Collecting Marklin MSI’s is a slow enterprise requiring patience, they are available every once in awhile or maybe not, this year I added a few more 8661 car types to my collection with advertising for firms that sell/sold building products, mineral water and carbolic acid. German and other European advertising has often been displayed on these cars which are privately commissioned with the assistance of Marklin designers. Identifying these cars is easy, they display ‘m’ on both sides which signifies Marklin.
Several reference numbers identify these cars including Marklin’s catalog number, Koll’s (collector books) and Miba/Monk (Miba and Gilles Monk).
KERN HOLZBAU- 8661.006, Koll’s #96703, Miba/Monk #970, produced in 1996, edition: 100Rommenholler Kohlensaure- 8661.016, Miba/Monk #1022, produced in 1996Remstal-Sprudel- 8661.018, Miba/Monk #1024, produced in 1996Remstal-Quelle- 8661.020, Miba/Monk #1042, produced in 1996
Producing stories for magazines throughout the United States, my Wife Anne and I along with our two corgis (Le-le and Rookie) spend much of the time on the road. As luck would have it we found ourselves 2 hours due east of Wichita Falls in the city of Sherman, TX. And a weather delay freed us up for a day trip to visit our friends at AJCKids.
Route 82 connects Sherman, TX and Wichita Falls with a couple of interesting towns along the way including Muenster, Saint Jo and Nocona.
Muenster settled by German Catholics in 1889 was so called after the capital of Westphalia, but the town is not considered a sister city and few speak German according to its wikipedia page. The local grocery store features smoked meats and cheeses from their farms, Fishers Thriftway is a fun stop which includes all the staples and prepared relishes, salsas and pickles. Several antique shops with interesting age old offerings along North Main Street also include the cleverly painted mural on the local mill.
Muenster, TX
Saint Jo further along the journey is an attractive small town with center square featuring mostly original 19th century architecture of wood and stone. Everything Texas can be found here, but “what is Texas?”, the answer isn’t easy but through sentiments and feelings: specific and unspecific as concerns the mystery of a place.
Last stop before hitting Wichita Falls is Nocona, or I should say famous Nocona. Famous for the last American made baseball glove manufacturer: Nocona Baseball Glove Factory. A large art deco manufacturing building along Route 82 is home to Nocona Baseball Glove Factory as well as Nocona Boots and micro-brewer Nocona Beer who’s “Cut & Bale” blonde is considered very very good by this railroader.
Nocona Boots, TX
Roads out here head straight for the horizon intersecting lush landscapes of prairie grass, wild flowers, and sweeping oaks. Lush grazing land perhaps the finest in these parts support Texas cattle country, here there are more pick-ups than cars and more western hats than caps. And more cattle than people! No bull!
As we approached Wichita Falls we drove parallel to a waiting eastbound BNSF unit train with a couple hundred loaded coal hoppers. The BNSF Depot in downtown Wichita Falls is a busy hub on the BNSF mainline with long unit trains of petroleum and coal. A few blocks from the Wichita Depot is the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum which can be visited on Saturdays.
Mid-point through a day of adventure includes lunch: let’s hope so! Wichita Falls is home to one of the finest barbecue joints this aficionado has experienced many years in the smoke. And throughout the country to cowboy boot! A must stop in Wichita Falls is Prine’s Barbecue 1209 13th Street in Wichita Falls. Brisket is it! Here it’s served with a peppery slightly vinegar based sauce, famous mustard based potato salad with the consistency of mashed and bright crunchy cole slaw.
Many of my friends in model railroading are already familiar with AJCKids.com, but few may have made the trip to the store. AJCKids is a specialized train store which shares space with the high quality clothing store Annie Jewel & Charlie’s: family owned. The train store has a strong online presence as well as brick and mortar. The train store and its shipping department is located in the back of the building accessed through the larger presence of the clothing store. A large space with a very very large inventory of Marklin and other European model train manufacturers, AJCKids inventory encompasses all gauges currently offered by Marklin which is unusual for a dealer including large Gauge 1 trains and accessories. All inventory is new condition with many items further wrapped in plastic. Shelves are organized according to gauge and accessories displayed on racks. And all related scenery items include trees, ground-cover, building kits and Preiser figures; they have lots and lots of stuff, every model railroader will be happy! The very large selection of in stock Marklin H0 includes accessories too including all the catenary poles and related items.
