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Marklin BR 10 Steam Locomotive: 5 Pole Motor Upgrade

Marklin’s BR 10 steam locomotives 8888 + 8889 were released with 3 pole motors, today the 5 pole motor upgrade is possible and relatively easy. Side by side comparison of the 3 pole (262700-clear casing) and 5 pole (E211911-black casing) motors:

This loco design features a fairly heavy cast metal shell that performs well putting weight on the wheels and giving excellent tractive effort. Does this loco benefit from the motor upgrade? This is one of those locos that runs great with 3 pole, but the 5 pole will be a little bit better slow throttle and a bit more quiet. The repair is quick for those with a little experience and patience.

The shell is removed by first gently prying off cap that conceals screw followed by removing screw.

The motor capacitor wires are always soldered to the chassis pick-ups, with soldering iron apply heat and remove original solder points.

Remove top and bottom screws that hold motor in place. Slide off old motor. If floating gear on pin is pulled out carefully turn until gearing engages with wheel gears. Slide opposite end of pin into brass bushing of new motor and carefully engage gears with the motor gear.

Secure top and bottom screws and resolder capacitor wires and chassis electrical pick-ups. Notice side rods are held in place after securing shell, it maybe a little tricky at first to place side rods correctly before attaching shell. Note: one side rod on each side is always stationary and held in place by sliding onto post in frame (red plastic), the other side rod on each side is held in a channel below the other side rod.

Carefully holding both pairs of side rods in place while attaching shell is the only method for achieving success, you may need to try this several times to achieve the awkward coordination needed. Note: front of shell always goes on first.

Swiss Locomotive Numbering System

Some complexity exists with the classification and numbering of Swiss Railway locomotives which is not limited to separate systems in place to classify railcars and locos thus duplicated classifications exist for the two types of motive power. A discussion of Swiss railway classification is in order as a basis to further discuss their numbering system.

Swiss classification includes the use of letters to denote type of loco and motive power. Marklin’s 8850 is one example of a class Ae 6/6 loco with destination signs for “Zurich”. According to the Swiss classification system the capital ‘A’ is given for locos that reach maximum speed of 85 to 110 km/hr. Small case letter ‘e’ is given for electric locos. And 6/6 is Co-Co wheel arrangement. A Swiss railcar has not been produced in ‘Z’ by Marklin, but one such example would be the EMU Bhe 4/6 11 from depot Monte Generoso. ‘B’ stands for 2nd class accomodations, ‘h’ stands for rack fitted, ‘e’ stands for electric powered, with wheel arrangement 4/6 (1B-B1).

Classification prefix letters for locos is as follows: R– max. speed in excess of 110 km/hr A– max. speed 85-110 km/hr B– max speed 70-80 km/hr C– max speed 60-65 km/hr D– max speed 45-55 km/hr E– shunting G– narrow gauge, H– rack fitted, O– open wagon, T– tractor, and X– departmental vehicle

Classification prefix letters for railcars and multi-units: A– 1st class accommodations, B– 2nd class accommodations, D– baggage compartment, S– saloon, Z– postal compartment

Classification suffix letters applied to all motive power: a– battery powered, e– electric powered, em– electro-diesel, h– rack fitted, m– diesel or gas powered, r– restaurant, rot– rotary snowplow, t– self-propelled department vehicle such as crane or snowplow

Note: to differentiate between classes with similar classifications numeals are used for example Re 4/4′, Re 4/4”

Also note: newly classified locos incorporate a three digit number thereby replacing the fractional numbers, but the classification letters are maintained in the new method.

Since 1989 all locos on the SBB Railways produced in that year and subsequent years follow the current numbering system, all locos before 1989 were not renumbered unless a major overhaul occurred with a specific loco. Museum locos maintain their original number. Three sets of numbers are indicated on 1989 to the present locomotives in Switzerland, this system follows this numbering scheme: First digit: 0– steam loco or historic railcar, 1– meter gauge loco, 2– tractor, 3– electric loco with 3 powered axles, 4– electric loco with 4 powered axles, 5– electric railcar, 6– electric loco with 6 powered axles, 7– departmental self-propelled vehicle excluding locos, 8– diesel loco, 9– electric shunting loco. Second digit: 0– express railcars, 1-6– sub class index (bogie electric locos), type of electric loco, number of powered axles of a diesel loco, 7-8– not used, 9– not used generally except for rigid frame electric locos. Third digit: 2-4– two, three, four voltage loco or railcar, 5-8– owned by private railway. Fourth thru Sixth digits are the running numbers followed by the final number which is the ‘computer check digit’.

