Reconstructing two Marx sets

In addition there is a Marx #454 style type signal with a time delay in the base.  The base however does not have thumbscrews but rather five eyelets that have wires soldered in and those wire ends go to track clips.  There is no signal labels or numbers and no Marx logo, but definitely Marx style signal.

This might be a Marx special signal that controlled two trains, anti-collision.  Would then make sense this was a special set with two engines instead of one.  I did not find anything in Matzke volume II page 121 about AllState sets that shed light on dates or composition.

What say, you Marx-ologists?

Sounds like you need the third Greenberg book, "Volume III, Sets", by Bob Whitacre,

a long time Marx collector who has passed.  I am assuming all the cars are plastic,

all have eight wheels, and all have tilt fork couplers (inclding the #799, or is it a

dummy knuckle)?  All this must be known when wading through the Marx morass.

Chapter VIII deals with sets with eight wheel plastic cars.  I have no interest in

Marx's not terribly realistic accessories, so know nothing about them.  In scanning

Chap. VIII I did not see the #799 listed but the 70T NYC #588 is, and since the book

was put together from contributions from collectors including myself, the fact #799

is not in there proves nothing.  Marx made a lot of different sets.

Thanks HiRailer,

The cars and dummy couplers are all plastic.

And you are right about the Marx morass.  Think it would give Sherlock Holmes a headache.

What was interesting was that the 1666 did not have a running board edge white stripe as called out in the loco "speadsheet" table, but again that may not make it a mis mark factory error.  This loco seems to have a smoke unit though I have not run the engine yet to see.

And thanks for heads up for Volume III.  Will watch for it at train shows and christmas gift it to my Marx collecting wife.

I scanned Chap. VIII again and found I missed #799 listed down in the contents of

Marx Set #9637, "Two-Train Trestle Set.  (this sounds like your set)

Loco #1666, no reverse

Tender #1951, Allstate

Flatcar, Erie, maroon, railings

Tank car, #2532, green Cities Service

Caboose, #564, Allstate, tuscan

Loco #799, Rock Island, 70T

Boxcar: #467110, B&O, red

Gon: #347100, PRR, gray

Caboose: #17858, RI, tuscan

Knuckle couplers, automatic block signal, trestle set.  "This is a special start-stop

set with the action controlled by the block signal.  Both engines forward only, no

reverse. 1959 Sears catalogue. $29.67."

Wow! Thank you!!  Absolutely dead on with details!

So now I can fix it up and give some background to the owner.  He stated when he lived in Idaho years ago, a collector offered $200 for the set, but owner did not want to sell as it was his Christmas morning first train set.

Googled the book and originally was $40, has morphed into $114 - $230 ranges depending on seller.  Gulp.

Oops...I got mine directly from the author....did not know the book had gone that high... keep looking in shows.....the other Matzke books seem common...

The Marx Greenberg books have gone through the roof as far as price goes - unless you get lucky, you'll shell out quite a few dollars for clean copies.

Worse luck, I've only got one of Volume III.  I have a number of the others, for once,

they were selling the Matzke books dirt cheap in shows.

Both engines should not have reverse units to work with that controller. Some "special" track sections will be needed to set it up correctly. The special sections just are missing the center rail pin and the center rail about 1/8" shorter. I have a wiring diagram if you choose to try and set it up with the controller.

Vol III sells for more than I & II usually.

Steve

This is a similar set I had a few years back,

Hi Steve,

Would appreciate scanning the wiring diagram and I will pass it to the set owner in case he wants to get the set going again.

Thanks

Sorry for the delay, busy weekend.

Steve

Thank you Steve for the information.  "Kinda" what I thought it would hook up as after I examined the wiring and lockons.

Whats different about this set is its a figure eight but with trestle set and tunnel portals.  So would have to layout the tracks and see where the special track sections might be put, as now have to factor in speed and gravity pulling train down the slope, so they stop correctly without overshoot.