Posted 14 years ago
renoir911
(36 items)
More from my Marklin collection. All of these are in mint or near mint condition. Marklin collectors will recognise the Marklin items as there are other German manufactured locomotives there as well. Refering to some of the "O" guage trains.
Here is a little history on the Blue steam locomotive. This information comes from my trusted friend in Germany, Mr. Bauer who restaured and recreated this locomotive to my father's specifications. Mr. Bauer is not only a restaurateur and a history buff, he enjoys making children happy with his "O" guage layout which he and friends assemble in malls and in his back yard. He is a friend and someone whose judgment and knowledge I trust. I am finding out that his knowledge is much more global then I thought. This is the information about the Blue steam locomotive: You may find an Italian specimen somewhere, I have not, anywhere.
"The original locomotive in 1947 ... Produced in 1951 in Prague. The
manufacturer had CKD (?eskomoravská-Kolben-Dan?k). There were 147 pieces (locomotives) (2D1 A2) type 475.1. It was a universal locomotive for express and regular trains. The top speed was about 120 km / h. The color was black with coal-fired operation. Some machines were later with oil. These(?) machines were later blue. Today there are only a few specimens in the museum."
Many of them are Marklin "O" guage and date back to the 1930's, 1940's. I mixed different guages in my display cases to add color and I think it looks better.
I just opening two suitcases full of Marlin Trains, tracks switches etc from the (I believe 1950. My pop bought them after WW2. He was stationed in Europe after the war and married a German (my mom)...anyway..he bought the set(s) in Germany.
He never actually set them up. When we moved back to LA he used to set up a small track at Christmas. He spliced the plugs out on the transformers to fit American plugs. They have the old two prong plugs from the 1960's on them.
I set up a small track today and aside from all of the instructions being in German...I was able to get one of the trains running. The trains would stop and I would have to unplug and "reboot" (for lack of a better word) the plugs and they would run fine.
I really don't want to do any damage to the systems. Do you have any suggestions for me on adapting these old transformers to go with the current U.S. electrical outlets?
They are all in pretty great condition except for one engine which I remember dropping as a little girl. I would like to restore these and set them all up for my grandkids.
I am pretty handy and would appreciate any advice.
There is also a roundhouse and what looks like a cable car type engine. I have many switches, wires and plugs from the orginal systems. Also lots of track and three transformers.
Thanks for any help you can give me. Or if you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it!
Tina Hensley
Tina, did you get any help? - you might like to join the forum http://www.marklin-users.net - lots of help there, wide range of members and topic interests, regards, Steve
My apologies for the long delay in responding, divorce will do that. Thank you for the interesting comment Tina. I hope you have kept your Marklin and taken some photos of it. If you have photos, I can easily tell you if you have important pieces. I do have catalogues just for Marklin that list the value on each separate Marklin item (Ho guage ). There may be several variations of one car or wagon that may look identical, BUT are different in year of production. So if I can still help you decide what you have, please let me know. May you have a great day.
Another thing. Lubrication may be an issue with any locomotive and cars (wheels) that have sat in boxes for years. I would not run them much until they are lubricated with proper Marklin oil which comes in small and easy to use bottles. The transformer is probably a 110V and if so, is safe to use. Again, watch out for old electrical cords. Two prong cords have no grounds so if you plan on keeping the trains, I would invest in a newer one. Modelbhannhobies (Bill) is a very good Marklin dealer. Bill has all the information you could ever need (if you are in the USA ). You'll easily find his website. Marklinusersnet is also a wonderful place to visit and ask questions. Thanks "marklinmania".