Hey Ron, Marx wheels were not quartered because they had to rotate together so that they would drive a smoke unit with both main rods working together to push the bellows. It didn't matter on non-smoking models. Just to pass on some knowledge to you. Very nice train set. You did a wonderful job giving that Marx set a Christmas.
This reminded me of when my Mom made me sell all my Marx/Lionel trains to fund a new HO layout... I got $8 for two whole sets and all the fixings. Your restorations are driving up the price of these relics which is a good thing! Great to see her running! I believe I had the same or very similar steam engine... great job!
I've been laid up due to surgery. Can hardly walk. Found your videos... have been binge watching and thoroughly enjoying. Thanks for helping me celebrate Christmas .... somehow!
Thank you!!! Sorry to hear about your condition, I am hoping you are healing up well. Glad you have found something to occupy your mind. I have been laid up several times in the past 3 years, gets pretty boring just laying there. Thank you for your kind words on my video's. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Tough week for spilling things. Good thing is now your work space is nice and clean. Great to see the old train running again. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Neat little engines. I came across a couple and they are bulletproof. Set on track and took off and run. The paint does improve the looks a bit. Merry Christmas
Awesome work bringing this one back to life. Great choice on the classic Model of the week. That was a very nice picture of Heather Locklear. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Your "nippers" are also know as End Cutters. After over thirty years in hardwood flooring I know them well. Painting the smoke box/firebox was a great idea and really added to the look of the engine. I recognized Heather Locklear right away. She got my attention more than a few squares back. Lol. Another great video! Happy Birthday to your better half and Merry Christmas!
End Cutters and side cutters...... Makes since now. I always called my side cutters a pair of dikes. Yes that H.L. could sure break up a happy home back in the day for sure. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
MERRY CHRISTMAS RON. Your videos have greatly helped me repairing locomotives this past year. Now I buy $5 and $10 locomotives at shows and root around in em to get them up and running again. Wife loved last weeks transformation beautiful job. Keep em coming in the next year.
Wow! Really intersting. You did a nice job with the painting and everything. My first new train set was Marx, mid-sixties. All of the cars were plastic bodies, 027 scale. Santa Fe A&B F unit locomotives, oddball couplers that were not compatible with Lionel. - Johnny from Texas.
A friend of mine restored a similar set 5 years ago. The track was black as well. Being he was missing a few sections, he got some new made replacements and blackened the rails to match the rest , then polished the rail tops. Nowadays he sets it up in the front of his office every year,lol.
I really enjoy the vid's along w/the narrative!!! Merry Christmas to you and yours. illin' in south philly I model N scale stoney creek branch of the Reading Railroad.
Hi Ron, thank you for another excellent year of entertaining video's, Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2025. Ps if you're going to pee on spark plugs, make sure the engine is switched off 😂
Hi Ron. Great video. I’ve been buyin’ up old Marx trains lately too. They just don’t quit. Sorry you didn’t like those Dremel abrasive wheels so much. I find the red ones do the best with the least mess. I had an issue with slipping wheels on my Marx 1666 as well. It worked much better once I degreased the track and wheels with some CRC electronics cleaner. Take care and Happy Holiday!
My opinion on marx sets is they are very good For running around a Christmas tree and for starting out Most of my engines are marx (5) with 3 lionels and 1 American flyer O scale
Back in the day Marx trains were bought by "Working Men" for there boys and the Lionels which were much more expensive were bought by "White Collar" Fellers for there kids. Marx has a strong following among Model Train Enthusiasts to this day.
Heather Locklear I believe. Very cool restoration. My first O27 set was the Marx Big Rail Work Train from about 1971 or 2. It was in the ever popular Penn Central Livery! For Tamiya paint find some Paint Retarder and mix that in Tamiya bottle paint and it won’t do the paint over pull off anymore. Chisel tip white paint pens are great for runningboard white edges. She looks great!!! Maybe a thin rubber band on both of the forward drivers as they looked geared.
Another Win for Erick! Thanks for the paint tips. I thought about rubber band but didn't have any small enough. Me and my 12th hour production runs ;-)
The 999 was the work horse for the Marx sets. , it wasn’t uncommon to find different road names on the coal tender and caboose, that happened in the factory to get sets shipped out.
Hold the phone did you say two bagger, lol? You have had a couple of long videos due to the work involved and I don't want you to burn out so cool your jets and relax. I think you just needed a light sand on the original track or better yet the locomotive wheels ruff them up for traction's sake. The train looks great and works great so hats off to you but allot of time plus work. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Jersey Bill
First Feller to pick up the "2 Bagger" comment ;-). I couldn't think of what to do to ruff up the wheel surfaces. Seems the more it ran, the better it got at pulling. Maybe just needs some track time? Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I have the same marx locomotive and for some reason it will go forward and reverse by itself sometimes is it normal for my marx train to do that or why is it doing that
It's loosing the power pickup from the track. The reversing solenoid looses power and drops. when power is restored it pulls the plunger up which switches the direction. clean your wheels and track should eliminate problem. dont forget to lube the motor and stuff while your at it.
got another one wrong. well at least the train is running and slipping. i know they say not to do this. try some sand paper on the track. had same problem with my N gauge train. cleaning the track did not help. so i had a sanding block, a couple of quick swipes and the train is running fine. merry christmas , or happy festivus.
