Minitrix - 12290 - Locomotive, Electric, Class ES 64 U2, Epoch VI - MRCE - ES 64 U2-067

Specific Item Information: MRCE-dispolok Inc. class ES 64 U2 multiple system electric locomotive. B-B wheel arrangement, built starting in 1999, nicknamed "Taurus". Use: Heavy passenger and freight trains.

DCC Information: NEM-651 6-pin decoder socket present.

Road Name History: MRCE is an acronym for Mitsui Rail Capital Europe. With a fleet of more than 300 locomotives, MRCE is Europe’s market leader in full service locomotive leasing. The Company has two main offices: MRCE B.V. in Amsterdam responsible for leasing, sales, procurement, financing and MRCE GmbH in Munich responsible for maintenance, technical service, logistics (including ECM and Railway Authority Certification).

MRCE is 100 % subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Mitsui) one of the largest sogo sosha (general trading and investment companies) in Japan. Mitsui has been investing in development of various railway infrastructure projects across the world and has years of experience in the rolling stock leasing in Europe, USA, Russia and Latin America.

All-inclusive package on Europe’s rail network Being an expert in the industry, MRCE has adapted its equipment to meet the customers’ needs. MRCE’s locomotives not only fulfill the strict requirements for rail traffic in terms of safety and interoperability in Europe, but are also very efficient and sustainable. The Global Player Mitsui & Co., Ltd. stands for stability and longstanding successful operations in the leasing business.

Brand/Importer Information: Trix is a German company that originally made Trix metal construction sets. one of its co-founders was Stephan Bing, the son of the pioneer toy-maker industrialist Ignaz Bing. In 1935 the company began producing the electrically powered model trains that it became famous for, under the Trix Express label. Prior to the outbreak of World War II the Trix company produced a small range of fairly unrealistic AC powered three rail models running at 14 volts.

N gauge models under the Minitrix brand were made from the late 1960s mostly of European prototypes (German and British primarily). North American prototypes were also manufactured and marketed under the Aurora "Postage Stamp" brand; later these items were sold under the American Tortoise, Model Power and Con-Cor brands. Trix sometimes utilized North American consultants to aid in the design of this portion of the product line. The "Hornby Minitrix' brand was used in the 1980s for a short lived range of British outline models using the earlier product tooling.

Trix's owner in the 1980s and 1990s was Mangold, which went bankrupt in the late 1990s and Märklin purchased the assets in January 1997. In part, this purchase was a reflection of Märklin's need for added production capacity; Trix had been manufacturing certain items for Märklin in previous years. The purchase was also in response to the earlier purchase of the Karl Arnold company by the Italian company Rivarossi; Märklin were very keen to take over Trix market share in 2-rail H0 and especially Minitrix, until then Märklin had not marketed N gauge models. In 2003, Märklin introduced its first N gauge models under the well established Minitrix brand. A number Märklin H0 scale three-rail AC locomotives have also been introduced in two-rail DC versions under the Trix logo and many models are shared between the two brands.

From Wikipedia