The computer check digit is used to verify the correct digits were used for classification and numbering. For the Swiss locomotive the last digit is the computer check digit which corresponds to the result of a simple calculation of class and running numbers: multiply each digit of the class and running numbers alternately by 1 and 2, add up the result and subtract from the next larger whole ’10’ number. For example: Swiss class 460 033-4 is verified in the following manner- 4×1, 6×2, 0x1, 0x2, 3×1, 3×2= 4+1+2+0+0+3+6=16. Thus 20-16=4!

Reference material: Swiss Railways, published by Platform 5, written by David Haydock, Peter Fox and Brain Garvin.

4th Quarter 2016 release of the new “Krokodil” – 88563

The Swiss ‘Krokodil’ in scale model railroading is identified more than any other as a ‘Marklin’ model, Marklin produces it in all scales, it appears in their marketing as much as the German equivalent class E94, and its continuous appearance in the Marklin Z catalog since 1979 further reinforces Marklin’s dedication to this prototype.

The articulated Swiss loco type is a fascination for all railroaders: train spotting or model collecting. As a model in ‘Z’ it faithfully reproduces the action of the dual set of side rod wheel sets found in the prototype.

As for its history in ‘Z’ we begin in 1979 with the 8856: green paint scheme presented in the original mini-club wood-grain box. Four versions of the 8856 were produced ending in 2010 with a 5 pole motor version.

The 8852 version in brown paint scheme was produced 1983 – 1990. One other individual release was the totally lovely 2013 Nuremberg Toy Fair 88561 in black paint scheme.

In various intervening years the Krokodil was sold in train sets starting with 8115 “125 Jahre Rotes Kreuz” set that commemorated the 125 year anniversary of the Red Cross in Switzerland. Other sets included the 81423 “Schweizer Guterverkehr” Swiss goods transport set and 81433 “KNIE” circus train set. Along came the unique set 88888 “150 Jahre Marklin”: deluxe illustrated carton with two Krokodil’s including one New York Central ‘fantasy’ loco in white with copper patinated color scheme on roof.

For the first time Marklin is offering some new features in this newly updated version with item number 88563. Updated features include LED’s, hidden catenary screw, new road number, and correct Swiss headlamp/marker light changeover. This Era II class Ce 6/8 III electric locomotive is scheduled for release at the end of 2016, it will be one of the big highlights in mini-club history for this loco type in 37 years.

Marklin has this listed as a “limited run.”

Siding: early ‘Krokodil’s” with 3 pole motors can be upgraded with 5 pole motor part #211904.

Marklin train set 81411: BR V 31 loco and hoppers

The 81411 train set was released as a 1997 One Time Series by Marklin for their MHI Program thus finding itself on the cusp of the future transition to the 5 pole motor. No fear the 5 pole motor upgrade is easy with this locomotive type: part number is E211903. Locomotive comes with 4 hinged roof hoppers for the transport of limestone these cars are classified as Tds Seitenentladewagens with various road numbers. Here is a train set that features weathering, one of the few I might add, but this weathering is lightly applied around the hinged roof covers in the form of lime dust. The weathering appears to have been applied with an airbrush in a separate application over the printing: very good! Attractive train sets are abundant in Marklin Z, but one cannot have enough! I like this set very much, it worked great right out of the box with the original 3 pole motor, but I opted for upgrading to 5 pole which was very easy to do. Motor upgrades are pretty easy on locos without side rods with few exceptions including multi unit sets. Great detail and color plus the less common “Lollo” locomotive make this a great set to add to a collection. At least the color of the loco and its type make it different than everything else.

81411- HEG train set that includes loco and 4 hinged roof hoppers with light weathering, MHI One Time Series 1997.

Siding: Original 3 pole motor can be upgraded to 5 pole with part #E211903.

