marklin to 2 rail conversion?

[karmakreations]

Any one out there done a Marklin engine to 2 rail conversion. I have a chance to get several Marklin engines that were never offered in 2 rail that I know of and would like to know if it is possible to do a conversion.

[RhB_HJ]

Basically you'll have to insulate one side of each axle. Get rid of the center pick-up shoe. Replace the motor with a perm-magnet one. Fashion the pick-up from the different wheelsets.

Axles used to be offered by several small specialty shops in Europe. Replacement perm-mag motors used to be available from Märklin.

[nfmisso]

It is possible - anything is possible - but at what cost?

It is definitely a non-trivial project. If you are good at locomotive kit building (like a DJH http://djhmodelloco.co.uk/acatalog/) you should be able to pull it off. The cost and effort is going to be about the same as making the chassis and driver train from scratch.

[RhB_HJ]

Nigel,

It isn't quite that bad, but certainly not for the faint of heart.
I did some conversions (no steamers), insulating the axles requires a lathe and know-how (unless a bit of wobble doesn't matter [:)][;)] ). The motors can be rewired so that they work on DC, but they will have less than ideal power characteristics.

By the time it's all said and done, it's still a Märklin engine.[;)][;)]

[Supermicha]

Its not that bad most people think. instead of insulating the axles, buy some axles from marklin dc line, called "Hamo". Then you must remove the electric plate of the engine, and connect the motor with the trucks. thats all for the moment. you can also include operating headlights, for that you need to install some diodes, but thats also no problem i think.

micha

[Anonymous]

This will be a tricky conversion. I'd be more inclined to investigate trading the model in for its 2-rail equivelent - Marklin sell their 2-rail DC products under the Trix brand now. If you really want to convert it Trix are probably the people to contact for spares.

Why on earth Marklin want to continue making 3-rail AC locos is beyond me - even Hornby-Dublo gave up on three-rail! Even stranger, Fleischmann offer some of their locos for 3-rail AC running. Surely they could use the factory space far more profitably by making more 2-rail DC equipment - but I guess it's a way of making the most money from the tooling. I also feel Marklin to be over-priced, but that's another story...

[Supermicha]

Yes, you are right. Marklin is expensive, and the three rail models are out of time i think. but marklin is cult. its the onliest standard model railroad, where the models become not cheaper by the time. some marklin models from 30 or more years ago are very expensive today. i don´t know why, but thats marklin. and it is very popular in germany, where it originally comes from. i think, some models are fine, like the northlander and tha alco pa, but they are too expensive, its just for collelctors with money. and although its incompatible to most normal ho equipment, its already popular like never before. i don´t know why, i just don´t know why...

micha, who can´t understand that[xx(]

[RhB_HJ]

Micha,

Märklin is a cult (just like LGB!), if it would be for scale fidelity, innovative engineering or super detail it would be easy to understand.
Any boy born in German speaking Europe between '45 and '65 had Märklin fed in the mother milk (with a few exceptions[;)][;)]) or so it would seem.

Having grown up in Switzerland most of my friends had Märklin, I OTOH had WESA; a long (almost) gone make which was made in Switzerland to a "scale" of 1:100 running on 13mm track gauge.
As one of the Canadian dealers used to put it: "Märklin is the most perfect toy train." My reply to that always was: "Correct, but the emphasis is on toy"
Some of the postwar HO items fetch a terrific price from collectors.

[Anonymous]

It is Possible?

[Green Train]

It's hard to believe this thread was started 20 years ago!  Soooo, any updates?

I finally located the very hard to find Dutch Koploper intercity train in HO scale - BUT, of course it is Marklin operating only on a three-rail system. 

After 20 years, are there any advancements, options or information on being able to run this train on an American 2-rail track layout?

Thanks!

[jjdamnit]

Hello All,

It's easier than the OP posted.

Click the link and read my thread...

Well, that was easy...relatively...

The key is finding Trix-compatible trucks for the locomotive.

I searched the Trix website under Dutch Koploper Intercity.

Click on the Spare Parts tab and be prepared to do a little translating on your own.

I use Google Translate.

Because Märklin uses two hot rails with the center shoe pickup as negative they don't insulate the wheels of the rolling stock.

Use a multimeter on the "Continuity" (beeper) function to make sure that at least one wheel is isolated from the axle.

If you hold one probe on the axle and touch the other to each wheel, one or both wheels should not close the circuit and cause an audible beep.

You might have to replace the wheels of the coaches. I would recommend Intermountain.

Hope this helps.