Marx 400 and 1666 engines, questions.

[Boyd]

I don't know much about these engines. The 400 is a 0-4-0 no frills,, and the 1666 has smoke and is a 2-4-2. One tender has a slant back end and is marked Pennsylvania the other tender is plain and I don't remember which tender goes to which engine. Both engines have plastic bodys and the chassys for the motor/gears/wheels look basically the same. Is it easy to tuneup these engines to get them to run good? What about E-unit,, I know nothing about their E-units. How much do these engines go for used?

[Dr. John]

Boyd,
The slope back tender usually went with the 1666, although they are generally interchangeable. Marx motors are nearly bullet proof - easy to get running. Tuner Cleaner (available from Radio Shack) is good to get rid of gunk build-up. Use a light grease for toy trains on the gears. Sometimes these older engines need some run-in time to loosen back up. Tuner Cleaner can help E-unit if it's sticking.

These engines go for as little as $15 on Ebay, sometimes a bit more depending on condition.

Some of the Marxist guys on the forum can probably help you more. I dabble in Marx but I'm more into Lionel. I do own a Marx 666, a 999 and a Comodore Vanderbilt. All run well and are easy to maintain.

[Dave Farquhar]

The 1666 is worth more than the 400. If the 400 has the double-reduction motor, it's worth $15-$20, mostly because people like to take that motor out of the 400 and use it to give other locos, like a Commodore Vanderbilt, more pulling power. If it has the standard single-reduction motor, it's worth about $10.

There are tons of variations of the 1666. The most desirable one smokes from both the top and the sides of the engine. That variation would go for more than $35 on a good day. Figure $20-$30 or so for most of the others.

To get them running well, clean the driver wheels, grease the gears, put a drop of oil on each wheel axle and on the armature axle, and see how it goes. Cleaning the commutator is the next order of action if it doesn't run well, but most Marx locomotives respond well to just cleaning the drivers and lubing. I just got a Marx #21 diesel running last night with that treatment, after sitting idle for years.

[Anonymous]

I love my Marx 400. Cheapest engine I ever bought, 50 cents in 1980! It is the only engine I ran this year as I was working two jobs (I am supposed to be retired )and I did not put the layout down this year. But we had to have a train for the grand daughters to run at Christmas so I put some Marx 034 track on a rug in the living room and used the 400 because it is reliable, and is only a 0-4-0 for 2 and 3 year olds. No pilot wheels to keep putting on the track. What fun, floor raliroads are a blast. Can not wait til the new grand son gets bigger.

Charlie

[Anonymous]

In regards to the tenders, the 1666 usually came with a slopeback tender. Marx made a Penn Central slopeback tender, but never a Pennsylvania one, so I assume that is what you are refering to. As for the plain tender, I'm guessing that is has only four wheels. If that is the case, then it probably goes with the 400. Of course, this is assuming that your two tenders were originally sold with these engines when new and weren't swapped at a later date by someone before you bought them. While some of the later 490's were sold in 8-wheel sets with slopeback tenders, the earlier 400's always had the cheaper 4-wheel tenders. Of course, as Dr. John says, almost any Marx engine and tender can be used together.