ESU 31156

 The ESU model of the class 261 corresponds with the series production prototype. The large cab windows allow a clear view of the furnished cab interior decorated in several colours. The long hood has separately applied perforated fan grills. The chassis convinces due to its large number of separately applied pipes and armatures. The handrails are made of etched metal.

Besides its aesthetic appeal the class 261 is, of course, also convincing in terms of its comprehensive technical package: Amongst others the locomotive is equipped with a separately switched load dependent smoke generator, sensors for triggering situational sounds in curves and when traversing points, a LokSound V4.0M4 decoder with a large speaker and a power storage unit assuring trouble-free uninterrupted running on dirty tracks or longer sets of points. As is the norm for shunting locomotives automatic shunting couplers are installed at both ends. Due to the close coupler kinematics the modeller may enjoy the prototypical close spacing between the locomotive and the cars on the one hand while being able to uncouple the train at any given point on the layout on the other hand. The ESU coupler is compatible with commercially available loop and hook couplers, the Märklin® close coupler as well as the Roco® universal coupler. Thanks to RailCom Plus® the locomotive automatically registers with suitable command stations (e.g.: ESU ECoS). Complete lighting including cab interior lights, illuminated driver’s consol as well as shunting headlights and illuminated steps round off the technical features. 
The chassis and the housing of the model are made of metal and due to the considerable weight of 350 g facilitate prototypical driving power.  A powerful ESU coreless motor sits in the metal chassis.  Power is tamed by two flywheels and transferred to the three axles via a combined worm gear and helical gear box. The universal electronics with clip-on centre pick-up and universal wheel sets already proven on other ESU models are also installed on the class 261.  The LokSound decoder delivers original sounds of the MTU 8V 4000 R 41 diesel engine. The sounds of the 8-cylinder engines are particularly accentuated due to the perforated fan grills in the long hood.