Marx 333 loco and five 3/16" scale metal cars - were these a Marx set?

Ace

I do not see a 333 set in the book anything like it, but then there probably more missing from the book than in it.

Clean it up and it will be a great outfit.

Steve

Hello ACE...........

WOW, that's quite a find !!!!!!!!! It would take very little parts and oiling to get them running again 

the woman who loves the S.F.#5021

Tiffany

Decent set with a couple pretty desirable cars in it. Clean it up and enjoy it.

Jim McClenin

All Marx are considered tin.  The 333 smokes like a 666.

Ace, if it didn't come as a set it should have.  The pieces all look perfect together.  Your LNE hopper is the queen of your set, but the Cities Service tank car is quite desirable as well.

Marx 3/16 certainly is tinplate.  Have fun!

Thank You all for the comments. I was quite happy to acquire those Marx 3/16 items.

The operating hopper dump doors are rather interesting, and they still work although the car does have noticeable surface rust - not so bad on the sides.

I also acquired these Marx plastic items in the same batch lot. The E7 loco is a disaster, the caboose has a broken corner, the boxcar is missing doors, the hopper isn't too bad. Wondering if these might have been part of a Marx set? I also got two visually identical Marx transformers, #1249 (50 watt) and #1549 (70 watt).

that 333 and the 3/16 cars are soooo common place, you won't wanna bother with them. I'll swing by and take them off your hands....  (great find!)

Rusty operating hopper Marx car just like a real one.

Charlie

I have these Marx train items restored to operation. The loco has old rough paint but the motor and E-unit work fine after cleaning and servicing. The side rods are replacements from something else, they fit OK. The cars needed rusty wheels and axles cleaned up, and I had to replace some missing wheels and couplers. These metal Marx cars have a lot of drag but the loco is fairly powerful. The die-cast tender is unusually heavy. The drivers are a bit short for a Pacific-type, but it's pretty deluxe for an old Marx!

that's not dirt and rust...that's weathering! looks great!

Ace

I have a number of 333's and prefer to use a plastic tender due to the weight and drag of the cast one. They also came with the tin wedge tender which id fairly light.  A tin or plastic tender will allow you to pull a couple more freight cars.

Steve

That's got a consist similar to a Montgomery Wards set from 1954 - the L&NE hopper wasn't originally part of the set.  Wards cataloged a lot of Marx accessories and separate sale engines and cars including the L&NE hopper.  The 1950 catalog shows a tin litho RI FT pair like the Santa Fe #21 FTs - that would have been a gorgeous addition to the Marx line if it had actually been put into production.  Finding boxed Marx 3/16ths cars is tough - very thin, easily torn cardboard equals short supply.  Certain boxes are tough to find (L&NE hopper, SF/PRR cattle cars, all the flatcars).

Some later 333s came with smoke, but most I've seen don't have a smoke unit.  They aren't the strongest pulling engines - if you can sneak in a little lead that will help the lugging capability. K-Line's reissue utilized a new mechanism that solved the pulling issue.  The diecast tenders all came with super thin paint.  It's unusual to find E or better shape tenders for a 333.  I've seen a handful of separate sale 333s - they came in a brown cardboard master carton with a divider between the engine and tender.  They weren't individually boxed.

As far as running those cars, the axles and wheels need to be super clean.  Polish the axle ends, scrub out the holes in the wheels, and use Marvel Mystery Oil to lube them.  I also wipe the bodies down with Mystery Oil as well - let it sit for a few minutes, then use old cotton t-shirts or towels and wipe the excess oil off.  It will stop the rust from spreading any further, and get rid of some of the crusty surface rust.  I've been doing the Mystery Oil treatment on tin 3/16ths bodies for 20 years, and it's safe to use.

Very nice 'set' Ace!

 Prior to Christmas I acquired a 333 with the plastic version of that tender, but Santa Fe. Cleaned it up good, lightly lubed it and around the Christmas time 'Living Room & Dining Room RR' she went!

 I love the cars! And, wouldn't mind finding the same ones to put behind my 333. Maybe with a Reading caboose. (Does anyone hear on the Forum know if Marx made a Reading tender?)

 I hope you find all the little things to complete the engine and cars.

Henry J

No Reading tender - just NYC on the tin tender with the 999, a diecast NYC tender for the 333, and Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and NYC in the plastic version of the diecast NYC tender.

There are neat 7" tin SF, SP, B&O, Monon, and NKP cabeese that can be converted to roll on 3/16s scale trucks - they're not too hard to find.

I was going to get a die cast one for mine, but after reading how heavy they are, I picked up a plastic Allstate I'm going to reletter NYC.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. My 333 loco actually pulls really well; it looks like someone had previously added a big hunk of lead weight in between the frame rails. I consider these Marx items to be a lucky find and they all go well together!

http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/rai...arx/steam/index.html

That site has good info and pix on Marx and many others. I think I read somewhere that the Marx 333 locos with smoke have a different casting with awnings over the cab windows?

The one advantage to the Marx 3/16 scale is it was a somewhat limited product as far as types an variations. Only a few are rare and expensive. Don't forget to collect both type B & D trucks. Even fewer options in the D truck.

Steve

good eye!. I had been wanting to do one, and I scored one off the bay that someone had cut the wheels off of.

I popped the wheels and axles off of the frame, flipped it over, and added the 3/16ths trucks.  The car can be turned back into a 7" 2 axle car easily.

I have 37950 thru 37958 converted, but not a State of Main................yet.

Steve

I was just thinking that myself...........

The PRR cars look nice behind the Flyer 3/16ths O gauge Pennsy K-5...

Another Marx conversion I've done is to mount the whistle unit and relay from a prewar Lionel tin 0-27 tender into a Marx 3/16ths boxcar.  A little metal work on the frame allowed me to shoehorn the assembly into the car, added Marx pickups, and I have a whistle that follows the engine (typically a Flyer 572 UP 4-8-4).  Nothing better than seeing the double takes when somebody recognizes the Flyer engine, but can't figure out how I got an S gauge engine to run on 3 rail track.