Category Archives: Royal Wurttemberg State Railways

Marklin BR 18’s, S 3/6’s and C’s: Survey in Z Gauge

Probably it’s the wind-splitter cab that makes the class BR 18 express locomotive recognizable, but its 4-6-2 wheel arrangement identifies it as a Pacific type. With its roots going back to Era I Bavarian class S 3/6 and Royal Wurttemberg class C are complimented by CIWL serie 231’s from Era II and III.

Marklin’s extensive offerings of this express locomotive type include sets with coaches (81…’s) and solo locomotives (88…’s).

Variations in the line-up are wide ranging and go beyond having/not having smoke deflectors and paint scheme to include various motive power: 3 pole, 5 pole, and brushless motors.

Marklin 88185- Royal Wurttemberg State Railways (K.W.St.E.) class C express locomotive. Era 1 (1915).
Marklin 88922- K.Bay.Sts.B. (Koniglich Bayerische Staatsbahn – Royal Bavarian State Railroad) BR S 3/6 express steam locomotive. One Time Series 2008.
Marklin 88923- K.Bay.Sts.B. (Koniglich Bayerische Staatsbahn – Royal Bavarian State Railroad) BR S 3/6 express locomotive. Era I. One Time Series for MHI Program – 2015.
Marklin 8108 (train set)- Societe nationale des chemins de fer francais (National Society of French
Railways/French National Railway Corporation) / Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (SNCF/CIWL)- “Nostalgie Istanbul-Orient Express” Serie 231 Pacific express locomotive with tender. Era III.
Marklin 81080 (set)- French State Railroad / Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (ETAT/CIWL) “International Long-Distance Express Train (Orient Express)”: BR 231 express locomotive with tender (ETAT). Era II. One Time Series 2008.
Marklin 88183- German State Railroad Company (DRG) BR 18.1 express locomotive painted and lettered for 1936 Olympics. Insider Club Model 1996. Era II. Operating number 18 137. One Time Series.
Marklin 8133 (set)- German State Railroad Company (DRG) “Rheingold” BR 18 (Pacific Express with operating number 18434). Era II.
Marklin 81331 (set)- German State Railroad Company (DRG) “75 Years of the Rheingold” BR 18.4 express locomotive and tender. One Time Series 2003.
Marklin 81332- German State Railroad Company (DRG) “90 Years of the Rheingold” BR 18.4 express locomotive with type 2’2’ T 26.2 tender.
Marklin 81426- German State Railroad Company (DRG) express locomotive with tender BR S 3/6 DRG Bavarian Group Administration (operating number 18 434) . Era II.
Marklin 88910- German State Railroad Company (DRG) BR 18.4 express locomotive with operating number 18 470.
Marklin 88184- German Federal Railroad (DB) BR 18.1 express locomotive based on 1954 prototype: Era III.

Marklin Z Tank Loco 8895: evolution of design

photo: courtesy Marklin
Marklin 8895 (2000-2006) German Federal Railroad (DB) class 74 tank locomotive. Era III.

Almost 20 years since the 8895 (2000-2006) debuted featuring the relatively new 5 pole mini-club motor (1998) with 7 variations in between.

Tank locomotives are smart steam locomotives featuring water tanks mounted alongside the boiler with coal bunker located behind cab. A few early example tank locomotives featured a coal hopper above cab and worked with gravity to self feed the system which for one man operation was ideal or at least manageable on small railroads. For a whole host of reasons the tank locomotive was the smart choice for economical and efficient operation for commuter traffic and the like.

The evolution of this locomotive class modeled in Z includes notable examples of various railroads and era’s. Plus of course increased detailing of locomotive’s running gear and side rods. An overlooked increase in side rod movement of Marklin’s new steam locomotives is a complex detail feature much improved from earlier examples. Thus far this locomotive has not been built with a brush-less motor, but the future seems just around the corner for what comes next.

