Marx Trains' Hail Mary Play - The Meteor Set Of 1974

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Күн бұрын

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@srenchin 10 ай бұрын

This video was a pleasant surprise, I vividly remember the morning of November 8th 1974 when I received this Marx Meteor set for my fourth birthday. My father supplemented the original set with four manual throw Lionel turnouts and several additional sections of three rail track. I played with that set for an entire year until on my fifth birthday I upgraded to HO scale with a Tyco train set. I remember my father complaining about all the money he had to spend replacing the batteries.😄

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Great story!

@mikepasko7493 12 күн бұрын

GREAT INFORMATION FOR A 999 owner since my dad got me my first train, a Marx in the mid 50’s….I remember him going out to get a larger transformer, a KW because the Marx 50 watt just wouldn’t handle the added accessories we kept adding and it was tripping out the poor little 50 Watt Marx built-in circuit breaker….yes I still have that Marx….I sure miss that time and my Dad……he was the BEST..

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 12 күн бұрын

Great story. Thanks for sharing!

@stevesoscaletrainchannel.1901 10 ай бұрын

I enjoyed the video. I purchased the engine with a dead DC motor because it was unique and added an AC motor. It is fun to operate and wanted to include it in my Marx collection. Thanks for sharing.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Sounds like fun!

@michaelquinones-lx6ks 10 ай бұрын

That would be the last marx 'O' gauge train produced that year, Just two years earlier marx droped it's 'HO' gauge line.

@TooManyHobbiesJeremy 10 ай бұрын

I like the history aspect of this video. The "glory days of model railroading" cracked me up. For future projects - that style motor can be pulled apart. Just bend the 2 metal tabs and pull off the white brush holder. Perhaps just the commutator was dirty?

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip!

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

I gave it a quick try. The motor came apart easily. I cleaned all the contacts I could find, reassembled it, and applied power (4v). It ran (sort of) for about 30 seconds and then became an excellent smoke generator! Nice and hot! I think I'll pass on reinstalling this one, but that is a great tip for the future. I'm sure some motors will be salvageable - just not this one!

@joshuacampbell9990 10 ай бұрын

Sounds like a previous owner might have ran it on an AC transformer or too much DC current and proceeded to burn it up. That’s just unfortunate.

@josephschuster1494 10 ай бұрын

It’s wonderful hobbyists like you have the knowledge and dexterity to breathe new life into these classic Marx trains. Keep up the fine work, Mike, and keep videos like this one coming! 🚂

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

@wayneantoniazzi2706 10 ай бұрын

Interesting tale of Marx history Mike! Thanks for passing it along! Oh, those six volt lantern batteries are still made, they're just not as common as they used to be. Personally though if I had one of those sets I'd go the DC transformer route, a lot more economical that buying batteries! DC HO or N gauge transformers are pretty common, you can find inexpensive used ones at train shows easily.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

As I mentioned in the video I was running it off an HO pack, but I was careful not to exceed 6 volts.

@chrisresor1893 10 ай бұрын

Another great vid Mike! Im primarly a Lionel guy but i own a Marx #4206 steam set in its original box. Runs perfectly. My wife got it for me for $30 from a local for sale site. Keep the vids coming!

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@scpvrr 10 ай бұрын

I recently got the meteor set. I added a rectifier to the loco so I can run this gutless wonder on my layout.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Just be careful of the voltage. Have fun!

@johnknippenberg-LandmarkYards 10 ай бұрын

Very interesting motor swap and great Marx history. Thanks!

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@huntercoleman460 10 ай бұрын

Cool set Mike.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

:-)

@chicagolandrailroader 10 ай бұрын

Another fantastic video. I'd love to find one of these diesels and do similar upgrades, plus as you said an LED headlight and resistors. Since I use AC maybe a bridge rectifier? Not sure. It also looks like a good repaint candidate. Thanks for the video!

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thanks. Yes, for AC power you need a rectifier.

@OliverT-qt1gn 10 ай бұрын

I suspect that most of the drag of these cars is due to the plastic wheels and axles being one piece. Normal MarX steel wheels can rotate independintly on their axles, greatly reducing the drag on those sharp curves.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Good point! I did notice more drag on the curves, especially from the reefer.

@rennethjarrett4580 10 ай бұрын

That motor is also very much like the Kusan, and Williams Beep type engines motor. On my Williams the plastic gear cracked and I was very concerned as to how to replace it. Long story short, a 10 tooth metal gear for a RC car with a locking set screw worked out just fine.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Good to know!

@Petemonster62 10 ай бұрын

I recall Robert Grossman offering a 3-volt DC motor, perhaps it's for the whistling Girard station building or the steam locomotive that carries the 2 "D" cells in its boiler. Another bad thing about the plastic wheelsets is they won't trigger signals.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for the information!

@casstelles 10 ай бұрын

I had this Lehigh Valley set as a kid. It was purchased used at a garage sale, and it had broken pieces in which as kid did not know how to repair unlike as an adult today. My thought as a kid was this set's quality is very cheap, and it's not that durable. IMHO, this was the final straw that broke the camels' back. People remembered the quality of Marx toys from the past, and they were not impressed. It doesn't take much to chase away customers if you produce a poor-quality product. Even though, I loved the Lehigh Valley locomotive; I question the choice of road names for the products. The Lehigh Valley railroad was mainly a Pennsylvanian railroad, and who would know it on the other side of the country? Also, why paint the Penn Central locomotive green? The only thing that was ever close to this was a couple NYC locomotives painted up in green. (Don't worry. Tyco did the same thing to their locomotives.) I would have just made the Penn Central locomotives black and possibly used the red and white PC logo as a variation. A couple other things comes to mind about The Meteor set was the lack of a head light on the locomotive, and the very cheap looking battery controller which looked too toy like. With all this said, it reminds me of the phrase: You get what you pay for. This is the biggest reason people just gave up on Marx trains. It's a sad story that rings true on model trains in the 1970s, Cheap cost first, quality last.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

The battery controller was probably designed by the Fisher Price team. As for the green diesel, market research showed that mothers were the primary purchasers of Christmas toys, and Moms bought colorful items (PC Green), not necessarily prototype ones (PC Black). A headlight would have drained battery power faster.

@markattardo 10 ай бұрын

Awesome bit of Marx history! Thanks for digging it up and including the repair info. Do you ever put bridge rectifiers in dc only engine to run on the main layout?

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Yes, and I have two more on the workbench as soon as I have time. I'm converting another ALCO FA, and a cheap NW2 to DC only. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4qVfmCgltyDZsUsi=FX90Qesv6dlnRTri

@OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars 10 ай бұрын

I like the set

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

:-)

@Petemonster62 10 ай бұрын

This train would also be an addition to a hobbyist who collects the Lionel DC sets! A hobbyist could also install a Double Throw Double Pole switch to select either the AC transformer or the DC power pack for track power.

@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks 10 ай бұрын

Yes, but be careful about the 6v motor!