arkady balidas Is the coupler on the caboose metal or plastic? I can't tell for sure from the pix but they look plastic which would mean a later production. I also caught the Marx bug quite a while ago & have collected a number of items. They are some beautiful trains & accessories. Enjoy! It's plastic, and yes, it is later production. Anyone know what year Marx went from metal to plastic scissors couplers?
balidas Is the coupler on the caboose metal or plastic? I can't tell for sure from the pix but they look plastic which would mean a later production. I also caught the Marx bug quite a while ago & have collected a number of items. They are some beautiful trains & accessories. Enjoy!
Is the coupler on the caboose metal or plastic? I can't tell for sure from the pix but they look plastic which would mean a later production. I also caught the Marx bug quite a while ago & have collected a number of items. They are some beautiful trains & accessories. Enjoy!
Around 1950. The good thing with the plastic versions is the slot that allows us to hook our tab & slot cars with these couplers.
arkady I confess it -- I've been a Lionel snob since I was three years old. That's when Santa brought me my 2026 set, and I've owned and enjoyed Lionel products ever since. I was aware of Marx, of course, but in my callow youth, I'd always dismissed it as "cheap crap." And if you're looking for scale fidelity, I guess that's not too hard to understand. But I've been perusing Marx trains on the net lately, and began learning enough to at least catch my interest. Maybe it's because I bought my first Lionel tinplate (a 259E and freight cars) last year (and they were a huge hit at Christmas time), but I've recently started looking at Marx in a bit of a new light. At a recent train show, there was little to catch my eye as far as my Lionel interests go, either scale, postwar or tinplate. But there were a few Marx items that did catch my eye. In particular, there was a #999 2-4-2 locomotive and tender, lying forlornly on one dealer's table, attracting no buyers. I knew from my web browsing that the 999 was considered one of the better Marx locomotives. It was in great condition, and the price was a mere $19.99. Conditioned as I am by Lionel prices, I thought at first that I'd read the tag wrong, but there was no misplaced decimal point. It really was $19.99. Still obdurately undecided, I walked around the hall a few more times. Apart from a few postwar accessories, I'd never looked for anything Marx before, but now that I was sensitized to its presence, I started uncovering more. There was a set of three NYC streamlined passenger cars (more on that later), some freight cars with very weird-looking couplers ( know now that they were Marx "one-way" couplers) and a lot of track. None of the prewar streamliners I would have expected to see. After a great deal of struggle with my Inner Lionel, I decided to take the plunge. I went back to the table with the 999, handed over my twenty bucks, and took it. After all, it was only a tenth the price of what I'd paid in the past for a PW Lionel 736, so how could I go wrong? Still wandering about the hall (I always take the maximum amount of time to see everything at a train show), I ran across a near-mint Marx NYC tin caboose. I figured it'd go well with the 999, so I bought it, too. To my everlasting regret, the NYC passenger cars were gone. After I got home, I took the locomotive out for the usual clean-and-lube session that all new-to-me locomotives get. I knew from my web reading that the locomotive shell was aluminum, rather than Lionel's zinc alloy, which was something new in my experience. Still, it had the advantage that it would never crumble away with Zinc Rot, so it seemed like a good idea. The 999 seemed as if it had only been run on Sunday afternoons during the Christmas season, and then only for a few years. Very clean and very little evidence of wear anywhere. The sidewinder motor and side gearing reminded me of my old 2026, so I was on familiar ground with that. No rust or caked lube anywhere, but of course, all the bearing points were bone-dry after its long stint in storage. So I applied a drop of 5w-30 synthetic oil to all of them and hand-rotated the mechanism. Quiet and smooth, with no binding or roughness. What I could see of the commutator looked clean and shiny, so I didn't bother taking the shell off to remove the brushplate. I did, however, put a little alcohol on the commutator surface and rotate the motor by hand to give it at least a bit of cleaning. Time to put it on the track. Actually running the 999 was the greatest revelation of all. I put up an oval of 027 track (I already knew that fat-gear single-reduction Marx locomotives couldn't handle the FasTrack switches on my Lionel layout) and attached a Lionel 1033 transformer. I'm used to locomotives running in jerks and spurts -- or not running at all -- when fired up for the first time. But the 999 behaved itself nicely. It has to warm up a bit before it really takes off, but it started and ran flawlessly from the first turn of the transformer handle. The two-position e-unit took some getting used to (was it fear of a Lionel patent infringement, or just tightfistedness