NS 200 “Sik” shunter

The NS 200 was a series of small diesel engines built for the NS (Dutch Railways) first introduced in 1934. They where mostly designed for shunting, but would sometimes also be used for pulling short freight trains.

As well as a normal drivers cab, the locomotive also featured external controls, allowing it to be operated by someone standing outside on the running boards. This saved significant time during shunting, but also introduced some safety concerns. These safety concerns ultimately lead to the last of these locomotives being taken out of service in 2008.

This model is built in 1:45 scale, and can run on standard R40 track. Apart from the electronics, no custom parts are needed to build the model.

The model is built in the original dark green livery, but can also be built in the latter yellow/gray livery with only minor part substitutions needed for the external control handles.

The model is powered by a Circuit Cubes Bluetooth Battery Cube, and uses a single Circuit Cubes Cubit Motor with 1:3 gearing. This allows the locomotive to run at a decent speed, without sacrificing too much pulling power.

The on/off button can be easily accessed by removing the roof, and the Bluetooth Battery Cube can be pulled out of the cab for access to the charging port.

The model was originally designed by Joop Atkleppie, with some modifications by Ties, who also made the PDF building instructions for the model.

The model features some complex building techniques and is fairly fragile, it is not recommended for novice builders.