I recently bought my first Fleischmann second hand loco and I notice on the underside, in white paint, it says "4/8". I assume this is the date of manufacture, and as this particular model was made from 1985 to 1994, I assume it means April 1988.

If I'm right, what did they do about models that were made for more than a decade?

Perhaps a code from the first owner?

I've seen similar looking marks on the underside photos of other Fleischmann stuff on eBay.

Yeah most Fleischmann locos have those kinds of marks - certainly the older ones.  Must admit I've not given them any thought as to whether or not they could be date related, quality inspector related, or whatever.

Quote from: Jim Easterbrook on February 23, 2021, 10:54:01 AM
.. in white paint, it says "4/8" ... this particular model was made from 1985 to 1994, I assume it means April 1988.

Could just as easily be August 1994. You'd have to find examples where one side of the mark is 10, 11, or 12  to assert it's a date mark of month/year or year/month.       

We had the same problem at work when we had US and UK offices: was 03/05/20 3rd May or March 5th ? We established a standard format 03 MAY 20 on our hard copy reports to get round the problem.

@Jim Easterbrook   Your fault - you made me go look through the locos!! 

This would seem to be conclusive evidence it's mm/y  if it is a date mark.  This is a loco I bought in the late 80s. 



I'll see if I can find a 70s vintage with a mark. My old 2-10-0 probably had marks but they're worn off.

Looking at my Fleischmann locos:

1980's locos appear to have the code as shown in Nick's photo. (v l v )
1990's locos have the same code but with the first number on its side. (> l v)
and 2000's locos have the original code but in a circle.
I have at least one loco where the code is a letter and a number (F9) where I suppose the F could be Februar.

The code doesn't seem to appear on locos manufactured after 2010. This possibly corresponds with the locos no longer being produced in Germany.

Thanks John. I knew someone here would have a large enough collection to crack the code.

Hi Jim. After putting my super duper reading glasses on I have corrected my original description of the 1990's code.

So much for my theory.
My Fleischmann "Glass Train" carries the code 7/9 which should make it a 1980's model but it is actually the dark blue 7411 version and according to all the usual sources it wasn't introduced until 1994.

New body on old chassis? Does the '7' have a bar through it, as usually written in Germany, or could it be a '1' on its side?

Quote from: Jim Easterbrook on February 24, 2021, 10:21:27 AM
New body on old chassis?

I initially thought that myself but the dark blue body has a lighter grey chassis and the Revision Date printed on it is 15/12/92.

Quote from: Jim Easterbrook on February 24, 2021, 10:21:27 AM
Does the '7' have a bar through it, as usually written in Germany, or could it be a '1' on its side?

No bar but definitely a 7.

I'm not at all convinced the code is a date.  I think I have seen a /4 on a loco, where the 4 would not mean 1940s! Could it be a chassis type? I looked at my large collection of 10 or more old SNCF 15000/7200 chassis but unfortunately the old ones have mostly worn off.

Quote from: Gordon on February 24, 2021, 10:55:39 AM
I'm not at all convinced the code is a date.  I think I have seen a /4 on a loco, where the 4 would not mean 1940s!

No, it would mean 1984 or 1994, depending on the orientation of the missing first number.

This is becoming an interesting can of worms and my theories are rapidly being thrown out of the window.



TOP:   733901  New in 2008 (Says so on the box)

MIDDLE:   7342  Introduced 1993 (According to Spur-N-Datenbank)

BOTTOM:   7339  Introduced 2004 (According to Spur-N-Datenbank)

P.S. I notice Nick has gone quiet. I am hoping that he is getting in touch with some of his German contacts.