that kept Marx from implementing a three-position sequencer?), but it worked perfectly, with none of the sticking I've experienced from newly-resurrected Lionel equipment. No smoke and no whistle, but it does have a working headlight and 999 number board. Unlike most postwar Lionel equipment, the 999 has a third-rail contact skate instead of rollers. It's not the thick and rigid type that my I've seen on some low-end Lionel, though. It's more like a strip of thin, flexible, springy metal that's bent into two loops. Most Marx enthusiasts refer to it as "copper," but although it has a coppery color, I'm pretty sure it's actually phosphor bronze. Just how I'd go about replacing it if it ever wore through, I don't know. But it does seem to work pretty well. After a short run-in, it was time to address the cosmetic issues. There was very little wear on the shell, and the scratches were few and tiny. Here was where I discovered a side benefit of the aluminum boiler: I could use chemical aluminum blackener to hide the smaller marks. It's Birchwood-Casey Aluminum Black, for those who're interested. And for larger rub marks (on top of the steam dome on my 999), it makes a great "undercoat" for black paint touchup with a fine artist's brush. As for the tinplate tender, it needed no touchups at all. I just dusted it off and coupled it up. Here's what it looks like: Not the best photo, I admit, but I was working with available light, and it was a cloudy morning. Marx purists will have to overlook the Lionel equipment in the background. I still don't know with any precision what year my locomotive was made. I've checked all the online sources I can find, and best answer I could come up with was somewhere between 1947 and 1953. It has a solid pilot with rivets, but no one seems to agree about just exactly when that design was implemented. As for the caboose I bought at the same time, apart from the usual cleaning of the wheels, I didn't do a thing with it. It's as near mint as anything I've ever bought: Interestingly, it's illuminated. It has frosted-plastic windows, but at least one site I consulted said that these cabooses were never illuminated. I'm by no means enough of a Marx authority to say, one way or the other. The third-rail contact on the bottom looks like this: It's primitive, yeah. But before you Lionel loyalists start laughing, I've got to admit that although it's crude, it has never flickered, the way most of my Lionel illuminated cabooses are prone to do. [Edit: Nor will it flicker, ever. I removed the light and its bent-tin pickup.] But did it come from the factory with that odd-looking contact? I don't know. Hopefully, more knowledgeable Marxists than me will chime in with more information. [Edit: I now know that it was a homemade job, and a none-too sophisticated piece of work, at that. ] Oh, yeah, and both tender and caboose have those Marx scissors couplers at which I used to shake my head in pity when I was a kid. But although they still look ridiculous to my eye, there's no denying that they work flawlessly. Coupling is smooth and effortless, as is uncoupling -- and they stay together without complaint while running. I haven't always been able to say that about my Lionel knuckle couplers. My impressions? This is an exceptionally fine-running locomotive. It's amazingly quiet and smooth, and has good slow-speed running capability. It follows no prototype, but it's a nice-looking design that suits it well. I find it nothing short of amazing that Marx was able to produce such a high-quality locomotive for such a low price. The 999 and its caboose have added a new dimension to my collecting/running outlook. Now I'm trying to find another good set of those NYC streamlined passenger cars. And a Marx 333 would be nice! Oh, yeah -- and Bobbin, our youngest cat, loves the 999. No matter where she is in the house, as soon as she hears it running, she heads downstairs to the basement to watch it. She demands "More Marx!"
I confess it -- I've been a Lionel snob since I was three years old. That's when Santa brought me my 2026 set, and I've owned and enjoyed Lionel products ever since. I was aware of Marx, of course, but in my callow youth, I'd always dismissed it as "cheap crap." And if you're looking for scale fidelity, I guess that's not too hard to understand.
But I've been perusing Marx trains on the net lately, and began learning enough to at least catch my interest. Maybe it's because I bought my first Lionel tinplate (a 259E and freight cars) last year (and they were a huge hit at Christmas time), but I've recently started looking at Marx in a bit of a new light.
At a recent train show, there was little to catch my eye as far as my Lionel interests go, either scale, postwar or tinplate. But there were a few Marx items that did catch my eye. In particular, there was a #999 2-4-2 locomotive and tender, lying forlornly on one dealer's table, attracting no buyers. I knew from my web browsing that the 999 was considered one of the better Marx locomotives. It was in great condition, and the price was a mere $19.99. Conditioned as I am by Lionel prices, I thought at first that I'd read the tag wrong, but there was no misplaced decimal point. It really was $19.99.
