years as a works and shunting locomotive with the serial number 262-404 by VEB Getreidewirtschaft Gotha in the Bad Langensalza section. Until the end of the 1990s, the locomotive was in daily use under the new owner, Heyl-Mühlen GmbH & Co. KG in Bad Langensalza. Then the locomotive found a new domicile at IG Hirzbergbahn. After intensive discussions with IG Hirzbergbahn in Gotha, over a period of more than 6 months, the locomotive was refurbished and restored to its current condition. The locomotive was dismantled down to the last screw, derusted, sandblasted, repainted and sealed and then reassembled.
With a weight of more than 14 tons and a wheel diameter of exactly one meter, the transfer of the locomotive from Gotha to Sonneberg and the installation procedure was a major challenge for everyone involved.This was successfully mastered by an experienced team from Henneberger Heavy Transport. The ballast came with the support of the hard stone works Hüttengrund, the provision of the track was supported by the Erfurt Gleisbau and the Thuringian Railway.Source: sonneberg.de/leben/aktuelles/705-spielzeugstadt-sonneberg-um-eine-attraktion-reicher