COBI DR BR 52 Steam Locomotive 2in1 - Executive Edition Set 6280

COBI's DR BR 52 Steam Locomotive 2-in-1 Executive Edition is a 1:35 model built from 2,623 blocks, 69 cm long, and it builds either the German BR 52 or the Polish Ty2 — separate bricks, numbering, markings, larger Polish lamps and two interchangeable nameplates. The engine room roof lifts off to a fitted-out cab with printed instruments and burning coal in the firebox, internal gears drive the whole running gear when the model is pushed, and the tender couples to further wagons. Two figures are included, a German wartime driver and a Polish PKP driver. A sturdy display stand shaped as a railway embankment and five track sections, about 65 cm, complete the set. No stickers.

COBI designed its own track for this set

The rails are worth a paragraph, because they are the reason this collection works at all.

Each section is made by two-colour injection — one shot of grey for the rails, another of brown for the sleepers, fused into a single piece. The sleepers have no studs on top, which is unusual for a brick product and is the whole point: studs would make them look like bricks rather than timber. Each one is textured with wood grain instead.

The sections attach to standard brick plates and have physical holes so the track can be screwed down permanently to a display board, and the wheels on the locomotive are made in five different designs so the whole thing sits correctly and will take a curve.

It is also compatible with other brands' brick track. For a company entering a category dominated by one competitor, that was a deliberate decision.

What the locomotive was

The BR 52 was a Kriegslokomotive — a war locomotive, built as cheaply as possible from 1942 with minimal copper and brass and a service life nobody expected to outlast the war. Over 6,700 were made in factories across occupied Europe. Poland inherited more than 1,200 as the Ty2 and ran them for decades; they could pull 620 tonnes at 80 km/h, or 1,700 tonnes at 50.

In the COBI range

Sets 6281, 6282 and 6287 are the same locomotive in other configurations, and 6283 the shorter 2-in-1. The wagons are 6284 and 6285.

Specifications

Pieces: 2,623 · Figures: 2 · Scale: 1:35 · Builds German or Polish version · Display stand and five track sections · No stickers
Model dimensions: 69 × 9.5 × 14 cm (27.2 × 3.7 × 5.5 in)