Marx NYC Copper Queen Set

Trainlover9943 posted:

I have a Marx Copper Queen set and I need to replace the wheels on the cars and tender as they are in bad shape. How do I open them up to do the work? I see little tabs on the sides of the cars and tender, do I remove them and if so how? Also, the engine does not run and the headlight does not work. It just buzzes when on the track. Attached is some photos of the inside of that. 

Yeah you can bend those tabs open and then take the shell off, but make sure to heat the tabs with a soldiering iron or something to heat the metal and prevent the tabs from breaking.

Before pulling the cars apart, you could try straightening the axles in place. The best way is to grab the wheel, outside to inside, with a parallel pliers or small water pump pliers.

Marx tabs are fairly tough, but that's beside the point here.  many of these cars have wheels on axles that are double crimped (outside as well as the normal inside crimp) as these appear to be.  it is rather impossible to remove these without damaging the car.

Sid's Trains posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

I have a Marx Copper Queen set and I need to replace the wheels on the cars and tender as they are in bad shape. How do I open them up to do the work? I see little tabs on the sides of the cars and tender, do I remove them and if so how? Also, the engine does not run and the headlight does not work. It just buzzes when on the track. Attached is some photos of the inside of that. 

Yeah you can bend those tabs open and then take the shell off, but make sure to heat the tabs with a soldiering iron or something to heat the metal and prevent the tabs from breaking.

Alright. I have a heat gun, would that work? 

Trainlover9943 posted:

Sid's Trains posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

I have a Marx Copper Queen set and I need to replace the wheels on the cars and tender as they are in bad shape. How do I open them up to do the work? I see little tabs on the sides of the cars and tender, do I remove them and if so how? Also, the engine does not run and the headlight does not work. It just buzzes when on the track. Attached is some photos of the inside of that. 

Yeah you can bend those tabs open and then take the shell off, but make sure to heat the tabs with a soldiering iron or something to heat the metal and prevent the tabs from breaking.

Alright. I have a heat gun, would that work? 

A heat gun will do a fine/quick job of destroying the original lithography finish.

RoyBoy posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

Sid's Trains posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

I have a Marx Copper Queen set and I need to replace the wheels on the cars and tender as they are in bad shape. How do I open them up to do the work? I see little tabs on the sides of the cars and tender, do I remove them and if so how? Also, the engine does not run and the headlight does not work. It just buzzes when on the track. Attached is some photos of the inside of that. 

Yeah you can bend those tabs open and then take the shell off, but make sure to heat the tabs with a soldiering iron or something to heat the metal and prevent the tabs from breaking.

Alright. I have a heat gun, would that work? 

A heat gun will do a fine/quick job of destroying the original lithography finish.

Good thing I asked first. 

i only use one tool for bending Marx tabs... my fingernail.

overlandflyer posted:

i only use one tool for bending Marx tabs... my fingernail.

I'd destroy mine bending them. 

Well, I got the engine running, has a smell to it when running, oozone maybe? Forgive the shaky camera. I'd imagine the inside could use some cleaning. Also, the one pickup is bent, would a pair of pillars bend it back? 

I have straightened a few without removing anything, that is the best option, even if they are not perfect they should be run able. If you really are intent on removing them, I have carefully ground the nubs off with a demmel cutting disc.

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

I have straightened a few without removing anything, that is the best option, even if they are not perfect they should be run able. If you really are intent on removing them, I have carefully ground the nubs off with a demmel cutting disc.

Steve

 

Some of the wheels are so bent to the point where the cars don't roll well at all. I just want them to run. 

Maybe the cars aren't as bad as I thought. 3 of the 4 that I have roll, not perfectly but do roll. The engine run alright too, the wheels probably need to be cleaned could be the reason for the sparking. 

Trainlover9943 posted:

overlandflyer posted:

i only use one tool for bending Marx tabs... my fingernail.

I'd destroy mine bending them. 

i can’t say i have’t broken a fingernail or two... not a perfect record, but i’ve definitely broken less tabs.

early Flyer tabs are another story... very fragile.

Two of the cars and the engine need new light bulbs. Where can I get them? 

E-bay. Look on the base of the bulb to see what the number is & match it to whats available on the bay.

balidas posted:

E-bay. Look on the base of the bulb to see what the number is & match it to whats available on the bay.

Alright. I'll take a look. 

Here is the best place for Marx parts  http://www.trainpartsformarx.com/

It's highly unlikely that the wheels are bent. The pictures show that the AXLES are bent.

Try straightening out the loco pickup with a pair of needle nosed pliers, but be gentle. Less pressure is always better than more pressure.

Don't get insulted, but from your questions and suggestions, my impression is that you are new to train repair and/or perhaps not "mechanically inclined" as we used to say. Do you know any one who can help you? Can you try your skills on some Marx pieces that are less valuable than the copper queen? You have one of the more desirable Marx sets and you might want to work on some common stuff to develop your skills first.

