Marx 6" tin varnish question

"Most" sets came with an observation, Montclair and a Bogota, but it was not unusual to see 2 Bogota or 2 Montclairs with an observation.

Steve

There are always the lighted variety too. 

You can also have all of one type (Montclair or Bogota) and an observation or, if you have one of the five car sets, 2 Montclair's 2 Bogota's and an observation.

Jim O'C posted:

There are always the lighted variety too. 

I had no idea this existed.

And the version with the lithographed frame:

Regards

Fred

double the wheels for twice the racket!

Let's not forget the Marx 6" tin passenger cars in other colors than red... such as the green & yellow "Seaboard" cars:

Not to mention the blue cars, silver cars, and the early red passenger cars with the Joy Line couplers... I like all of them!

WindupGuy posted:

Not to mention ... the early red passenger cars with the Joy Line couplers...

pretty, pretty, pretty...

There is just something about the early red cars with the silver litho on the frames and the punched out windows... I think they look really classy.  

some may think they are more valuable, but compare how many Lionel Blue Comet sets are available month after month to the Marx Mercury version.

 Clean your CV arm.plate, wipe brushes well, clean&shine brush tubes, check springs are good & tight, wheels not "powdery"(polish). My CVs will go from a creep at full throttle, 18v; to flying at 12v and creeping at 8v once freshly "tuned". They don't like brush dust in the plate gaps or resistance from oily/varnished/tarnished surfaces .

Robert Grossman Co used to have the pickup/light assemblys.

WindupGuy posted:

...

James, speaking of CV's ... the good kind ... key wind.

i finally "sprang" for your book...
have to say putting pictures to your descriptions really(!) helps.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

cheers...gary

also the 2071 and 2072 NYC coach and observation. Although the PKC need to T&S situation would need to be adressed. 

Jim O'C posted:

also the 2071 and 2072 NYC coach and observation. Although the PKC need to T&S situation would need to be adressed. 

These are very pretty!  (I am sure they are still noisy - but very pretty!)

What is a reasonable price point for a observation to go with the Bogota and Montclair cars?  Now that I know to look I have seem them for about $28 on the bay, which seems kinda high since I only originally paid 40 bucks for the three cars I have plus the CV and tender.  One was lighted and one was not.  the lighted one seemed to be missing the lens, making it quite overpriced to me.

I think this will be a wait until I see one at a show type purchase for me, but still curious as to what's fair.

the hardest part about putting a good red coach set together is trying to get a good match to the trim that can be anywhere between a mellow yellow/ cream color to a very stark white.

 I don't watch trends close, and definitely operate more than collect, but the most I've paid for a Marx car was $8 for a nyc coal tender and $17 on some post war streamlined SF about 5 years ago. None super pretty; just "play grade".

Two years before that it was spare change to $5 around here.

  The highest show price I saw was a like new, red on red/white observation, gold deck, for $25 in 2015. (I cleaned out his spare parts instead)

Jim O'C posted:

also the 2071 and 2072 NYC coach and observation. Although the PKC need to T&S situation would need to be adressed. 

I have a nice set of the silver NYC coaches, but converted to 8 wheel frames.

Steve

Wondering if Marx intended the Bogata car to be pronounced like the South American city or the town her in NJ that we call Bah'-go-ta?

Scotie posted:

Wondering if Marx intended the Bogata car to be pronounced like the South American city or the town her in NJ that we call Bah'-go-ta?

i called up the Bogota (NJ) public library years ago to ask...their answer was the stress is on the "GO" as in bah-GO-ta.

Bogota and Madison are both NJ towns where some of Marx's dept store customer execs lived.

not to get off on a tangent track, but "Squaw Bonnet" is the Marx name that has always puzzled me.  there is a mountain in NY named Snowy Mountain that claims it used to be called Squaw Bonnet, but it wasn't a town, just the mountain.  maybe it was a ski resort, too?

overlandflyer posted:

Scotie posted:

Wondering if Marx intended the Bogata car to be pronounced like the South American city or the town her in NJ that we call Bah'-go-ta?

i called up the Bogota (NJ) public library years ago to ask...their answer was the stress is on the "GO" as in bah-GO-ta.

Bogota and Madison are both NJ towns where some of Marx's dept store customer execs lived.

not to get off on a tangent track, but "Squaw Bonnet" is the Marx name that has always puzzled me.  there is a mountain in NY named Snowy Mountain that claims it used to be called Squaw Bonnet, but it wasn't a town, just the mountain.  maybe it was a ski resort, too?

Just another of Louis Marx sales ploys, naming products after towns or points of interest that appealed directly to the retail toy buyers of department stores. The Squaw Bonnet was an actual sleeper car on the UP streamliner that was built by Pullman in 1936 and stayed in service until 1953. Sold for scrap.

Thanks to another forum member reaching out, I now have a matching observation!!

Thanks Gary!

Here it is on the FCC (filing cabinet central).  The whole train looks great combined with the recently acquired wedge tender.  I may have to interchange equipment again soon and take the train home to stretch its legs.  (Funny thing I noticed last night though - I have tinplate passenger equipment from Marx, AF, Lionel, and MTH.  And its all red!!!)

Nothing wrong with a classic red tinplate passenger train!

nope 

\

Red IS yummy too 🤔

😯 Ooo; a piece of candy!

😯Ooo; a piece of candy!

😯Ooo; a piece of candy!

😯Ooo; a piece of candy!

😯Ooo; a piece of candy!

😯Ooo, a piece of candy!

Eating up tinplate on piece at a time 😁

Jim O'C posted:

also the 2071 and 2072 NYC coach and observation. Although the PKC need to T&S situation would need to be adressed. 

There's nothing to address. The tab from a T&S coupler slides right into a plastic knuckle coupler.

J White

 

tender frames can make a good coupler transition car kitbashes and the only way i know to transition anything else to 6" auto couplers.... though only in one direction.