please identify Marx 3/16 underframes ?

I agree the short one is a crane. the other I don't know.

Short one is a wrecker, the long one was for the searchlight.

Steve

Steamer posted:

I agree the short one is a crane. the other I don't know.

dang... i've been looking for a 6" 8-wh wrecker for a while now after i discovered mine was a kit-bash.

anyway, here is the scale version which is more like the frame you pictured...

and here is the spotlight car Steve mentioned...

you can see the slots for the platform in your frame.  the spotlight pivot is on the platform which explains why the car doesn't have the same type of pivot frame as the wrecker.  the two attachment points near the center are for power (insulated feed-through) and frame ground.  the pivot has a stop-tab which prevents the light from rotating more than 360°.

there is a dual spotlight car which i've only seen once and is extremely rare.
cheers...gary

Thank you all for the info and pics. I didn't know Marx made 'scale' versions of those items. Maybe I will hammer those underframes straight and kitbash something ...

suppose i could have included a picture of the wrecker upright...

aside from the two boom supports and the hook, the entire superstructure is plastic.  not exceptionally rare, but a bit less common than the majority of the standard 3/16" scale freight cars.

something i find a bit interesting about this particular car is the mix of plastic and metal.  Marx started making plastic parts in 1953, or at least that's the date they ditched tab/ slot in favor of the dummy knuckle couplers for their 6" tin.  i always assumed this is also when the scale couplers changed from metal to plastic, too, but here is a plastic crane on a metal flat with metal couplers.

cheers...gary