Marx Tinplate: The Three Most Important Things?

Before you Buy?

Buy what you like. Make sure it has not been modified.

There are several lines of Marx cars:

-four wheel six inch lithographed cars with tab and slot couplers, or knuckle couplers, or sliding tab and slot for wind up trains, one way couplers on prewar trains

-Plastic basic cars with only four wheels, or four wheel trucks. These cars have no operating parts and are smaller that deluxe cars

-plastic deluxe cars are larger that the basic cars, have features like sliding doors and handrails on some cars, searchlight cars, etc

-seven inch lithographed cars. Usually four wheel.

After you buy it, do not clean it with alcohol. Alcohol will remove the finish.

Straighten the axles and they are often bent. They must be removed to straighten them.

Straighten the couplers. Many kids bend them into weird shapes to stay coupled on lumpy track work. The couplers work best as originally made.

There are some Greenberg Marx books available on the secondary market. You should get some of them.

Mannyrock...

Interested in some Marx?...all good runners...no rust buckets...contact me direct via my email address which is in my profile...I probably can help you in you quest...

Howard...

Avoid the Marx "fat wheel" locos if you want to run on conventional Lionel switches with frogs. These have a drive gear next to the wheel which is larger than the wheel tread diameter.