New to Marx Clockwork / Mechanical / Wind-up Locomotives - Looking for Do's & Donts

[vsmith]

Be careful not to wind them up till the key stops, you can break the spring that way.

I run my mechanicals on 3 rail no problem, however there is usually lots of vintage 2 rail track for sale on Ebay. Be careful with any turnouts if your locomotives have the older extra wide flange where the gear teeth are just inside the wheel flange, those require the oldest style Marx turnouts that have extra wide frogs to accommodate the thick flange. BTW regular or contemporary Lionel switches will  cause instant derailment with those thick flanges. 

I keep my mechies regularly oiled with Labells at the points of motion, gear teeth and axles, just a dab where any friction can occur.

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[rack776]

  I found a nice original paint #833 with working spark thrower, stamped wheels and original winding key for $18.......and I just found a Wind up Commador Vanderbuilt with matching NYC tender & caboose with no key for $20 ( they have a bunch of scratches  &plastic wheels but I don't mind)

I'll post photos as soon as I get the second engine in the mail. :)

I am hooked on collecting more LOL!, 

  I was wondering if there is anything a person who is new to windup trains should be aware of before running the heck out of them?   I have followed the Marx Tin collecting thread from the beginning but found nothing about maintenance or winding & running tips so far.   

  I'm mostly concerned about about accidentilly over winding the spring - how many turns can one of these safely take?

  Is it good or bad to lube the mechanism with light weight oil?  I'm used to greasing & oiling my electric trains, will it help or hurt a mechanical train?

  Also can these be run on 3 rail track? I noticed the spring hangs down on my 833 when winding and rubs the center rail sometimes, I figure i can get some cheap o-27 track and pull off the center rails if I have to and build a small layout for just my marx stuff.  It runs a 36"x 50" loop of O-31 lionel track about 3 times with a tender, 1 car, and a caboose before running down, the spring rubs the center rail and slows it down....if I lift it up off the track  it runs a little while longer. 

Thanks for the help!

- Jason Rackawack