Marx 933 Clockwork with Battery Headlight

Can't help with your question Steve but it's a neat piece!

Gosh Steve, you come up with some pretty esoteric stuff.  Never heard of this one.  Didn't know Marx made a clockwork that big.  I'd look it up in my book to see the tender, but I'm away from home and won't be back for another week.

Wouldn't Robert Grossman's be the best bet for the gear, they're the Marx parts place extrordinaire!

 

looks like you've got the headlight working, and the rust doesn't show on the outside.  Funky little thumbscrew, holds the battery in place?

Hojac

No, Robert does not have the gear. I do have the Greenberg Set Book and it references a set with the big engine, but does not say if it has the headlight so I assume this is from a set that never got into the book. The thumb screw actually works as the on/off switch.

 

Steve

 

Cool!  Classic Marx ingenuity!

Looks like you're going to have to find another one of these to use for parts.  Like restoring Farmall tractors - get 2 or 3 and see if you can make one that runs.  Trouble is, it's always the same parts that are worn...

My buddy James has the gear I need so it will soon be working as it should.

 

Steve

very nice!

Never say never when it comes to Marx. And now for something completely different..seems to a theme to their variations and mutations.

Neat piece...my clockwork AF Zephyr has the same set up...C battery for the headlight. My other Marx had the sparker for the headlight...think I sent that one to Electroliner as I recall.

Still sparking along..maybe this Spring when I come up we can do some more horse trading...

The 933 w/ battery headlight is a great find, I'm glad Steve got it! 

 

The diecast gear is unusual, but they were used in a few ratchet motors in that era.  Normally, Marx used a stamped steel gear that is a lot more robust.  I don't know why they tried a diecast gear there - perhaps a cost cutting measure - but it was toward the end of the ratchet motor production, and thankfully wasn't continued in the next generation riser gear motor.  However, a locomotive this rare deserves to have all original parts, so it will get a good diecast gear installed instead of the common steel gear... I have a couple in the parts bin, glad to contribute one to the cause.  Under Steve's care, it should last many years!

 

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Steve!

...toss me a date when you know it and we'll go from there...again.  Aristo is a hot commodity now for some reason...

There's the problem! 

 

 

 

The new gear is installed and a minor governor issued corrected:

 

It will be coming home soon, Steve! 

James

I knew the teeth were flat topped, but it is interesting it does not seem to be the same all the way around. Wonder if the hole was very slightly off center?

 

Steve

It's possible that it was off-center, I may chuck it up in the lathe and check it just out of curiosity.  The governor had problems, which apparently caused it to stick at certain points of it's rotation, which led to the failure of the diecast gear.  If the gear was a bit off-center, it would have made it even more prone to stripping.

 

I'll send the bad gear back so you can take a closer look at it...  

James

Got it the other day, thank you. I spun the gear & shaft in my drill and it does have a little wobble to it.

 

thank you very much

 

Steve

Glad to get another rare Marx back on the rails, Steve!  Always happy to help out. 

 

As a side note... been researching gears, doodling on scratchpads and figuring gear ratios for the other project.... 

I needed a gear for a 57 Thunderbird radio. It was in the signal search, motor drive circuit and the nylon stripped over the years. I looked high and low in all the gear catalogs I could find, and finally found one... in the hobby shop's R/C car section. All I had to do was bore out the center hole.

 

Check out the R/C car hobby guys. They have lots of gears and they are often made of very sturdy materials.

I just bought a 933 at an antique show in Bloomsburg, it was repainted, I was going to repaint it in gloss black, it has a flat black paint job. When I got it home, I discovered it was not just another Marx windup, but a 933 with the battery holder and the light bulb mount, in excellent mechanical condition, all parts there, except for the light bulb. Can't wait to paint it gloss black and find a real nice NYC tin tender for it. Unless someone wants to buy it for the light parts and the mechanism.