AJCKids 3401 Kemp Avenue, ste B Square Shopping Center Wichita Falls, TX 76308
Worth a trip to the store: Z scale collectors will find numerous in-stock locos, rolling stock, and accessories including “sold out at factory” items; I found the very limited and rare Austrian Export Model from 2004: 88082. Fifteen years after its one time release and limitation as Export Model, 88082 was a very rare and unexpected find. Also in the red case housing some of the Z items in the store includes the out of production Eurofima Set: 87409 and 20 car funnel-flow set: 82530.
selection of Marklin Z at AJCKids: further Z scale items can be found within the store including other locos and accessoriesMarklin 88082 (Export Model for Austria 2004): class 1018 painted and lettered for Austrian Federal Railways (OBB)
Siding: inventory at AJCKids also include collectible cars of various yearly releases including Museum cars, Easter and Christmas releases
Marklin 88040 (Insider Model 2003)Marklin 88041 (2005-2008)
The German class 42.09 steam locomotive from era III was realized in 2005 as another interesting Marklin Z featuring the Franco-Crosti modification of a class 52 locomotive, a collaboration between two Italians included a system modification which made use of exhaust steam as well as exhaust gases incorporating a main boiler and secondary boiler to effectively utilize more of the energy produced by the BR 52. A second boiler/smoke gas pre-heater below the firebox was thus coupled with a chimneys attached to each side of the boiler, this system modification would be identified as Franco-Crosti boiler.
880418804188041
Attilio Franco and Dr. Piero Crosti designed the first such boiler nearly 20 years before class 42.09 was built . Modification to the wartime class 52 locomotive by Henschel in 1952 resulted in reclassification due to increased axle-weight resulting from the added 2 ton weight of modification.
88041
Referred to as economisers (Abgasvorwarmer) the Franco-Crosti modification of 2 class 52 locos had a relatively brief service life of less than 10 years, but another 31 class 50’s were rebuilt by Henschel with Franco-Crosti boilers by the end of the 50’s.
Marklin’s release in 2005 of the 88041 was preceded by another Franco-Crosti locomotive (88040) for Insider Members in 2003. Painted in photo-grey for Henschel’s builder photographs 88040 with operating number 42 9000 is based on prototype retired in 1959 (Bingerbruck, Germany).
88040880408804088040 with tub style tender
Painted and lettered for German Federal Railroad (DB) Marklin’s 88041 includes Wagner smoke deflectors and tub-style tender with operating number 42 9001 thus based on prototype built in 1952 and retired in 1960 (Oberlahnstein).
8804188041880418804188041
Siding: more than 7000 class 52 locomotives were built during World War II by 13 manufacturers throughout Europe
An older release FR freight car painted and lettered for the SBB is this type Xs low side gondola with separately applied brakeman’s wheel with load of new construction roof trusses.
All FR’s releases which are rare; they are either stated limited editions or open editions, but the latter editions are not indefinitely available. This one I purchased from a dealer, but current FR items can be purchased directly from FR’s website.
Careful research and study begins the process of new items by Harald Freudenreich followed by design and manufacturing. Each car or loco is handcrafted with numerous add-on parts and prototypical paint schemes.
This car with load of roof trusses is comprised of 5 prototypical scale trusses and provides an interesting freight load.
Marklin’s Insider Model for 2018 is based on the 1957 BR 01 express locomotive of the German Federal Railroad (DB). The particularly attractive locomotive featuring steel blue paint scheme is released as an important anniversary model celebrating 25 Years of the Insider Club.
Locomotive features the new generation motor thus a maintenance free brush-less type still requiring infrequent light oiling of moving parts only.
Warning stripes are realized on locomotive’s pair of buffers. Tender too!
Locomotive can be seen passing Marklin’s new station 89703.
Hand-painted boiler bands in silver.
A specially designed wood presentation box is included with the locomotive featuring its design on the lid.
Siding: some dealers have suggested having extra 88012’s available this year for non members of the Insider Club, but joining the Club is easy and comes with numerous perks including yearly catalog, Insider News Magazine, Marklin Magazin, “A Year in Marklin” (DVD), invitation to order Insider Models, and the free Insider Club car in choice of gauge.
Marklin classic locomotives and rolling stock are worth another look even with today’s technological and aesthetic advancements with contemporary Z gauge.
Seen here with Faller’s laser-cut building “Town Corner House” (282782)
Here we have a classic locomotive from the 1990’s train set 8133: Rheingold. This class S 3/6 Pacific was first used in 1928, it pulled the first Rheingold train originating in Holland with final destination Basle, Switzerland thus began the story of the famous train with elegant appointments on May 15, 1928 thus Era II.