Still obdurately undecided, I walked around the hall a few more times. Apart from a few postwar accessories, I'd never looked for anything Marx before, but now that I was sensitized to its presence, I started uncovering more. There was a set of three NYC streamlined passenger cars (more on that later), some freight cars with very weird-looking couplers ( know now that they were Marx "one-way" couplers) and a lot of track. None of the prewar streamliners I would have expected to see.
After a great deal of struggle with my Inner Lionel, I decided to take the plunge. I went back to the table with the 999, handed over my twenty bucks, and took it. After all, it was only a tenth the price of what I'd paid in the past for a PW Lionel 736, so how could I go wrong?
Still wandering about the hall (I always take the maximum amount of time to see everything at a train show), I ran across a near-mint Marx NYC tin caboose. I figured it'd go well with the 999, so I bought it, too. To my everlasting regret, the NYC passenger cars were gone.
After I got home, I took the locomotive out for the usual clean-and-lube session that all new-to-me locomotives get. I knew from my web reading that the locomotive shell was aluminum, rather than Lionel's zinc alloy, which was something new in my experience. Still, it had the advantage that it would never crumble away with Zinc Rot, so it seemed like a good idea.
The 999 seemed as if it had only been run on Sunday afternoons during the Christmas season, and then only for a few years. Very clean and very little evidence of wear anywhere. The sidewinder motor and side gearing reminded me of my old 2026, so I was on familiar ground with that. No rust or caked lube anywhere, but of course, all the bearing points were bone-dry after its long stint in storage. So I applied a drop of 5w-30 synthetic oil to all of them and hand-rotated the mechanism. Quiet and smooth, with no binding or roughness. What I could see of the commutator looked clean and shiny, so I didn't bother taking the shell off to remove the brushplate. I did, however, put a little alcohol on the commutator surface and rotate the motor by hand to give it at least a bit of cleaning. Time to put it on the track.
Actually running the 999 was the greatest revelation of all. I put up an oval of 027 track (I already knew that fat-gear single-reduction Marx locomotives couldn't handle the FasTrack switches on my Lionel layout) and attached a Lionel 1033 transformer.
I'm used to locomotives running in jerks and spurts -- or not running at all -- when fired up for the first time. But the 999 behaved itself nicely. It has to warm up a bit before it really takes off, but it started and ran flawlessly from the first turn of the transformer handle. The two-position e-unit took some getting used to (was it fear of a Lionel patent infringement, or just tightfistedness that kept Marx from implementing a three-position sequencer?), but it worked perfectly, with none of the sticking I've experienced from newly-resurrected Lionel equipment. No smoke and no whistle, but it does have a working headlight and 999 number board.
Unlike most postwar Lionel equipment, the 999 has a third-rail contact skate instead of rollers. It's not the thick and rigid type that my I've seen on some low-end Lionel, though. It's more like a strip of thin, flexible, springy metal that's bent into two loops. Most Marx enthusiasts refer to it as "copper," but although it has a coppery color, I'm pretty sure it's actually phosphor bronze. Just how I'd go about replacing it if it ever wore through, I don't know. But it does seem to work pretty well.
After a short run-in, it was time to address the cosmetic issues. There was very little wear on the shell, and the scratches were few and tiny. Here was where I discovered a side benefit of the aluminum boiler: I could use chemical aluminum blackener to hide the smaller marks. It's Birchwood-Casey Aluminum Black, for those who're interested. And for larger rub marks (on top of the steam dome on my 999), it makes a great "undercoat" for black paint touchup with a fine artist's brush. As for the tinplate tender, it needed no touchups at all. I just dusted it off and coupled it up. Here's what it looks like:
Not the best photo, I admit, but I was working with available light, and it was a cloudy morning. Marx purists will have to overlook the Lionel equipment in the background.
I still don't know with any precision what year my locomotive was made. I've checked all the online sources I can find, and best answer I could come up with was somewhere between 1947 and 1953. It has a solid pilot with rivets, but no one seems to agree about just exactly when that design was implemented.
