The Enigma That Was Playart - A Strange Battery Powered Mogul

 Recently, I purchased a little battery powered 2-6-0 "Mogul" locomotive off of eBay (Thanks Rick!) that was made by none other than Playart, whose history in model railroading seems to be forgotten. Aside from copying Lima models for their American market (unsure whom else they copied), and later being acquired by Gata in Macao and vanishing with that company, little else is known.

Put another way, if there are Playart train websites and fans out there, they are well hidden.

Playart did become a major supplier to Model Power here in North America, so in that way they carried on a little longer before completely disappearing.

But back to the locomotive at hand, a little battery powered Mogul - 

On the left is the original Lima Express DB style 0-6-0, and the right is our Playart Mogul.

Clearly, it's inspired by the Lima model, but not really a copy. There are plenty of differences between the two, but still enough similarity. The biggest difference, of course, are the wheels.

Aside from being plastic, the Playart version was always sold as a Mogul. The side and connecting rods are better looking in my opinion. Playart sold this under their own brand as both a regular locomotive and, by slapping a coal bin on the back of the cab, an erstwhile 2-6-0T tank locomotive.

For the North American market, they were initially sold by LifeLike with slope back American tenders with all sorts of road names. Later, Model Power would pick them up.

For now, though, let's look at this odd little engine. 

While I am certain there is a connection between the Lima copy various brand 0-4-0T and Playart, this one is far better engineered. The gear train is far more sophisticated, with all three drive axles powered. I am unsure how this compares to the 12 VDC powered version. 

The motor is your typical Mabuchi FA-130 can. My sample had a motor that was frozen, which turned out to be dried up grease. Even though I am having extreme difficulty with eyesight at the moment, I did manage to open it up, clean it out, and reassemble it, though it isn't soldered at the moment. 

The batteries are carried in the DB style tender that the model came with, power being transmitted through a clever connection in the tender draw bar. 

This tender was not common to the American market. Not only is it missing an axle (deliberate design decision, probably to keep the model simple), it comes with what appears to be an oversized Rapido style coupler, more common on N gauge - 

Another feature I found odd was the inclusion of a locking mechanism on the pilot wheels - 

Perhaps the model could double as a floor toy? I really can't say. What I do know is that locking the pilot wheels for regular running is probably a touch foolish. 

In the next few weeks, as my vision is restored, I hope to get this odd little locomotive running. I would really like to locate any of the cars from the associated set, and get a better idea as to when this was produced. 

Until then, it's a mighty eccentric Mogul.