Long out of production the train set belonging to this locomotive disappeared from production in 1998 having an eight year history in the program. It never featured a 5 pole motor as standard equipment having fallen out of production in the year the 5 pole was introduced, but its original motor is/was a robust affair with very good running qualities. And motor upgrades are available today as part number 211909.
Just this week I purchased the train set as “Dealer Old Stock”, it was like receiving a shiny new car from 20 years ago that has not been driven. Of course it needed an old change and cleaning due to HOS (hardened oil syndrome), but 15 minutes in the garage the loco is as good as new.
Nothing compares these days to the classic steam locos, this one features shiny silver wheels, shiny black paint, and hand-painted boiler bands making it a new favorite of mine.
Dipping into buying mint/new old dealer stock is an untapped potential of modelers with train sets suffering HOS selling for $200 ‘as is’ which happened with this purchase. And the set included 5 highly detailed coaches along with the loco and tender. With a little experience HOS can be easily overcome, it usually amounts to one gear being stuck by hardened oil.
Special note: sometimes not always the original oil has attached itself to the plastic light rods used for headlamps thus they might pull-out as the shell is removed, be aware of other parts coming undone as the shell is removed, 5 minute epoxy will permanently anchor any static parts that loosen up.
Siding: brushes for the original 8133 locomotive with 3 pole motor is part number 8989.
The year is 1957 as the DB BR 01 crosses Altenbeken Viaduct pulling “Lorelei” train set.
Recent Releases: Marklin 88012 Insider Model 2018 and Altenbeken Viaduct by Archistories (item #128171). Trailing the BR 01 loco is the “Lorelei” train set by Marklin released in 2003 – 2006 as an MHI Exclusive release.
Coming soon: posts covering each including cross reference guide to Marklin’s passenger sets and individual coaches thereby facilitating easy determination of era’s and railways.
Plus next time the viaduct is seen it will be authentically weathered after filling gaps in the cardstock and retouching.
Sweden’s early L5 steam locomotive featured a jack-shaft similarly found on other early locomotives including the Bavarian electric locomotive EP 3/6. Following up with a follow-up to another follow-up is the progress report on the FR build kit 46.140.91: SJ’s L5 locomotive.
Out of production again this build kit is very challenging, it took me two kits to get good results, but never having built an FR loco kit before I chalked up the first as a learning curve for this and other FR kits. Note: kit has not been available twice thus far, but it is still featured on FR’s website: if you are interested let Harald know, he maybe planning a third release.
The kit comes with everything except the chassis and motor assembly, that is found by buying a second hand Marklin version 8895 tank loco, I will be using the SNCB or SNCF version due to the black spoke wheels. Adapting the Marklin chassis to the finished shell will take some pre-planning, and I will be covering this topic in a future post. For now I will be giving details on the project from the standpoint of completing the shell and tender.
Photos include Marklin 88951 tank loco chassis (top) and shell (bottom) with assembled FR L5 shell in middle of picture.
The materials include laser cut nickel silver, stainless steel, cast plastic and cast pot metal for boiler.
The tender is designed with pick-ups to add 6 additional conductive wheels which are essential with short steam locomotive types. Metal sheet parts were soldered while handrails and buffers were epoxied in place. Plastic castings are epoxied on side of truck frame after customizing their shape to fit with top shell of tender, I found the Dremel tool handy for this task.
Note: wires sticking out of tender are attached to mini circuit board that connects to wheel pick-ups. These same wires will be soldered to pick-ups on motor during the final assembly stage.
The locomotive is made of up cast metal boiler, nickel silver parts and stainless steel. Cabin: roof is rounded around a very small wood dowel, soldered along with the other parts and ground to make a perfect round shape with Dremel tool. Small roof cap is added at the end of assembly. Stainless steel add-on parts are epoxied in place. Boiler: smooth out underside of casting as needed, pre-drill buffer holes and mounting screw (shell to chassis screw) as per included instructions and epoxy latter in place. Note: all parts attached to boiler should be epoxied, solder will melt the pot metal casting! Ladders and handrails are stainless steel and resist soldering thus epoxy these parts in place. Note: a variation of the 1st batch of boilers and this one includes new placement of the smoke deflector brackets which in this version is much better.
Finishing: best painting results are with airbrush (15-20psi) using water based paints starting with primer followed by two light coats of top coat followed by protective coat of water based primer. Headlamps are painted last with tiny drops of white paint applied with pin. Some touch-up with a fine brush maybe needed so add a brush to the tool kit for this project.
