Identifying year

[Anonymous]

I am a new comer to this stuff. I was giving a marx tin train set that I have no idea the age. It came with a steam engine that has a 0-4-0 config. with no markings except the one under the coupler that reads MARX Toys made in the United States of America, a New York Central tender, a SF Middle States Oil Tanker Car number 553, and a New York Central Observation Caboose number 556. I was told that this is a complete set. I am hoping that the experts here could tell me how or where to look to find out.

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Robert

[Anonymous]

I would check on e-bay. You could probably compare yours to something someone else is selling. They sometimes give a description with the items they sell. Good Luck
Angelo

[daan]

I don't really know much about marx, but the way I found out that my Lionel F3 was from 1953 (within 20 minutes) was simply by giving brand and number on the engine in on the search bar in google. One of the first leads was a determining site, with descriptions and all of it. With Marx it should work the same..
Welcome to the forum by the way, probably someone else from this forum can help you further..

[3railguy]

Sounds like the four wheel lithograph tin cars Marx made in the late 40's and early 50's. these are the most common. It's hard to narrow down the date with your description since many variations are out there. Check out this eBay link of a late 40's early 50's set. it has your cars and possibly your engine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19147&item=5900450630&rd=1

[Anonymous]

Well, your set probably would have been made in the late 40's as others have said. The cars are of the Marx 6-inch type. The engine shown in the ebay auction is a Marx 898 engine. You can actually see the number in a small plastic piece on the front. It was manufacturered from 1946-52. It's value is $10 in good condition and $15 in excellent condition. Also, is the engine electric or windup? A windup 898 is worth $15 good, $30 excellent. If it's a different engine, let me know. That sounds low, but that's just for the engine by itself. The tender adds more value onto it. There are two types of tenders that it could be. The one shown in the auction is worth $8 good, $15 excellent. If is is black with a silver stripe across it, it is worth $15 good, $25 excellent. It also could be a "wedge tender", which actually has coal in it and is worth $10 good, $15 excellent. The tank car is worth $10 good, $20 excellent and the caboose is $10 good, $15 excellent. I hope this helps you out.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. The auction on ebay is exactly what I have, except the gondola car. It seems that it isn't worth much outside of sentimental value. My engine is missing the plastic number from the front. Would I be better off buying this piece at a train show, or is there somewhere that I can purchase parts for these on-line?

You all have been a great help. I will continue to become more involved in the modeling of trains as I redo my office. Do you fine people suggest that I stay with the marx size or is there a better size to start out with?

Thanks for all the help again.

Robert

[3railguy]

Robert, you can find Marx lito tin 6" gondolas at shows for around $12 in nice condition. You can buy junker engines for parts dirt cheap. ebay is OK with Marx I think. I wouldn't get to nervous over $12 cars. Dirt bag dealers usually deal in big ticket stuff. You get some rookies who don't know how to take pictures or describe stuff. The way they desribe stuff and their ratings can give you some hints. The $24.99 price on the eBay link is the opening bid. There are 5 days left. The set may go for $50 or even $75 who knows.