Pre war Marx

[MadMarx]

Happy new year to all... My $0.02 on people considering the fate of old rusty Marx trains. Give it a go. You'd be surprised what a little polishing and a can of spray paint can do for one of these relics. It doesn't have to look original when finished. This face lift took all of 2 days to complete. The motor was an easy fix after I polished the commutator and brushes. Lubed the bearings and let 'er run on low until the brushes seated. Mmmmm, ozone! It should run like a rabbit after the idler gear I ordered from Robert Grossman gets here. Have fun! MM :-/

[Anonymous]

It sounds great, but unfortunately I don't see any pictures, just the infamous red X's.

[csxt30]

No, I can't see them either. Just the red X s ! Thanks, John

[spankybird]

The pics are there now and it looks great !

[MadMarx]

Thanks. Hope it inspires someone to find an old train set and keep the passion alive. [8D] MM :-/

[pbjwilson]

Nice job. Those are good runners too.

[MadMarx]

Thanks, Paul! MM :-/

[csxt30]

Oh ! I see them now & that is a great job on that engine !
Thanks, John

[Anonymous]

Very, very nice job! It's great to see people who take the time to return trains like these to their former glory! I've always thought that the CP steamers were Marx's classiest engines.

Anyway, welcome to the forums! It's always great to have another member! Tell us a bit more about yourself. What all kinnds of trains do you have? Do you have a layout?

[MadMarx]

Hi. No layout at the moment. One is in the works (in my head), and when I clean out the shop, (again!) I'll get out all the goodies. Prefer the '50's and earlier. I am an ebay freak @ times, but still prefer to hit the garage sales for rolling stock. The last layout was set up about 15-20 years ago when the boys were at that age. They are all grown now. They had a ball with them, but was hard to compete with Nintindo. So I boxed it all up and kept collecting over the years. I have strictly Marx trains. Tho they are really limited on the styles and models, I have always had a passion for them. I still have my first #666 and rolling stock, sans a few BB dings on them, they still look and run great. Did the plastic models for awhile. They break too easy, ya know, look but don't touch. (But I want to play with 'em!) Then did the radio controlled planes thing. Balsa bashing gets too expensive! I'm in my mid 50's now, and am looking forward to driving the better half outta the house once in a while with a good "smoker" when I get the time! LOL r0n :-/

[JamesPH1966]

As a fellow Marxist I only have one thing to say: Excellent Job!

[jakeoregano]

That's a great looking engine. Nice Job. I'll say welcome too.

I have an old Marx tin engine. Missing some of it's trim, and it was painted once before I got it from a friend. It's ok looking, but it runs great and it pulls some tin plate cars around the tree at X-mas. It's perfect for the kids.

Anway, keep up the good work.

Dwayne.

[CB_Fan]

You really made that 391 look nice!

I had some extremely good luck re prewar Marx just before Christmas. Someone who learned I collect trains phoned and offered to give me his 1939 Marx freight set headed by a 391! Naturally I took him up on it. The set's in very good condition (excellent?) and includes track, two switches, uncoupling track and transformer. The E-unit is a bit sluggish but other than that it's a great set. No, I'm not interested in selling it. Nice addition to my mostly Lionel collection.

[Anonymous]

Great work on the engine!!! I think marx is underrated by many.Its great to see marx preserved or refurbished in such nice shape[tup]

[LL675]

that's what I like best about the hobby. finding a treasure in a junk box and bringing it back to life. really gives you a sense of satisfaction.

Dave

[philo426]

Wow! man you have some impressive restoration skills if you turned that rusty hunk of junk into the great looking steamer shown in the bottom picture!Please provide more details as to how you got rid of the rust and managed to polish up the chrome parts!

[dwiemer]

great job!

[MadMarx]

The boiler front and pilot were pretty easy to restore on a buffing wheel. Same for the side rods, guides, bell, and hand rails. I have had great results with metal polish (Mothers is a good one), and elbow grease. The sand and steam domes were too far gone to salvage the plating, so gloss black in a can works for me! I guess everyone has their own method of dealing with the tabs. Over worked, they will break easily. Go slow, and bend only enough to separate the parts. Use your imagination, just dont go over board. Marx trains are easy to fix up, and enjoy, once you realize that Louis Marx invisioned and manufactured these trains to be played with. Have fun... r0n :-/
PS. Next up. Replacing a busted up plastic 1829 shell with a die cast 333 boiler. A Marx die-cast 'Hudson'! If all goes well, it should be back in the rails in no time. Can't wait! If anyone is interested, I'll post the results......

[Jumijo]

Great job, MadMarx. Always interested in seeing restorations. Take plenty of photos of the process. Keep up the great work!

Jim

[tintrax]

On the subject of refurbishing old Marx readers may like to check out http://www.geocities.com/tintrax/page9.html - Then `back` to return here. A Marx Commodore Vanderbilt modified to change its appearance.

[MadMarx]

Still on the prowl for Marx prewar. Just grabbed this open spoke 999 for 10 bucks. Can't wait to strip it down, media blast the shell, spray paint, polish the hardware, and go through the motor. Should look good next to my embossed spoke 999. (See avatar)

[rlplionel]

Nice buy! I thought the open spoke 999's were highly sought after by collectors. If so, are you sure about stripping off the original paint?