Putting the finished shell and tender with Marklin ready made chassis and motor will require some disassembly of the side rods and riveting a jack shaft in place as is found with the prototype, but knowing the most difficult task is yet to be I am finishing another project before tackling the final stage of constructing the L5.
Essential equipment: -Dremel tool with grinding and drill bits -fine paint brush -airbrush -soldering iron with fine point tip -5 minute epoxy -water based paints
Siding: old Kodak plastic 35mm film canisters work great for paint mixing and storage
In the rare collectible category of Marklin Z special imprints is one for 8661 style box car. The early box car type with brakeman’s cab (8661) models an era I and II freight car, it has been released in Marklin’s regular program for many years primarily as a bier wagon but also as a general freight car with and without advertising. The prototype’s wooden construction is detailed in the model depicting vertical boards, corner iron mending plates, round buffers, and windows on all sides of brakeman’s cab. Using this style of freight car is another category of special imprints, other freight car types include modern examples. As few as 100 wagons were produced for any given design starting in 1991. Historically a special imprint was commissioned by a private individual/firm in collaboration with the design team at Marklin thus limited Marklin productions.
Note: outside firms through the years have purchased unpainted freight cars of various types from Marklin for private printing, these cars are referred to as “Industry Prints”. Industry Prints differ from Marklin special imprints with the omission of ‘m’ often but not always printed very small on two sides of freight cars. Further verification of a Marklin special imprints can be found using the Miba/Monk list, if it is on the list Gilles Monk has collected it and archived these treasures on his exclusive list; Mr. Monk only collects Marklin special imprints thus Industry Prints will not be included on his list or confused with the Marklin models.
As a collector of Marklin special imprints I can attest to the patience required finding these cars, my 8661 car collection is 10 years in the making with as few as 1 found in a year to more recently finding 10 within a two week span. Most special imprints are secondary market thus having passed through at least one collection. More successful collectors will find these cars listed by European dealers on Ebay, but ZTrackResale.com is another source for Marklin collectibles as well as other Z gauge items in gently used condition (highly recommended source!).
Included here are 10 special imprints of the 8661 style box car recently added to my collection:
Wimpfener Heimat-Bote released 1995. Koll’s #95701. Miba/Monk #895. Edition: 100
Konigsbrunner Edel-Pils (DR) released 1996. Marklin #8661.013. Miba/Monk #1009.
Konigsbrau OGGENHAUSEN (Wurttemberg) released 1996. Marklin #8661.025. Miba/Monk #1025.
Marklin’s newly released 88185 class ‘C’ express locomotive of the Royal Wurttemberg State Railways features Era I paint scheme from 1915. The model features improved detailing and motor compared with the earlier version and includes improved side rod details and brushless motor.
The 88185’s cab has been the location of the backside of motor in the early release as well as this one, but the large brushless motor significantly protrudes through the cab of the 88185 thus maybe be seen as a less successful release in recent memory of Marklin Z steam locomotives featuring the new style motor. As for running and performance this locomotive runs very well with smooth acceleration and deceleration even at slow speeds.
An elegant steam locomotive with early streamlining characteristics including wind splitter cab.
Era I around 1910-1915 is as early as Marklin has gone thus far in the mini-club line-up – having one of the Wurttemberg locomotives is essential equipment for pulling Marklin’s wonderful coaches for this railway including: 87940 (2001/2002), 87950 (2001/2002), and 87960 (2001/2002). But the soon to be released Wurttemberg coach set 87009 is another option featuring for the first time interior details and gas tank installed on undercarriage of the class Di Wu 04 and Ci Wu 05 open platform coaches.
Marklin 87009
Maybe a future release of an Era I baggage coach and mail car will be a possibility.
Railex’s (Germany) models in Z gauge include Wurttemberg coaches from the 19th century made of brass and released a number of years ago with designation “Wurttemberger Zug – Set 1”:
Siding: Railex models in Z include coaches, freight cars, and locomotives with a primary focus on early 19th century German trains. Locomotives although very finely detailed and handcrafted lack their own power, ghost cars are generally used to propel the trains with motors hidden in coaches. Railex models are unique in Z having released many limited models exclusively in metal of prototypes not generally touched on by other manufacturers.
Siding: K.W.St.E. is the abbreviation for Koniglich Wurttembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen with English designation Royal Wurttemberg State Railways.