Marklin 88951 (2003-2004) Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) class 74 (operating number 74 690). Era II.
Marklin 88951 (2003-2004) Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) class 74 (Era II) with destination boards: “Wannsee.”
Marklin 88952 (One Time Series-2005) Royal Wurttemberg State Railways (K.W.St.E) class T 9. Era I. Note: modified from delivery with added pick-ups connected to wheels of coach thus electric is picked up from wheels of locomotive plus 4 wheels on coach: benefits traveling through turn-outs with dips in electric flow.
Marklin 88952 (One Time Series-2005) Royal Wurttemberg State Railways (K.W.St.E) class T 9 (Era I) with Faller laser-cut building “Quakenbruck Town Hall” (282774) in background

Note: Marklin’s 2005 release of 88952 celebrated “200 Years of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg”

Marklin 88953 (One Time Series-2015) class 74 painted and lettered for Marklin Magazin Note: features for the first time improved running gear

Note: metal front coupler was replaced with standard plastic one with 88953’s release

Marklin 88954 (2015-2017) Belgium State Railways (SNCB) class 96 locomotive. Era III. Note: features hand-painted boiler bands for the first time and handsome paint detail on the cylinder
Marklin 88954 (2015-2017) Belgium State Railways (SNCB) class 96 locomotive. Era III.

Note: German locomotives feature red paint in their design to make stress fractures easier to detect on inspection

Marklin 88955 (2017-2018) German Federal Railroad (DB) class 74 tank locomotive. Era III.
Marklin 88955 (2017-2018) German Federal Railroad (DB) class 74 tank locomotive. Era III.
Marklin 88956 (2016-2018) French State Railways (SNCF) class 130 TB. Era III
Marklin 88956 (2016-2018) French State Railways (SNCF) class 130 TB. Era III. Note: trailing lights are suggested and non-functioning
Marklin 88957 (One Time Series for MHI Program-2017) Royal Prussian State Railroad (KPEV) class T 12 based on 1915 prototype which was used for commuter service in Berlin. Era I.
Marklin 88957 (One Time Series for MHI Program-2017) Royal Prussian State Railroad (KPEV) class T 12. Era I. Note: two trailing lights in this version

Royal Wurttemberg (K.W.St.E) T 9 tank locomotive: Marklin 88952

The 2005 release of the Marklin T 9 tank locomotive painted and lettered for the Royal Wurttemberg State Railroad (K.W.St.E) featured a 5 pole motor and it was the first of its type for this railway produced in the mini-club line-up.

The 88952 produced in 2005 as a “one time series” celebrated “200 Years of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg.”

The Era I locomotive is appropriately coupled with Wurttemberg coaches: 80105, 8700, 8701, and 8739. Marklin’s recent release 5 coach set is also a very good choice: 87009.

Coach 8739 trails the T 9 with destination boards for Boll-Goppingen, its operating number E4 2733 was produced by Marklin from 1989-1998. Eleven years in production does not make this coach particularly rare, but this open corridor coach has been popular with modelers of early trains. Check out the next section detailing the relationship between this coach and locomotive.

Following years of innovation by modelers of Z one such development proved invaluable: marrying coaches with short locomotives. Locomotives of short length and weight have proven to be less than rewarding to operate on the mini-club layouts with turnouts and crossovers with their slight dip in power, short locos are challenged to pass freely through these track features, but one creative minded individual came up with a solution: wiring the axles of a coach to the leads of the locomotive thereby extending the length of the locomotive. In this case the 88952 with 3 powered axles has been extended with 2 additional axles. Wiring the coach involves some soldering and drilling with micro bits, but it is overall a fairly straightforward and easy repair the second time around, the first time should be counted as a learning curve. Adding an LED light panel at the same time is just a little more work. In this example a draw-bar was installed thus permanently coupling the loco and coach together. Performance for this type of locomotive is improved greatly.

Here are photos of the electrical upgrade:


Marklin: 88185 K.W.St.E. express locomotive

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.

 

ETAT Class 231 Express Locomotive

The 2008 mini-club release of an Era II French State Railways (ETAT) class 231 express locomotive was included with trainset 81080 (“International Long-Distance Express Train”) which also included 4 coaches and a baggage car painted and lettered for International Sleeping Car and Dining Car Company (CIWL).

The operating number for this locomotive (231-997) indicates it was originally a class C Wurttemberg with 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. Following WW1 three class C’s were given to France with operating numbers 231-997, 231-998 and 231-999 assigned by Chemins de Fer de l’Etat. In service until 1937 all three locomotives were destroyed by bombing in 1944, Marklin’s 81080 locomotive preserves the prototype of the class 231-997.

The model is beautifully painted and lettered with hand-painted bands. Excellent weight and 5 pole motor make this a locomotive with very good running performance even at slow speeds.