Marx Marline Train Set? Identification help please!

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I buy and collect trains, and I recently put an ad in the local newspaper. A guy called me and told me he had a Marx Marline Train set, still in the box. He thinks it dates around the late 1950's. That's when his parents bought it for him.

The box states "Steam Line by Marx, 4612 Electric Train. It's a steam engine with a coal car marked "NY Central." The # on the engine is 400.

He said the box contains, the original track, transformer, and various cars. Does anyone know the value on this set? I'm not sure what to pay for it, and he's not sure of the value either. I think he's trusting me to come up with a number.

If any of you train guys can help me, I'd appreciate it! I'm more familiar with Lionels, and Marx trains have me stumped.


Mary [:)]

[twhite]

What I might suggest, if you haven't done so already, is to post this in the CLASSIC TOY TRAINS forum. I think there are some Marx collectors who would be able to give you a lot of help on this one. I had an old MarLine set that I got for Christmas in 1952, and Marx was starting to get all over the map with the variations in their trains by then. Most were sold by Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. For instance, you might need to ask him if the cars are lithographed or plastic, and do they have four-wheel trucks or two, and did the track set include a pair of turnouts. My set had a die-cast 2-4-2 engine, stamped metal coal tender New York Central, four-wheel truck boxcar and gondola, all NYC markings, a bright yellow Shell tank car, and an NYC caboose. All the cars were stamped metal and lithographed (very well, too), and came with the Marx clasp-couplers instead of the old hook variety. I think this was pretty typical of the MarLine series about that time, and they were all 3/16 scale, though they ran on O gauge track. But I'd really check into the CLASSIC TOY TRAINS forum, you'll probably get several bites fairly quick.
Tom

[Anonymous]

Tom,

Thanks for the info. I will be sure to post this in the Classic Train section.

May I ask how you can tell if the trains are lithographed or not? Sorry to sound like such a dummy.. [:o)]


Mary

[twhite]

Mary: Don't feel like a dummy. Lithographing is an older form of stamping on painted metal surfaces. Like the metal pre-war Lionel cars, before they started coming out in plastic after the war. Marx was very good at lithography, they could stamp a car to make it look as if the details were actually in the metal, not just printed on them. I'm not sure, but as I remember, the Marx lithographed metal cars are more valuable then the later plastic ones, which were pretty crude and even more 'toy-like' than the metal. I know the cars in my Mar-Line set (which I still have stored in my attic for some reason) are pretty sturdy, and rather handsome. Best of luck to you, I know you'll find someone at the other forum to help you.
Tom