RoyBoy posted:

Here is the best place for Marx parts  http://www.trainpartsformarx.com/

It's highly unlikely that the wheels are bent. The pictures show that the AXLES are bent.

Try straightening out the loco pickup with a pair of needle nosed pliers, but be gentle. Less pressure is always better than more pressure.

Don't get insulted, but from your questions and suggestions, my impression is that you are new to train repair and/or perhaps not "mechanically inclined" as we used to say. Do you know any one who can help you? Can you try your skills on some Marx pieces that are less valuable than the copper queen? You have one of the more desirable Marx sets and you might want to work on some common stuff to develop your skills first.

Yes, I am new to train repair, still learning, especially on these prewar items. Thanks for the link. This is my first Marx set. I could send the cars out to a hobby shop but don't have any friends who have Marx items.

One thing to be aware of is the wheels on the locomotive are called fat gear wheels. This is an early Marx motor, & seeing as you are running on Fasttrack, these wheels will not clear your switches or crossovers.

balidas posted:

One thing to be aware of is the wheels on the locomotive are called fat gear wheels. This is an early Marx motor, & seeing as you are running on Fasttrack, these wheels will not clear your switches or crossovers.

Yes, found that out the hard way. Anything I can do to fix that beside change track? 

It always amazes me when a first-timer buys his first set, and has the good fortune to obtain a desirable set. I didn't get my copper queen until I had been collecting for fifty years. Of course, I was broke for 45 of those years.

When you straighten tabs, they do not need to be completely straight. The less you bend them, the less they will have to be bent back. But you can straighten the axles without taking them off the cars. So you should not have to bend the tabs at all.

You should buy a few six inch Marx cars, bend the axles and straighten them out again before attacking your copper queen. The axles get bent from dropping the car on its wheels, or from a child pressing down on the top of the car real hard. The axles are one of the weak points of the cars.

Trainlover9943 posted:

balidas posted:

One thing to be aware of is the wheels on the locomotive are called fat gear wheels. This is an early Marx motor, & seeing as you are running on Fasttrack, these wheels will not clear your switches or crossovers.

Yes, found that out the hard way. Anything I can do to fix that beside change track? 

You can use Marx tinplate switches, or prewar American Flyer switches.

RoyBoy posted:

It always amazes me when a first-timer buys his first set, and has the good fortune to obtain a desirable set. I didn't get my copper queen until I had been collecting for fifty years. Of course, I was broke for 45 of those years.

When you straighten tabs, they do not need to be completely straight. The less you bend them, the less they will have to be bent back. But you can straighten the axles without taking them off the cars. So you should not have to bend the tabs at all.

You should buy a few six inch Marx cars, bend the axles and straighten them out again before attacking your copper queen. The axles get bent from dropping the car on its wheels, or from a child pressing down on the top of the car real hard. The axles are one of the weak points of the cars.

The set was given to me by my grandfather, he had it when he was a kid. I've been looking on Ebay for some 6 inch passenger cars. 

Trainlover9943 posted:

balidas posted:

One thing to be aware of is the wheels on the locomotive are called fat gear wheels. This is an early Marx motor, & seeing as you are running on Fasttrack, these wheels will not clear your switches or crossovers.

Yes, found that out the hard way. Anything I can do to fix that beside change track? 

You can switch out the motor for a later one. The motors themselves do come up on the bay from time to time. I did that with a few of my Marx & plan on doing that with my Copper Queen.

I probably should replace the wiring in it don't you think? 

Trainlover9943 posted:

I probably should replace the wiring in it don't you think? 

Why? It still works, doesn't it?

balidas posted:

You can switch out the motor for a later one. The motors themselves do come up on the bay from time to time. I did that with a few of my Marx & plan on doing that with my Copper Queen.

Plastic 400 and 490 locos are good choices for double reduction motors. Make sure you get the ones with metal motor side frames.

You can also use motors from non-smoking 666 and 1666 locos.

RoyBoy posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

I probably should replace the wiring in it don't you think? 

Why? It still works, doesn't it?

Yes it does. Wasn't sure it if it would help by getting rid of the old wiring. It's a little ratty and kinda nasty looking. 

Decided to run this engine today, it didn't run and immediately drew 10 amps. I have it open now and want to get into the motor to clean it up a bit. I'm not sure how, I see some nuts and a screw. 

Need to narrow it down a bit. When it drew 10amps, sounds like a short. Was the whole set on the track or just the loco?

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Need to narrow it down a bit. When it drew 10amps, sounds like a short. Was the whole set on the track or just the loco?

Steve

The whole set was. I gave it another test (by itself, before I saw your reply) and it doesn't draw crazy amps but it doesn't move.