88731 Max Liebermann special repair notes that deserve consideration!!!

The Max Liebermann class 601 special one time series from 1997 is a two locomotive set that deserves a special highlight with regards to any under the hood repair. I just upgraded mine with new 5 pole motors, and it deserves some special considerations before you might consider doing the same. As with others in this series, Marklin continued to make changes and improvements including more durable couplers that allowed less gap between coaches and locos thereby making some parts non interchangeable between the 1st release of this loco type #8873 (DB) and the second release 88731 (DR). Those non interchangeable parts include the circuit boards and couplers all other parts are interchangeable through the series. The first coupler designed for the 8873 was a plastic clip with electrically conductive brass under spring tension, cars and powered end cars were simply pushed together gently until clip engaged with post located inside each car. The 88731 used a new design coupler that was flat with electrically conductive brass surrounding it and more surface area for electric transfer than the 8873. The new coupler necessitated the elimination of the center post in each car end which thereby led to a newly designed circuit board that would accept the newly designed couplers.

Please note before you make the motor upgrade to this set there are two distinguishing remarks I would like to make that might be helpful: 1. one loco coupler is semi-permanent, it needs to be carefully released from the clip that holds it in place. Use gently pressure to wriggle up the opening in the loco shell and with little pressure slide out coupler. *Other coupler will simply slide out at the normal 90 degree angle that is used to couple cars and locos together in this set. 2. Marklin did not have their heads on straight when they assembled my set, they soldered the circuit board whiskers directly to the motor wires. I am not sure if this was widely done with this set, but this is the first I have seen it. In order to change the motor or do a strip down cleaning and re-oiling 4 solder points need to be removed (2 each powered end car). *Do not attempt to remove circuit board without removing the solder points first, motor is held in place under circuit board mounting plates held in place with 7 screws, it is impossible to remove motor and circuit board at the same time. In order to remove solder points heat them up with iron and pull wires away, remove any roughness of solder left on wires by gently heating residual solder with iron, bend wires back in place to make contact with new motor wires. *The down side to this repair are several opportunities to break parts or melt plastic parts with soldering iron. Not all three pole motors need to be replaced and maybe this is one.

Speaking from experience with a couple of 8873 sets, couplers used in this train work great, I have never had one break or malfunction.

“Good night, and good luck.” -Edward R. Murrow

Industry Prints

Industry Prints are Marklin freight wagons designed and painted by private enterprises. Modellbahn Freund, St. Louis, MO imported and sold these cars, the plastic boxes for cars sold by Modellbahn Freund were affixed a label with this stores name and address. Sometimes collectors have suggested Modellbahn Freund commissioned these cars, and they were printed in the United States, this is a mistake; all ‘Industry Prints’ were printed in Germany by Baur-Druck Bad, Waldsee and sold by Schmidt, Germany. Cars were distributed in the United States and Germany. The earliest ‘Industry Print’ in this collection is a gondola from 1983.

Further research can be found at www.z-freunde.de, much of the information given in this post was kindly provided by this organization. *Information provided has been provided after much research, new details and corrections will be made as more is learned about these cars.

Click on pictures for larger views:

1. Altglas ist Rohstoff mit oder ohne Glasbeladung, gondola with load of glass for recycling, 1983

2. Old Heidelberg BEER Blatz MILWAUKEE, WIS. (ocker), 1983 *color variations of this car exist in gold, silver and white

3. Gatzweilers Alt (Haus rechts), 1983

4. HOCHDORFER BIER Goldstern (blau), 1985

5. Schwarzkopf, 1986

6. Bass Ale, 1986 Distribution: Germany 40 and United States 140

7. Chihuahua MEXICAN BEER (weib), 1986 Edition: 140

8. Coors Light, 1986

9. GRIZZLY BEER CANADIAN LAGER (grun), 1986

10. Labatt’s BEER Canadian BIERE, 1986 Edition: 100

11. MICHELOB BEER, 1986 Edition: 125

12. Miller High Life

13. Miller HIGH LIFE

14. Miller Genuine Draft

15. Lite BEER A FINE PILSNER BEER

16. Pabst Blue Ribbon The Real Taste of Beer, 1986 Edition: 180

17. TSINGTAO BEER, 1986 Edition: 170

18. REINZ Dichtungs-Prazision weltweit, 1987

19. Lindt…IL GUSTO DI FAR PLACERE, 1987

20. GURTEN BIER (silber), 1988

21. INTERFRIGO mit oder ohne DB-Zeichen, 1988 Schmidt #116

22. INTER FRIGO Basel (weib), 1988

23. TRANSTHERMOS KUHL VERKEHR (weib), 1988

24. VW Volkswagen – da weib man, was man hat (gold), 1988

25. VW Volswagen – da weib man, was man hat (weib Emblem hell – oder dunkelblau), 1988

26. Worb Brauerei egger bier (weib), 1988

27. Ulmer MunsterBier (weibes Band), 1988

28. VOHRINGER & KOPP Internationale Spedition (weib), 1989

29. Friedrichshafen Zeppelin (silber – weib), 1992

30. Eichbaum Pilsener Eichkrone Seit 1679 (weib), 1996 Nicknamed “Corpse Beer,” because the brewery is located next to a cemetery.

SMI – 8656: Hbis car type

Marklin special imprints pertaining to the Hbis car type with few exceptions are of Swiss origin. Car type is SBB Hbis. And with few exceptions produced in an edition size of 300 total.

1. Roland Zweiback (two sided – opposite: Roland Sticks), Marklin #88656.1, Koll’s #93701, Miba/Monk #791. Released 1993.

2. Feldscholosschen Bier, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #824.

3. Dunkle Perle, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #825.

4. Hopfenperle, Marklin #88657.1, Miba/Monk #826.

*2-4 originally sold as a three car set: 3 beers brewed by Feldschlosschen Brewery, Rheinfelden, Switzerland. Released 1994.

5. CARGO DOMICILE, Marklin #88656.6, Koll’s #94701, Miba/Monk #880.

6. Kaselocher – “Swiss Cheese”, Marklin #88656.5, Koll’s #94702.

7. Haco FARMER I, dunkel ohne Wagendaten, Marklin #88656.4, Koll’s #94703, Miba/Monk #868. Released 1994.

8. PEPSI, Marklin #88657.2, Koll’s #95001, Miba/Monk #883. Released 1995.

9. Schweppes, Marklin #88657.4, Koll’s #95002, Miba/Monk #918. Released 1995.

10. rivella (two sided – opposite: GRAPILLON), Marklin #88657.5, Koll’s #95003, Miba/Monk #995.

11. PTT – Post Schweiz – LA POSTE/ LA POSTA/ DIE POST, Marklin #88656.7, Koll’s #95701, Miba/Monk #940.

12. FONTESSA ELM, Marklin #88657.8, Koll’s #96002, Miba/Monk #967.

13. Ovomaltine, Marklin #88657.9, Koll’s #96003, Miba/Monk #1027.

14. Maggi, Marklin #8657.007, Koll’s #96705, Miba/Monk #1015.

15. sihl + eika papier, Marklin #88656.8, Koll’s #96706, Miba/Monk #966.

16. JURA-SEL AUS DER SCHWEIZ, Marklin #88657.7, Koll’s #96708, Miba/Monk #996.

17. EPA, Marklin #88657.11, Koll’s #96709, Miba/Monk #1016.

18. SULZER BULACHGUSS, Marklin #88657.6, Koll’s #96711, Miba/Monk #1028.

19. Schindler Waggon, Marklin #88657.10, #Miba/Monk #1047.

20. Sihl papier, Marklin #8657.904, Miba/Monk #1048.

21. CFL – ohne Werbeplakate, Marklin #82151.1, Miba/Monk #1049.

22. CFL – mit Werbeplakaten, Marklin #82151.2, Miba/Monk #1050.

23. CFL – mit BW-Motiv, Marklin #82151.3, Miba/Monk #1051.

*21-22 originally sold as a three car set: CFL – Luxembourg Car Set.