As for the caboose I bought at the same time, apart from the usual cleaning of the wheels, I didn't do a thing with it. It's as near mint as anything I've ever bought:
Interestingly, it's illuminated. It has frosted-plastic windows, but at least one site I consulted said that these cabooses were never illuminated. I'm by no means enough of a Marx authority to say, one way or the other. The third-rail contact on the bottom looks like this:
It's primitive, yeah. But before you Lionel loyalists start laughing, I've got to admit that although it's crude, it has never flickered, the way most of my Lionel illuminated cabooses are prone to do. [Edit: Nor will it flicker, ever. I removed the light and its bent-tin pickup.]
But did it come from the factory with that odd-looking contact? I don't know. Hopefully, more knowledgeable Marxists than me will chime in with more information. [Edit: I now know that it was a homemade job, and a none-too sophisticated piece of work, at that. ]
Oh, yeah, and both tender and caboose have those Marx scissors couplers at which I used to shake my head in pity when I was a kid. But although they still look ridiculous to my eye, there's no denying that they work flawlessly. Coupling is smooth and effortless, as is uncoupling -- and they stay together without complaint while running. I haven't always been able to say that about my Lionel knuckle couplers.
My impressions? This is an exceptionally fine-running locomotive. It's amazingly quiet and smooth, and has good slow-speed running capability. It follows no prototype, but it's a nice-looking design that suits it well. I find it nothing short of amazing that Marx was able to produce such a high-quality locomotive for such a low price.
The 999 and its caboose have added a new dimension to my collecting/running outlook. Now I'm trying to find another good set of those NYC streamlined passenger cars. And a Marx 333 would be nice!
Oh, yeah -- and Bobbin, our youngest cat, loves the 999. No matter where she is in the house, as soon as she hears it running, she heads downstairs to the basement to watch it. She demands "More Marx!"
That home-made caboose illumination, yikes! That bare copper wire gave me the willies! No reason not to illuminate the caboose but I'd put some proper insulated wire back in the thing.
Oh, and Arkady you mentioned Zinc Rot in your post, or what's commonly referred to as "zinc pest." If you've got vintage post-war Lionels as I do and it hasn't happened to them yet it's not likely to. I don't lose any sleep over it. As a matter of fact if anyone's got pre-war die cast locomotives and they're still intact I wouldn't worry about them either, they'd have rotted away a long time ago.
You will often find those Christmas bulbs in their switch tower. It was a quick and easy replacement.
I told you guys that you wouldn't like Marx but it appears your not paying attention. lol
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Okay, as promised, here is what I found inside my Marx NYC caboose when I took it apart. Enameled copper wire, hardware-store nuts and bolts...and a series Christmas tree bulb from which someone had thoughtfully scraped most of the paint. The third-rail contact appears to have been cut from a tin can:
Obviously I have a lot to learn about Marx trains! But the learning is part of the fun.
JTrains: I know what you mean about Marx accessories; I've been using them with my Lionel trains for years. My scale Lionel layout has a Marx Bubbling Water Tower (to whose top I added a flashing light), a Marx plastic Water tower and a Marx two-bulb Yard Light. It's only very recently that I've begun looking into the Marx trains themselves.
I too have recently begun to take a closer look at Marx - although mostly at this point on the accessory side. One can find, at least relative to their analogous Lionel counterparts, some decent deals on Da Bay for them. This thread gives me the inspiration to dig a little deeper in the weeks and months to come.
IT consultant by day, 3rd generation Lionel guy (raising a 3YO 4th generation Lionel Lil' Man) by night in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world - Chicago. Home of the ever-changing Illinois Concretus Ry.
Thanks to all who advised me that the caboose lighting hardware was not original. I looked more closely at it, and discovered that not only was it not original, it wasn't exactly done by a brain surgeon, either. I removed the whole mess, and I'll post a photo of the excised bits tomorrow. I've updated my original posting to reflect this. I'll know better next time.
Yeah, I've dealt with tin tabs before, and these were no worse than most. I must say, though, that I don't think I've ever seen so many tabs on such a relatively simple construct. Marx designers must have been trained on Chinese box puzzles.
I've always been a bit reluctant to deal with eBay, for various reasons. But there are no train stores in my area, and the local train show is only twice a year. So I may be forced to go that route if I want to get any more Marx equipment.
