In co-operation with Aster the Shay Limited Edition in wooden box was presented but it took almost another year until dealers had her in store. Or as Klaus recalls: " Then we stayed on the train and traveled along."ġ996 was also the year LGB presented among others these new items: The Ruea 0-8-0 steam locomotive #28001. Klaus and Wolfgang Richter met in Chama/NM for this trip and experienced the railroad for two days, traveling the tour the railroad offered back then. For details about the C andT itself go to and )
1996 was the year that Klaus and Wolfgang Richter traveled the Cumbres and Toltec line together.( YT: The LGB Yarner blog will feature an article about that historic trip in the near future. Klaus had become a very close ally to LGB. Even friends of Rolf Richter or Johannes Richter might have been given different gifts. This extremely private circle included only those who had everyday direct access to Wolfgang Richter, Klaus Baumann and Günter Ruhland. LGB started bestowing Christmas gifts to a very close circle of business friends early on as was tradition especially in Western Germany. Therefore the tie and scarf have never been unpacked/touched! The original LGB box is slightly used. Klaus, being the consummate collector kept it pristine and complete. This Christmas Car is not cataloged.This rare limited edition 1996 Christmas Car had an edition volume of 50! This makes it hard to imagine any other complete set to be available out there. Two candy cane sticks covered in Christmas greenery embellish the white window side bars. This extremely rare car features a silver roof and a white/blue passenger car compartment displaying "THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN" in golden letters, a snowed in Bavarian house surrounded by snow covered fir trees on blue background.