Marklin introduced the German BR 74 tank locomotive for mini-club in 1982 as a Serie 96 painted and lettered for SNCB. Since then there have been 8 individual releases plus 5 trainsets with this locomotive type.  New tooling effectively changed the appearance of the BR 74 with the recent releases of 88953 (Marklin Magazin), 88954 (SNCB) and 88956 (SNCF-not pictured) thereby granting this tank locomotive detailed running gear and side rods. One of the great advancements at Marklin is reworking the mini-club line-up of steam engines with advanced side rod tooling and detailing, it is remarkable that this new generation of mini-club steam locos has so many moving parts successfully moving and rotating in such small scale: lively action and even closer to the prototype than ever before. And LED’s are now installed in the latest 3 offerings. The LED’s are bright and non directional necessitating some masking to prevent light spillage outside the loco shell, this is achieved with heavy duct style black tape. Routine maintenance on this loco type is achieved by carefully removing shell by gently holding front end and lifting up, the headlamp lens also functions as a clip for the shell. A little gentle pressure is all that is needed to lift front end first. To reinstall simply slide tender side of shell over motor and pivot front end onto chassis. To secure shell use a very small screwdriver and gently wriggle the headlamp clip until shell engages. *Applying enough pressure to reattach shell without wriggling the clip a bit could result in it breaking or coming unglued. As of this writing you may start to find it difficult to locate the three new releases, they were produced in a limited number and collectors seem to be going head over heals for these and their respective car sets. The Marklin Magazin release is stunning in “Prussian Blue” paint scheme.