Marx offers a little something for everyone, whether it is the 3/16" scale cars, 4 wheel 6" tin, 8 wheel 6" tin, 7" tin, 4 wheel plastic or 8 wheel plastic cars. You can collect prewar or postwar Marx, not to mention the buildings and accessories! Last but not least, Marx offered what is arguably the most commonly available line of O gauge windup locomotives, and with the demise of Hafner (Wyandotte) and Unique in the 50's, Marx still continued to sell windups through the end of production in 1975, and litho tin 6" cars through 1972. Yes, there is a lot to like about Marx. "One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?" James
For Marx parts check with: Robert Grossman: http://www.trainpartsformarx.com/
I picked up an unboxed 666 set with Southern Pacific tender and caboose, Santa Fe stock car, cities service tank car and transformer for 20 bucks on Ebay. These are the tilt coupler cars with "F" trucks that are very very close in size and detail to the so-called Lionel scout type cars which I love.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Perhaps this is a good place for a reminder that a lamp's rated voltage alone is not a reliable guide to how much heat it puts out. For example, the G-3.5 bayonet-base number-1445 is often described as an 18-volt lamp; but it has a 14.4-volt rating also and draws 135 milliamperes at that voltage, 12.5 percent more than the 120 milliamperes that the 14.4-volt number-53 draws, and therefore 12.5 percent more power--at any voltage. Their screw-base counterparts, 1447 and 52, are even more different, at 35 percent more current and power.
Bob Nelson
Be careful if you have to bend the tabs to get at the light. They will only bend a couple of times before breaking off.
sir james I The reissued caboose was a little fancier. As mentioned above that is a home made pick-up and light. Not an original idea I have seen that type of P/U added to Lionel cabooses as well.
The reissued caboose was a little fancier. As mentioned above that is a home made pick-up and light. Not an original idea I have seen that type of P/U added to Lionel cabooses as well.
OK, thanks. I think I'll replace whatever bulb is in there with an 18v bulb, as it burns too brightly (and probably hot) for my taste.
you're done for....Marx has gotton under your skin. I had a Marx set when I was a kid. It was a plastic PC steamer. I knew it wasn't the same as Dad's and my Uncle's Lionels, and it dissappeared. Now I really like the Marx tinplate, and more of the plastic.
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
sir james I No No No you won't like Marx...Leaves more for me.
No No No you won't like Marx...Leaves more for me.
Too late, Sir James, I'm already hooked!
Marx cabooses did not have lights. However the newer reissued ones did.
I've never seen one of the New Marx reissues. Could this NYC caboose be one?
Marx caboose's did not have lights. However the newer reissued ones did.
You know, all this talk has gotten the wheels turning. Maybe I'll get a Marx 666 one of these days and name it "The Little Devil."
You know, just for the hell of it.
My first love is American Flyer, but I strayed. My daughter bought me a Marx Tin Plate Set at a flea market I guess six years ago. It was a very simple set in good condition for $75.
I set it up and the loco came to life after being stored for who knows how long. After a test loop I took it apart for a clean and lube and was surprised at the simplicity and robust construction. We ran this set under the tree that year for hours and never skipped a beat, and that was with 7 year olds at the throttle.
Since that time I'v bought several Marx sets, the 666 and the 999 and the 333 being my favorites. I'll get a Marx set and donate it to a school auction fundraiser because a really nice Marx set can be bought for around ~$100, be ready to run after a lube and will run for years with out much more than a drop of oil. I know the folks who have bought the sets we've donated over the years and they set them up at Christmas and they are still running good as new.
The Marx trains may not look as realistic as American Flyer or Lionel, but I enjoy the toy look and feel and they were made to play with and last.
Several people have came to me asking about getting into toy trains and I steer them to Marx for the affordability availability durability reliability and ease of maintenance. Since they are three rail at some point many go on to Lionel, but by that time they are hooked on toy trains!
I have grown to love the Marx as much as my American Flyer. When I build my next layout, it will have both two and three rail to run my growing Marx fleet.
As a plus, the accesories are great too.
That pi up is homemade, as that caboose never had illumination in the standard model. Manypeople added it though.
Great post! One of the best I've read in a while.
That spoon-shaped pick-up on the bottom of the caboose looks like an add-on to me, but then I'm no Marx expert. I do have a Marx 4-4-0 that's 56 years old and still runs very well, and yes, those Marx couplers are funky lookin' but they DO work.
Maybe there's something to be said for being a Marxist.
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