Marklin Steamers


7

747flier

Well-Known Member
Visuited at my gal's house with her adult son for T-Day and finally got to see the somewhat vintage Marklin Steamers that had been stored away for decades. Her 5 year old Grandson is quite excited! So I did set a short track and the "transformer" and after somer coaxing got them both to run back and forth with some reluctance. I think if I clean and lubricate that they will be functional. Certainly not familiar with their way of doing things, took me a while to figure out how to get it to go backwards! being 3 track AC it's an alien world! Have them here at home for surgery! One is a small 0-6-0 switcher and the other smallish 2-6-0 road engine with tender. I didn't bring the tender as it is not electrically connected.

Tom
 
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Took them apart (shells off) and very lightly added lube with gun oil on the end of a needle. The run reasonably well (this isn't a Blackstone!) but the 2-6-0 has a rear driver than may be slightly bent, getting a little wobble. Probably;ly good enough for kid work, but both need new brushes, hopefully these are available. A very unusual mechanism compared to DC means. There is a LARGE solenoid that changes a switch to reverse the direction of the motor! A pure trip back to the caveman era!
 
The AC Caveman motors in the old Marklin steam locos are quite unusual in having a transverse shaft with lots of spur gears, no worms. I wonder how the Diesel locos are set up with turning trucks? At any rate I was able to find on Evil Bay a set of brushes for a couple of bucks. Refreshing in a primitive way to go back to totally analogue equipment where everything is mechanical and maybe understandable.

Cheers: Tom
 
I wonder how the Diesel locos are set up with turning trucks?
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The motor is small enough to fit on the truck while the reverser mechanism is on the chassis.
This is my V200 original Kit which explains.

Marklin 3921 V200 kit.JPG
r
Marklin locos with the spur gear mechanism suffer from what is called " Hard Oil Syndrome" where over time the oil hardens to a solid and jams up the bearings and gears. So what you did by cleaning and lubricating is the correct thing although in extreme cases the armature has to be removed from the motor to really clean the bearings. Be careful not to break wires or solder joints especially the fine coil wires to the motor.
The 2-6-0 with the bent driver may be a cause of this problem as when free the wheels can easily turn the motor but if the gears/bearings are stiff this could bend the driving wheels if too much force is used.
Hope this helps. Colin.

 
Thanks for the info! From the 3D exploded parts drawings it appears the drivers are not quartered by any sort of keying.

Tom
 
Another Marklin question. Will probably end up being the person who lays the track for the future step grandson. What did Marklin use to fasten the track down, screws?
 
What did Marklin use to fasten the track down, screws?
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According to a 1965 Marklin Catalog I have they recommend screws for "M" or Metal track base . They do not give a size but a countersunk screw with length to suit the baseboard should do.
I have had a look for my 2-6-0 loco to examine the axles for any sign of keying but the box is at the bottom of a pile in a cold loft so no good !
I have looked at a small 0-6-0 loco that is easier to access but there are no signs of keying or splines.
The axles in the diagrams look like they are stepped so perhaps they are splined into the wheels .
Hope this helps.Colin.
 
With the set is a parts list with (expensive) prices! It's circa 1982 or so. That's still at the gal's house (not close). Just going by the exploded drawing of the 0-6-0 I found on line. That all the wheels are gear driven takes a lot of load off of the connecting rods. I'll have to see if I can find some appropriate screws!

Thanks: Tom
 
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