Manufacturer: Manufactured for Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk, Saganer Strasse 1-5, D-8500 Nurnberg 50, Germany. Price: 2177D 0-4-0 locomotive price not specified.

Full-size Porters of the type Lehmann has produced were primarily industrial or contractors' locomotives. They appeared on logging and mining railroads, in industrial switching areas, and on urban or rural tramways where they generally pulled streetcars. They rarely appeared on traditional railroads and, if they did, they were relegated to light switching duties. Porter built them as standard catalogue items, but as often as not, customized them to the buyers' specifications. As a result, standardization was nominal; they came in a variety of gauges and sizes, wheelbases, even colors.

Let's look first at what makes the Porter unique. Nowhere on the box do the initials "LGB" appear. The name Lehmann sits in their place. The model reflects only German supervision; it is of Korean manufacture. It is one of the least expensive locomotives in the Lehmann line. It may also be the closest to scale.

But what scale? Here's where the fun starts. If you compare the model's dimensions to those in actual turn-of-the-century Porter catalogues you will find it represents a 12-tonner in 1:22.5 scale and an 8-tonner in 1:20.3 scale (15 mm/foot). The chart shows the model's dimensions in each scale and the catalogue specifications for both 8- and 12-ton versions. If you look closely, you'll see the model comes closer to the 1:20.3 scale, 8-ton specifications. Yes, many 12-ton prototype dimensions are missing but the 1:22.5 cab dimensions are too big. Porter used to change a lot of proportions, but they left the cab pretty much alone.

When LGB's Ron Gibson first showed a production model at a gathering of large scale model railroaders, we pulled out a 1:20 scale plan of an 8-ton Porter I had received from Little Railways' owner, Tony Ferraro. Just for fun, we laid the model over the drawing. It was virtually a perfect fit.

The plot thickens. During the summer of 1987, Cliff Grandt introduced a scrupulously researched and detailed model of an 8-ton Porter. It was accurate down to the most minute detail. It is still available. The Lehmann model, while lacking some fine detail, is almost a dead-ringer for Grandt's On3 loco.

That means if you apply the 1:20.3 scaling to Lehmann's Porter, it becomes an extremely close replica of its 8-ton prototype, running on track exactly three feet between the rails. (LGB Gauge One track measures 45 millimeters between the rails.) In other words, the Lehmann model is almost (dare I say it?) finescale!

The model is mostly plastic with metal driver tires, detail castings, and piping. Our sample was black. An identical version comes in gray.

To save production costs, the Porter comes lettered but unpainted, except for its silver smokebox and stack. The plastic on our sample was flat black. The lettering and cab window frames are bright white and appear fanciful. The pistons, crosshead guide, reversing lever, side and main rods, and brake gear have a very tough, bright chrome plating. The end beams are brown with black paint representing wood grain. (The grain is incorrect for the front end beam; real Porters had a sheet metal wrapper.) Coloring aside, the shape and size of the parts are correct and, as you can see from the photo, they look just fine after a little painting and light weathering.

Another departure from LGB's German models is the extensive use of brass castings. The brass is a little soft and porous but, in most cases, is a marked improvement over plastic. The sand lines are heavy gauge aluminum wire.

The quality of the plastic parts is quite good, and each genuinely captures the image of its actual Porter counterpart. The headlight, for example, is almost perfect. The front of the smokebox, and even its beautiful little brass handle, say "Porter" from every angle. The manufacturer took only one shortcut. The lid on the sand dome. It has a little nub instead of the characteristic turning. Oh, well. That is what aftermarket detail parts are for. And inside the cab you'll find plenty of original equipment detail on the backhead. Lehmann has missed almost no trick.

That brings up the three-position switch LGB has made famous, with its "off" position, the middle position for parking the model with only lights and smoke unit operating, and the "on" position allowing the motor to run. Yes, the Porter also has a smoke unit. And a directional headlight. And a light in the cab.

That's how it looks. How does it run?

The only mass-produced switchers with better operating characteristics are LGB's venerable 2020s. They are quieter and a little smoother and, because they have ball-bearing motors, the drivers turn when you push the locomotive. They also have a rubber traction tire missing on the Porter.

By contrast, the Porter exhibits some gear noise but our sample, and the few others I have operated, seem able to run a little more slowly than the German engines. They throttle down to a crawl, something approximating one or two scale miles per hour. That is a very important quality in a switch engine. (Incidentally, for those of you interested in a racing locomotive, they also will zip around the tracks at blinding speeds.)

If the gear noise bothers you, remove the motor/gearbox cover plate underneath the model, clean as much of the factory grease as you can from the gears, and replace it with LaBelle 106 plastic compatible grease with Teflon. It will reduce the noise by as much as half and will smooth out the model's performance. The improvement is noticeable.

One word of caution. The metal in the Korean screws is far less robust than the steel in the German screws. Use the screwdriver from an LGB tool kit or you will probably tear up the Phillips head screw slots.

Our sample pulled seven LGB boxcars equipped with aftermarket metal wheel sets. The eighth car added too much weight and the drivers slipped. The Porter will probably pull another car or two if all have lighter, plastic wheels. We conducted our test on a flat, indoor oval test track with LGB 1500 curves. If you find the results disappointing, please remember the real Porters' limit was about two or three boxcars and certainly no more than one passenger car. They usually pulled seven or eight log or mining cars, and that would be well within the model's abilities. We find the Porter's performance quite satisfactory.

Altogether, the Porter may be the single most significant advance in a mass-production scale model railroad locomotive since the hobby became popular. It is the first such model to combine not only accurate dimensions but also an accurate gauge. It is of high-quality, though not quite at the level of LGB's German-built products, and an even better value. It represents a very popular, ubiquitous, and attractive prototype. It will absolutely delight detailers and kit-bashers. It is inexpensive enough to allow anybody an uncompromised entree into large scale model railroading.

If you like small steam locomotives, do yourself a favor. Look hard at the Lehmann Porter. You will find very little to disappoint you.--RR