marx wind-up

[Anonymous]

Hello, I would like to say first that I am new to toy trains. My kids Loved the brio train sets and one at least is old enogh to appreciate a real toy train set. That said, I have just purchased a marx wind-up train, with a lot of track for $8.00 at a flea market. I just don't know anything about it, and am having a hard time finding out anything about it. It is a tin chassis with a plastic body. That is all I can tell you. I don't even know the guage. I don't know how to tell the guage either! I am also looking for some help in deciding what gauge trains to get my boys (and me) which ones have the most accessories available, ect... Any info would be greatly appreciated, as I wish to do this with my boys for many years to come!

[lionelsoni]

The gauge is the distance between the insides of the railheads.  If that is 1 1/4 inches, you have O gauge.

[csxt30]

Gismo to the forum ! This link will explain a lot on fifferent gauges & scales of trains. If you have more questions, be sure & post them !!

http://www.thortrains.net/

Thanks, John

[Anonymous]

That sounds like a great find you made!

As far as what gauge to get involved in, I would definitely recommend going with O gauge (the size your Marx set is).  O gauge is large and easy for kids to handle.  There is also probably the best selection of operating accessories in O gauge, which adds tremendous play value.  Smaller gauges like HO are cheaper, but they are much more fragile and their smaller size makes it more difficult for kids to work with them.  In any case, you can't "play" with HO trains.  It doesn't take much to break a coupler off an HO car, but that's certainly not the case for O gauge.  There is also G scale, which is twice the size of O gauge and is great for kids.  However, you need a tremendous amount of space for G scale and the prices are extremely high.  There also isn't anywhere near the selection of operating accessories that there is for O gauge.

The major manufacturers of O gauge today are Lionel and MTH.  (You might also run across products by K-Line, who just went out of business this year.)  They can be pricey (expect to pay $150 or more for a brand new starter set), but in the long run it's worth it.  However, nobody says you have to buy all (or even any) new stuff and there are deals to be had out there, as you yourself have just found out first-hand.  Second-hand O gauge track can usually be picked up dirt cheap.  Vintage Marx (and a lot of vintage Lionel, too) can often be found quite reasonably.  Whereas new Lionel freight cars have MRSP's of at least $20, many of the more common Lionel freight cars of the 70's can be had for less than half that.  They built trains very well years ago and with a small amount of knowledge you can get trains that have been sitting for decades to run like brand new again.  There are plenty of vintage trains that are quite valuable, but many are common items that were mass-produced and don't have a lot of collector value and so you wouldn't have to worry about your kids playing with expensive antiques.  These are usually the trains you can find cheaply, anyway.

That's my two cents.  If you have any other questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask!  The people one here are extremely knowledgeable and can probably tell you anything you might want to know about the hobby.