Thoughts on the Marx 1998 Alco S-3 Switcher

The Marx 1998 Alco switcher is the best running Marx ever made (better runner than Lionel too).  I have had a hybrid 1998 (Marx 1998 inside and cut down Lionel NW 2 switcher outside as I bought the 1998, in 1982, without a body) for 30 years. I installed a Lionel coupler on one end, left Marx on other end.  I have another Marx 1998 also.

One area of my layout is an oval with figure 8 using four Marx 1590, 027 switches.  The 1998 will navigate that figure 8 much faster than any other engine and really sticks to the curves at reckless speeds.  It excels at keeping its wheels on the the track and is a real racer.    It reverses very well too.  It is average at pulling cars.  I operate Lionel LW transformers which have a fast speed control lever.

The quality is good and I have not had any problems.  I have a few Marx 999 that run well and better than my 666 and 333.   My Marx 1095 run okay to buy not as good as the 1998.

The 1998 is still the favorite of my grown daughter always runs it when she visits.

Charlie

I have two and they are great runners. I bought one and the antique dealer gave me another free !   I would like to put a Lionel knuckle coupler on one to pull my Lionel but can't figure out a way. I don't know how common they are but doubt if they are expensive. If I were you, look for a god one and buy it.

I acquired a Marx 1998 less than a year ago. It was cosmetically very good but the wheels were all corroded, as if it had sat on a damp surface for some time. Lucky for me, the loco ran just fine after I cleaned up the wheels. It just needed general cleaning and lubrication. The E-unit worked just fine without any attention.

Mine does not have a traction tire and I think that means it may be one of the  less common early versions. Most of them had one traction tire?

The ingenious thing about the design is that it uses a central 4-wheel motor mechanism and the outer wheels pivot with the truck sideframes. I've seen that arrangement on some cheap-looking HO steam locos with tender drive, and it looked crappy. But the Marx does a good job of pretending to be a B-B loco when it is actually a 1-B-1 arrangement. The fact that the inner wheels do not pivot as on separate trucks is not readily apparent. One quirk with this arrangement is that the unit overhangs the outer corners more than usual on curves.

My unit pulls pretty well, even without a traction tire and with only the four inner wheels powered. However, it does look oversize next to many "traditional" size cars and locos. It's actually closer to 1:48 scale than most Marx and postwar Lionel items. Note that the front and rear cab windows are solid plastic, no openings.

One slight problem: the unit sometimes reverses unexpectedly on one part of my main O27 layout where I have an O27 switch next to a 45 degree crossing. It has marginal electrical contact with the rails at a certain point. I'm still troubleshooting that and may change the switch arrangement.

I've elected to keep the original "scissors" couplers on the loco. I use an adaptor car or home-made coupler adaptor if I want to pull Lionel cars.

Anyhow, I'm real happy with my unit overall. It performs well. Your results may vary.

Really nice!

These are very common, with the red ATSF and yellow UP versions being most common.  Less frequently found are Rock Island, and a blue to green (colors seem to vary) Allstate one.  The red ATSF is found in red darkening to almost black.  (must have been their plastic mix for the day)

Because they run and pull decently, I have used the 1998 motor & chassis in some custom projects, ie tin.

Steve

They also made one that Sound of Power or something like that. It was supposed to sound like a diesel engine, but it sounds more to me like baseball cards in the bicycle spokes. It doesn't take too long before I switch that engine out when I am running it as the noise gets to me rather quickly.

Both of them I have are in UP paint. They do run nice and pull a decent amount of cars. Here's a shot of one of them at our modular club:

 K-Line and RMT used this tooling as well, so if you want one with knuckle couplers, one of those may be a better place to start. K-Line made them in a million (give or take)  different road names and a lot of them seem to go for about the same money as a Marx one.

J White

I have a bunch of Marx cars so will make an "adapter" car. I was looking at some old TCA magazines this AM and the April 05 issue has a short article on the Marx switcher.

Has anyone gone to the trouble of cutting out the solid plastic windows on the front and rear of the 1998 cab to maybe improve the appearance?

Grossman sells the adapter knuckle coupler that fits into the Marx coupler and lets you hook up knuckle coupler cars. No converting anything. I use them and they work well.

Not familiar with Grossman ?? Dealer ? Member ?  Please let me know. Thanks

Mine ran good as Marx motors always do, I did sell it because the buyer offered me a fair price.

Right off the layout.

Grossman is the Marx parts supplier in the Cleveland, Ohio area...google "Marx parts". and he should come up.  (or show up at the Marx meet at York, and he will probably be there)  He has remade a lot of Marx parts.

This is serendipity. I just bought a set at an antique shop today, with the Santa Fe S-2, a couple cars and a Santa Fe caboose. Have to check it over and get it running. 

Here are some photos of the Lionel coupling replacing the original Marx coupling on a Marx 1998.  This was done in 1982 and is how I remember how it was done.

Picture of Marx coupler on 1998 before removal - save coupling to add to a Lionel car with two Lionel coupling if you want to add a Marx coupling on one end.

The Coupler is from an old Lionel plastic truck, cut up with a razor saw.  A hole was drilled and cut out to fit over the projection left from the original coupling.  The silver is the head of a small dia, 3/4 inch long bolt that holds the new coupler to the spot where the original coupling had been.  The bolt is semi tight to allow the coupler to swing side to side with the projection staying in the enlarged hole at the bottom.  Two nuts are used on the bolt to keep it semi tight and hold that position.

A small project but it works great and lets the Marx 1998 handle Marx and Lionel coupled cars.

Charlie

I did something similar except that I used a KMT coupler because that's what I had in the parts box.  I also put an On/Off switch on the Marx E-Unit power supply.  Once that's done, the Marx diesel truck (also used on the E7) is a good runner.