Marx Train station from the late 1930's

could you be a little more specific as to who's catalog pages you are looking at?  early on, Marx published their Timely Table accessory catalog, but i can see no reference to a station set in that listing.

in that early time period, i would think the station would be a Union station (very small for O scale), but with you comment as to it looking like a Lionel #127, i'd say the best guess would be a Girard (whistle) or Oak Park (diesel horn) station.  both came as lighted and unlighted versions.

again, if you could scan or better reference the pages you are looking at, it would be a great help with an ID.

cheers...gary

Gary,

   The pages are from "The W. Bingham Co." catalog and the pictures are really drawings not even black and white photos.

     Thanks,

          Kevin

After a quick google of the Marx stations I would describe what I saw as a cross between the large Grand Central and small Union Freight Stations. It looked larger than GCS out in front of the building and had the slot and crossing gate like the small Union one.

 Hi,

    Here is the imagine that I was talking about.  It is in the 1939 & 1940 catalog.

      Kevin

that explains it... you're looking at Hafner, not Marx.  the station is their Glen Ellen (cat no. 400) with semaphore.  the station is not that uncommon, but finding it with the semaphore is a bit more difficult.  once they get split up (the semaphore post is removable) they typically get separated in resales.

in size and form it's very close to the Flyer No. 90, Hyde Park Station.

cheers...gary

Here is a picture of the one on my Marx layout. It is sized nicely for 6" tin

J White

Hi,

          Ok so I guess everything on those catalog pages was not Marx.  Thank you for the photo, the litho looks very close to the Ives power station that I found in my parent's attic.  I have seen the three separate accessories with green bases for sale, but not I know what the station looks like.

    Thank you both for the info.

          Kevin

I think the station also came with a red roof and green base too. When i found this one a few years ago, they seemed to be going for about twenty to thirty bucks on eBay. what kind of trains are you running on the layout that the station will go on? If I have something similar, i'll try to get a shot or two of it with the rolling stock so you can get an idea of the size of it.

J White

Hi,

    I am in the process of gathering the pieces to run my 1939 Marx wind up set.  Although I just picked up 3 red framed Marx cars for a very good price, so I am now thinking about getting the electric engine to go with it.  here we go, more stuff to collect and play with.....

     Kevin

since some may not be aware, i'd just like to point out that Marx made two types of red frame cars...

to avoid confusion, the one of the right is often referred to as the red 'litho' frame.

notwithstanding the 'anything goes with Marx' motto most collectors follow, the red litho frame sets most commonly came with the black plate Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive along with a BLACK frame CV rivet tender.  i cannot say i haven't seen this tender with a red litho frame, but it never left the Marx factory that way.

cheers...gary

Thanks for the info on the frames. So far I've not bought anything with autocouplers. Did they make those with tab and slot as well?

Here's a shot of a red framed caboose going past the station:

I think they fit nice together,

J White

though i agree, they usually appear off white or grey to me, too, these are known as silver litho frames...

these were some of the earliest Marx tin cars.  after only about a year in production, the frame and many of the early litho car designs changed to the more recognizable 550-series cars.  unlike the red frames which only came on certain cars, the silver litho frames were valid for all the early cars including tenders.

sure would like to see what you describe as a smoke generating bulb.  the CV was never built in production as a smoker, so i've got to think your locomotive was either a home-brew or a factory prototype.

Kevin, here's a picture of the contents of that set you showed in the catalog cut (they are the items in the lower part of the picture).

 

Hafner also made long narrow stations and freight stations (the two on the bottom of this picture). Their shape, although not their litho, is a close copy of the Bing stations.

 

Bing Freight and Passenger

 

 

 

 

Hi,

    Thanks for the great photos and information.  Doing a quick eBay search I found one with a yellow roof and another with a brown roof.

     Kevin

 Wow,  it certainly is!

not surprising...  Hafner color variations could fill a warehouse.  i can only imagine William H. routinely pulling up to the factory loading dock with 50 gallons of closeout colors from the local Sherwin Williams outlet.

whatever the color, always be wary of pieces like this that are a combination of solid and graphic litho where the condition is not consistent throughout the piece.  a pristine condition roof or platform with playworn station sides will often indicates a partial repaint/ restoration.

Here's a shot with the AF 90 Hyde Park station and the Hafner 400 station:

J White