Care of a Marx Engine

[Dave Farquhar]

I don't know if it's true, but it makes a good story. The 666, as most people who have one know, is a good smoker. Since it, well, "smoked like the devil," they gave it that number.

[overall]

While we are on this subject, do any of the marxists know why Louis Marx chose the number "666" for his engine?

George

[Dave Farquhar]

I don't replace the brushes until the engine doesn't run. There's not much consensus out there how long the brushes ought to be--"shorter than Lionel" is the best answer I've ever heard.

It's unusual for a Marx motor to need anything more than lubrication to get it going again. They were designed to be low-maintenance. From the stories I've heard, Marx used to fix them for free (minus postage), so it was more cost-effective to make them that way.

Marx ran one of its Commodore Vanderbilts in its showroom in the late 1930s. It ran 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, until it died. They calculated it had run something like 800 miles. When it died, Louis Marx had his engineers tear it down and figure out what went wrong. They found worn bearings, so they changed the design.

[msacco]

thanks Dave,
Brushes look a little low but maybe that's the way they are. Does anyone replace Marx motor brushes or do you just leave them alone?

Mike S.

[Anonymous]

Can't add much to what's already been said. 666 locos are pretty much bullet proof with just a bit of maintenance. I would add that you be careful not to over lube your engine. That can cause problems too.

Also remember: Grease for gears, oil for other bearing points.

Have fun! [:)]

[Dave Farquhar]

Marx engines don't need a whole lot of maintenance. I put a drop of oil on the point where the armature rotates in the motor frame (sometimes there's a felt wick there, sometimes there isn't) and a bit of grease on the gears. Whatever your favorite lubricants for your Lionels will work fine on your Marx.

Oil isn't a problem (they need it like any other mechanical device does) but if you get oil on the commutator you'll have problems.

There's no point in doing anything more than that if the motor runs. Lube it, run it 10 minutes in both forward and reverse, and run it at least 10 minutes a day for about a week and it ought to be good as new. I have a lot of Marx, and usually that's all I have to do.

If you don't have the Lionel clip-on coupler assembly, your best bet is going to be to get a stray Lionel tender. The 666 can use a regular Lionel tender without any problems, and a stray O27 tender from the 60s or 70s might cost less than the coupler assembly.

Another trick is to buy both a Marx and a K-Line O27 hopper. Hopper cars have a plate that attaches with two screws which holds the trucks. Take those two screws out, swap assemblies, and you've got something with a Marx coupler on one side and a Lionel-compatible knuckle on the other. With two of those conversion cars, you can run just about any combination of Lionel and Marx you want. This only works with the Marx and K-Line combination, because K-Line bought the old Marx tooling.

[overall]

I have Lionel Postwar steam engines that are similar to yours. I use Mobile 1 synthtic oil applied with a small artist's brush where the wheel axles rotate in the journals. I also put this oil on the siderod pins.On the metal gear teeth I use white lithium grease also applied with a small artist's brush.

George

[msacco]

Calling all Marxists!!!!!!!!!!
Picked up my first Marx engine at York. a really nice 666 Union Pacific in beautiful condition for 50 bucks. Unbelievable price for a vintage engine is this condition and smokes very nicely. This is my kids favorite engine and I've got postwar stuff that cost 10 times what I paid for this little engine.
I asked the dealer I bought it from about cleaning the engine. Maybe change the brushes and so on. He freaked and said, "no don't do it just use light oil in spots.
NOw I know these motors are pretty indestructable but I would like to lube at least. I've read somewhere that Oil is not good on these engines and to use only a grease like white lithium.
Question is what should I do for maintainance. This engine runs nicely now but a little uneven. It's pretty clean too.
Also, I forgot to pick up a coupler plate to convert the tender to carry Lionel cars. Is there another alternative for carrying postwar or modern Lionel cars?

thanks,
Mike Sacco