I have a Marx set coming from ebay. I was wondering what the tightest radius I can have/make for a Marx O Gauge Windup. I have a few Lionel Trains and use O27 for them (1952 & 1953 Freight but the 1952 Passengers don't work well on that tight a turn).
I just started getting into Marx Clockwork Toys (also have the Tricky Taxi & Tricky Motorcycle) lately so advice is welcome.
thanks in advance
Congratulations on the Marx windup set! All Marx "Mechanical" trains came with O27 curves, so they will be right at home on your present O27 trackwork. Since you asked about how sharp you can go, I have tried Marx windups on some smaller diameter clockwork track I have, approximately O20. While the trains will run on it, performance suffers as the curves get tighter, and they are more prone to derailments - especially flying off the curves due to high speed. I actually prefer to run my windup trains on broader diameter curves... my mainline is Lionel O42 (the type with the O27 style of rail). Almost all 2 rail tinplate track that you will find is O27 or thereabouts, the exceptions being the aforementioned O20 track (unknown manufacturer) and Hornby made larger diameter clockwork track, although it is a bit uncommon here in the states. If you use electric train track, the 3rd rail doesn't hurt anything, but it can be removed if you prefer the "windup track" appearance.
You might find that the windups don't play well with modern switches... some do, some don't. The old Marx windup track switches work just fine, and can be found without too much trouble.
Good luck with the new trains, post pictures and let us know how it goes!
- James
Thanks JamesP!
I was wanting to use the underside of a table that is 24" wide... but it sounds questionable. The table is in a vintage trailer and I would rather not have a layout while camping. Would have been so easy to simply turn the table over. Still may give it a try though.
If your 1952 passenger cars are 2400 types, they were meant to run on O27 track. But, if you're having trouble with them, they may be the extruded aluminum 2500 types. I run a train of them on O27; but I have had to remove the center part of the skirts to clear O27 switch machines.
You probably didn't mean to ask for the literal radius; but for the record it's 12.5 inches for O27.
Bob Nelson
Bob, you're right the Lionel cars are the 2500 series. Good to know I may be able to run them at some time. If the O27 has a radius of 12.5" I may try to make some custom curves and fit them under my 24" wide table.
As soon as I receive the Marx set I'll try and post some pics.
Thanks!
PS I recently registered and still being monitored so my posts are delayed awaiting permission to post.
For some reason 027 always bothered my clockworks, probably because one was hand made by myself with too long a wheelbase, and the other one was improperly converted from an electric locomotive, I think it was Marx. I believe that 027 curves should work just fine though with standard clockwork engines.
Steve, the radius to the center of the track is 12.5 inches; so the diameter between track centers is 25 inches. Adding the length of the ties, 2 inches, gets you to the 27 inches of O27. Working backward from the 24 inches of your table gets you to a very tight radius of 11 inches. Is there any possibility of enlarging the table by 3 inches? That's only 1.5 inches on a side.
Just got the Marx Windup and it is much better than expected. Here are a couple of pics.
Having trouble posting pics but here
I like the Studebaker truck!!
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
yeah that as a fun one!!!!!!!!!!
I forgot to mention that there is a picture of my #526 set on the "Collecting" page of my Old Windup Trains website:
http://oldwinduptrains.tripod.com/collecting.html
You can see what type of windup locomotive originally came with it. The same set came in two different types of boxes, mine is the later version. They were made from the mid 60's to the early 70's. Your 533 locomotive is earlier; the best I have been able to determine from my research is that they were available from 1947 to 1953... yours would have been made toward the end of that range, since it has the 17 spoke die-cast drivers (assuming it is the original motor).
Hope that helps...
Thanks JamesP it does have 17 Spokes so I happy to hear that it is in the '52 range. I went to your collecting site and it does look like a 533 so curious what Tender should be with a '52? I wanted Tin instead of plastic to go with the rest of my tin toys. Not sure how these pieces all got together in the 526 Set Box, mine appear to be earlier. The Box is in poor condition but still there.
I took the motor out last night and was really surprise at how good a condition it was in with no rust sighted. Curious about the Flint it looks like there is a simple stamped piece that would hold it against the wheel. I'll have to try and get that working sometime.
Should there also be an insert throught the top of the stack? I have found some referal to something there but would expect that to go with linkage to make it puff.
Although the 833 and 533 look similar in pictures, your engine is definitely an 833. The 533 has a distinctive plastic smokebox door/pilot front end, and was made a bit later than the 833. The 833 usually came with a 4 wheel wedge tender, although there is a set that shows it with a 551 cigar-band tender.
Grossman's has replacement flints and flint holders, although you can buy replacement flints at most places that sell tobacco and related accessories. The flint can be a bit of a pain to get to wedge into place in the holder. There isn't any insert in the stack, the motion of the sparker wheel flings the sparks up through the stack. I run most of mine without the sparker; I'm sure you figured out that the arm is easy to remove once the motor is out of the shell, just rotate it forward 90 degrees and it will fall out. The flints tend to wear out quickly. Also, if the grit on the wheel is worn off, you can glue a strip of emery cloth around the wheel to get it sparking again. Just note the direction of rotation, then overlap the end so it doesn't catch the flint. The coarser the emery cloth, the more it will spark, and the flint will wear out quicker.
Don't forget to oil the motor, clean it out if needed. Look for carpet fibers or pet hair wrapped around the axles or shafts. Also, make sure you don't oil the governor or it will run too fast...
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