Marx 666 Question

Mike

The 666 is as good a runner as the 999. A little bigger & heavier so a little better puller. Most 666's had smoke and it is a good unit. They will work on most thin smoke fluids, MegaSteam, K-Line, Williams, MTH. I've been told by some old time Marxist the Lionel fluid is a little thicker and over time will leave a build up and cause performance to drop off. The gearing on the 666 will also negotiate most switches and crossovers.

Early K-Line Pacifics in the K-3000 series used reworked Marx molds for the loco so are spitting images of the 333, but MUCH better pullers. The tender is iffy. Some were based on Marx molds, some were not. The 333 & 999 are both close to 3/16 scale in size so look great pulling those tin cars.

Steve, I'm a proud Marxaholic

Steve, now that we know what we are "Marxaholics", we can leave our closets and play

together .

Al 

The Marx 666 2-4-2 steam locomotive is a very reliable engine.  It can pull a ton of the 3/16 scale cars and looks good doing it.  I have a Marx freight set from 1958 with the 666 engine which belonged to my Grandfather and the engines runs super.  It still has the original headlamp which still works and it smokes up a pretty good storm.  I use Marx smoke fluid which I buy off of the bay from time to time.  I love the smell of Marx smoke fluid.

Yes the 666 can pull a good load of well maintained cars. I do not recomend this for long periods of time, but fun for short runs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjSQIl9jmL4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdtV82CzRSc

Steve

I have 3-999, 3-666 and 2-333 Marx locos.  I also have two boxed 999 sets.  My childhood 999 has been run so much the gears are worn and now bind up.

I prefer to run the 999, they just seam to derail less.  By the way I have 27 Marx #1610, metal frogged switches on my layout to accommodate the wide 999 wheel flanges and because I already had some and they are inexpensive vs Lionel. 

The 666s run okay but seam top heavy and derail more and I personally do not like their looks as much. 

The 333s looks the best but is a poor runner with more wheels fore and aft to derail.  Now you have more opinions!

Charlie

I found out that the 999 won't go through Fastrack switches. I wonder if it will run through Lionel 1121 switches since they are similar to Marx switches.

The 999 has gear teeth to the edge of the wheel flange.  This makes the wheels too wide to go though most switches, including every Lionel I have tried (Correction: others have pointed out some Lionel switches will pass the 999 flanges).  The only switches I know of that will pass this engine are the Marx, plastic and metal.  The metal #1610, usually with red solnoid covers, is better in my opinion.  The Marx plastic ones have a plastic frog gets worn and causes derailments.

Charlie

Have you tried the 1121?  Lionel's locos with the similar gear arrangement(single reduction) go through these just fine.

I have a couple of 666's and a 1666 (similar engine, but plastic body) and they are great runners and smokers. The 666 seem bigger than the 3/16" stuff to me so I usually run them with Lionel postwar cars using Lionel tenders or a Marx slope back tender with Lionel trucks. The double reduction gearing makes them run a little slower than the 999, but I find the slow speed operation of the 666 is really good.

Al

The TTOS Southern Pacific Division has quite a few infected with the Marx virus. Not all have made it to the Marxaholic stage, but it makes our meets quite fun when there are a good number who appreciate the absolute simplicity, reliability and toy like nature of Marx.

Steve

Charlie

The 666, 1666, 333 & 1829 all use the cast pilot trucks with the sharper edge flange on the wheels. These sharper edges find more thing to get caught on than the rounded flanges on 999 & CP pilot wheels.

Steve

The very last version of the 999 is the best by far, but also the hardest to find. It has the double reduction motor so will negotiate most switches. The outward appearance is hard to determine unless someone will show a photo of the undersides. The only obvious give away is the Marx logo. Instead of being near the smoke stack, it will be on the cab. A real gem if you can get one. The absolute ultimate 999 is one I picked up that was converted to run a New Marx/Ameritrains running gear. Worm gears driving an axle gear, no gears on the driver anywhere plus an electronic 3 position e-unit. Best of both worlds.

Steve

The 666 and 1666 can be made to smoke better by repacking their smoke units with new fiberglass insulation. I did it to mine, and it made a world of difference.

I have some 1121 and 1024 switches stashed away. I guess I'll just need to try them and see.

Back to the pulling power of the 666, I got curious about how much they could pull.

So, I set up a test train of all Lionel cars, 4 passenger, and 4 route 66 flats.

Maximine train was the passenger cars and 1 flat car.

Then I got curious how big of a train my Bachmann ten wheeler could handle.

I then started with the load the 666 could pull and worked up to 14 cars and the 10 wheeler was still moving.  Train length is 17 feet.  Now I need to dig out some more cars and will post the final number.

Al

Since several of you have found Lionel switches that will pass the 999 drivers I stand corrected.  The Lionel switches for my boyhood friend and the couple I have will not pass them but there are other that will.  Thanks for correcting me.

Charlie

Well, the verdict is in. I took some time off from packing today and set up a small 027 loop with a pair of 1121 switches. The 999 ran through the switches without a hitch. Just need to put track pins in the center rail where they meet the swivel rails to keep the sliding shoes from snagging the rail end. I've had to do that for some of my Lionel sliding shoe engines, also.

Also, my Marx Army set I just got with the green diecast 666 looks, runs, and smokes great. It's a very clean set. I got it from a member of our TCA chapter. Even came with a bottle of Marx smoke fluid. We have a Marx expert in our TCA chapter and I talked to him about the comments that the 666 is more prone to derailment. He said that the trick is to remove the tender shell and add weight. He said the tenders are too light and generally derail first, causing the engine to derail. He said otherwise the 666 is pretty much bullet proof.

Have a good day.

with larger sets, Marx sometimes saw the need for a weighted tender, though in the case of a lighted tender they may have added to ensure a solid center rail contact.

(951) weighted wedge tender w/ spotlight