Robert

http://www.robertstrains.com/ 

[MadMarx]

Oh, you bet. I seek out and restore all Marx engines that are in the rough. Cheaper to find a C-1 and restore it than fight over one that has never seen the tracks. I do it, not for other 'purist' collectors, but for my own satisfaction. That's where all the fun is. Making them look and run like new again. Here's a link to a Marx 333 shell I restored with parts from a (trashed) plastic 1829. http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/56110/705820.aspx#705820 And this thread was started with the redo of a 391. Good, no great therapy!

[wallyworld]

 Really enjoyed the photographs as another fellow Marxist. I did the same for some accessories that were rust buckets. There was a guy who did wraps for the six inch cars..I don't know what happened to him.Right now I have the early UP articulated set that has a paint glob on the cab. It's been sitting and running with this paint on it. I am afraid to destroy the lithograph underneath. Any ideas for removal..I suspect it's oil based.

[MadMarx]

My brother, a lionel freak, and I were just emailing back and forth today about the Marx M1005. He remembers having one back in the '40's when he was a kid. I have yet to tackle any litho paint schemes as of yet, but if I do I will be sure to post the results.. I remember the custom wraps, but he has closed shop. Shame, too. His site is still up. Maybe just waiting for interest to spark enough to justify gearing up again. http://fauxtoys.com/

[vsmith]

OK after reading this I wont feel so bad about restoring any older stuff I find.

Last weekend I pick up.an older (but not too old)  battery powered Marx train set thats complete, still in the original box (it still has the $5 pricetag from Gemco on it) and looks to be in very good shape. The plastic battery engine is a cheeser to look at for sure but the 3 litho cars are in great shape, and look almost brand new so I'm happy about that. Considering that these litho cars in poor shape still garner $5-$10 a pop I'm pretty happy with what I payed for the set, any other stuff I pick up will be all Marx, litho era stuff, no Lionel. Starting to look for a wind up commodore vanderbilt to use in lieu of the battery engine and maybe the Marx streamliner if I can find one in good condition.

[wallyworld]

vsmith

OK after reading this I wont feel so bad about restoring any older stuff I find.

Last weekend I pick up.an older (but not too old)  battery powered Marx train set thats complete, still in the original box (it still has the $5 pricetag from Gemco on it) and looks to be in very good shape. The plastic battery engine is a cheeser to look at for sure but the 3 litho cars are in great shape, and look almost brand new so I'm happy about that. Considering that these litho cars in poor shape still garner $5-$10 a pop I'm pretty happy with what I payed for the set, any other stuff I pick up will be all Marx, litho era stuff, no Lionel. Starting to look for a wind up commodore vanderbilt to use in lieu of the battery engine and maybe the Marx streamliner if I can find one in good condition.

 

I did the same thing with a wind up Hafner locomotive that was in rough shape with no regrets.and with a little fiddling around in modifying the slot and tab couplers, the "wind up" Hafner cars fit very nicely on a string of Marx cars. I got a kick out of one orange Hafner tank car I found at a rummage sale. It must have been manufactured during world war 2  as when I turned it upside down, on the non lithographed side it was a very clearly labeled blue and white mustard tin!  Creative solution to a metal shortage.I think for me personally, it's fun to be creative without spending an arm and a leg. I saw an article (where I don't remember) that showed a spring governor that the English had some later models. I looked all over for a reference to it. I thought it would be a fun exercise to retrofit on into one of my spring wound engines. Anybody who has info on this and wants to share it would be helpful and appreciated.. 

[cpsteamer]

If anyone thinks all Marx is cheap stuff check this out:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280548625299&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[rtraincollector]

I knew Marx's had rare items just like the rest. Actually I would think more of Marx's items would be getting up there as they were a lot of times just thrown in the toy box where usually Lionel's were put up. just my thought.

I have a set of Marx's freight set had to replace the fixed knuckle coupler on a few of them its actually my wifes set she found them at a yard sale and has had them now about 10 years in a plain brown box's with her name on it and saying trains lol. The engine is a Vanderbilt I have run them for her a few times when we first got them but thats it. I like Marx's but when I see a set and someone has $100.00 on it and its a common set that I can get on ebay for less than $40. with shipping and all no way hoss

[johnnyt]

Hi MadMarx,I have a Marx #333 and wanting to repaint it!Did you remove the shell to restore yours?I can not figure out how to get the shell off without removing the rivets from the rocker arms as they are attached to the shell!Which means that i can not remove the hand rails either!Did you mask everything off with tape and what did you use to clean the shell?Also can you give me any help finding the left side driver for the push rod that goes to the rocker arm,the spot where the screw goes to hold the push rod is broken off and the push rod is missing!I used to see the push rods on ebay but no luck right now!I would probably have to buy a rivet tool also!This is my most prized Marx Locomotive,I rescued it out of a old garage along with alot of other Marx trains,I was doing cleaning work for an elderly lady and she told me I could just have them!The 333 had mud daubers nest all over it and it was barely recognizable as a toy train but she cleaned up wonderful!Any help you could give me will be apprieciated!Thanx,John