24. DANZAS, Marklin #8656.902, Miba/Monk #1068.

25. MIDOR, Marklin #8657.905, Miba/Monk #1079.

26. HENNIEZ, Marklin #8656.900, Miba/Monk #1089.

27. Monte Generoso, Marklin #8657.901, Miba/Monk #1099.

28. Hurlimann, Marklin #8657.907, Miba/Monk #1100.

29. DENNER SUPERDISCOUNT, Marklin #8657.900, Miba/Monk #1119.

30. RiCHiNA TRASPORTi, Marklin #8657.909, Miba/Monk #1134.

31. Bahnruhling SBB, Marklin #8656.903, Miba/Monk #1135.

32. BIERE VALAISANNE, WALLISER BIER, Marklin #8657.910, Miba/Monk #1136.

33. Wie fahrt man Gut? (two sided – opposite: Qui va bon train?), Marklin #8657.908, Miba/Monk #1157.

34. Swisscom Unterwegs zu neuen Horizonten, Marklin #8657.911, Miba/Monk #1172.

35. ascom verbindet Menschen (two sided – opposite: ascom relie les hommes), Marklin #8657.916, Miba/Monk #1230.

36. Spanish Brotli Bahn Chrom, Marklin #8656.905, Miba/Monk #1232.

37. Usego III, Marklin #8656.901, Miba/Monk #1233.

38. 100 Jahre DB Museum (pressegeschenk – press gift), Marklin #8657.026, Released 1999 to celebrate 100 year anniversary of DB Museum.

39. Knorr Chirat, Marklin #8657.914, Miba/Monk #1234.

40. Happy Birthday, Marklin #8657.915, released 1999.

41. PTT Union, Marklin #8657.917, Miba/Monk #1238.

42. Lindt 1845, Marklin #88656.9, Miba/Monk #1241.

43. Sinalco, Marklin #8656.910, Miba/Monk #1296.

44. Cargo Domizil (two sided – opposite: Cargo Domicilio), Marklin #8656.909, Miba/Monk #1297.

45. VMB – VEREINIGTE MINERALWASSER AG, Marklin #8656.913, Miba/Monk #1312.

46. COOP – ARNI, Marklin #1998.1.1, Miba/Monk #1137.

47. COOP – GALA, Marklin #1998.1.2, Miba/Monk #1138.

48. COOP – Picanta, Marklin #1998.1.3, Miba/Monk #1139.

*46-48 originally released as three car set in 1998.

49. Bischofszell MIGROS – Gutes aus der Schweiz, Marklin #8657.919, Miba/Monk #1344.

50. Haco FARMER III (grun), Marklin #8657.921, Miba/Monk #1362.

51. EICHHOF (two sided: pictured side depicts bottle of Eichhof Klosterbrau with amber background – not pictured side depicts bottle of Eichhof Braugold with deep blue background), Marklin #8657.922, Miba/Monk #1363.

52. Maggi II, Marklin #8656.916, Miba/Monk #1368, released 2000.

53. FELDSCHLOSSCHEN – Das Leben macht durstig, Marklin #8656.917, Miba/Monk #1388. Released 2001.

54. COOP naturaplan, Marklin #8657.924, Miba/Monk #1428, released 2001.

55. GURTEN BIER, Marklin #8657.925, Miba/Monk #1429, released 2001.

56. Wir bewegen. 25 Jahre Rangierbahnhof Limmattal, Marklin #8656.925, Miba/Monk #1587, Released 2003.

M.B. Klein or Model Train Stuff of Maryland

I always check in with the on-line store Model Train Stuff sometimes I find Marklin Z that others have not received yet or even sold out items. They don’t feature many Marklin Z items, 50 items including track is an average number. Website features accurate inventory and good prices. And sometimes a sale price that is very good. Shipping is prompt with careful packing. I have never had a complaint with Model Train Stuff of Cockeysville, MD.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com

Faller: Bauernhaus 282785

Faller’s limited edition laser cut kits for z gauge have thus far included buildings for rural scenes this being a barn/house structure of exposed timber and stucco. Construction of this kit is fun but patience is required: each piece of stucco is glued into section of timber framing, this process takes time and be careful not to lose these tiny parts that each cut out separately. The amount of parts that are individually cut out is staggering, but the realism of the stucco is worth the time and effort. Also included with this kit is fencing made of laser cut wood pigmented in dark brown. I highly recommend collecting each of Faller’s limited edition laser cut kits to complement those offered by Archistories.

Z Trains Weekly

World of Z scale trains!