I was thinking if the not driving wheels are taking too much weight of loco. Try remove trailing wheels front and rear if it will be better, try reduce the presure of non driving wheels to the track.
🎵Duh, Duh, Duh, Another one gets the lube, 🎵Duh, Duh, Duh, Another one gets the lube, And, another one's scrubbed, and another one's fixed, Another one gets the lube, Ohhhh, Hey, Ron's gonna get you too, Another one gets the lube...🎶 Hope I don't get copyrighted by screwtoob...
They are S SCALE (3/16 inch to the foot) but run on O SCALE track . This makes the engine and cars short enough to run around the 27 inch curves. Lionel did the same thing with their O27 trains, while their O scale trains were a full 1/4 inch to the foot (a true 1/48th scale) that generally required a broader curve because they were longer cars.
I think the short answer to your question is O, but... there is some lingering terminology confusion in the hobby between "gauge" and "scale." Scale is the size reduction of the model and gauge is the width of the track. So I am guessing you meant scale, not gauge, for which the answer is O. I doubt the confusion will ever go away, as companies continue to set bad examples by using them interchangeably. S scale = 1:64 and O scale = 1:48 (HO 1:87). This is the size reduction of the models (1 scale foot of model = X feet in real life). Gauge however is the distance (width) between the rails. All scales offer various different gauges; standard vs. narrow(s). Narrow gauge HO with 3 foot-spaced rails for eg. = HOn3. Likewise there is narrow gauge S scale (Sn3) and O (On3). It's a basic confusion that I went through early on. Ironically I just got corrected while visiting a club layout by saying for simplicity in conversation "HOn3 scale" instead of "gauge" (even though I know the difference). Different people have different understandings of the terms, so language can be confusing. All that's to say I believe this Marx is O scale (standard gauge).. However I just read where some (most?) Marx ran on slightly narrow "O27" Lionel track, and now I have some doubt. I work in HO scale. I had Marx and Lionel as a kid that ran on the same track (which I believe was standard gauge, but am now thinking maybe it was O27??... not a dumb question in my mind and sorry for the long (now less than definitive) response. A way to know the gauge for sure is to measure the track width. Maybe the only sure thing I can say without more information is Marx is not S (scale).
I think the classic model is one of the Heathers, of which there were two at the time. (Thomas and Locklear, IIRC.) If it is, I don't know which one. If it isn't either, then, never mind. ua-cam.com/video/OjYoNL4g5Vg/v-deo.html
I give my two boys money for Christmas also, lol.
You are Very Kind Jersey B!! THANK YOU very much!!
It’s an absolute joy to hear you talk during the videos. Has helped me get back into the hobby…
I have a Marx 333 with smoke 🚂 great engine pulls and smokes like crazy. Love the video on the 999 💞
Great video on the Marx 999 I have a Marx 333 with smoke 🚂
Hey Ron, Marx wheels were not quartered because they had to rotate together so that they would drive a smoke unit with both main rods working together to push the bellows. It didn't matter on non-smoking models. Just to pass on some knowledge to you. Very nice train set. You did a wonderful job giving that Marx set a Christmas.
Thank you for the info there June :-)
Thanks Ron! Another awesome restoration.
Merry Christmas!!
This reminded me of when my Mom made me sell all my Marx/Lionel trains to fund a new HO layout... I got $8 for two whole sets and all the fixings. Your restorations are driving up the price of these relics which is a good thing! Great to see her running! I believe I had the same or very similar steam engine... great job!
I would like to think I'm influencing the market but I dont think I have that kind of influence.......yet ;-)
Ron, you are like Cadillac : The Perfect Blend of Art and Science ! You did a wonderful job of fully restoring this Marx loco and cars !
Very kind of you Norman :-)
It's great seeing you back after your craft, mobile classic trains and we get a sneak peek on how to do it....Thanks
I'm glad you liked it! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
You watch Polar Express and I'm watching Classic Model Trains while I wrap gifts. Fun video.
Thanks :-)
Another great job Ron! I enjoy watching, & am loving the restoration skills! Thank you for the entertainment! Keep up the good work!
I appreciate that, thanks for watching!
I've been laid up due to surgery. Can hardly walk. Found your videos... have been binge watching and thoroughly enjoying. Thanks for helping me celebrate Christmas .... somehow!
Thank you!!! Sorry to hear about your condition, I am hoping you are healing up well. Glad you have found something to occupy your mind. I have been laid up several times in the past 3 years, gets pretty boring just laying there. Thank you for your kind words on my video's. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Hi Ron, Another great video. 🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄 to and your family. 🎄🎅🎄
Merry Christmas Ron thanks for a great year of videos always a 33%er 🎄🚂
I LOVE when you repair Marx equipment.
I just purchased a Marx 999 loco/tender which currently runs, in need of some TLC.
Perfect timing! 🚂
Right on!
I love the way you wiggle your fingers like you are conjuring magic😂
he he he he........ LOVE IT!!!!! :-D
The paint adds a great touch...great job
Thank you!
Merry Christmas Ron and family.
I used to have such a huge crush on Heather Locklear
I know what you mean, she was a looker! lol Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Thank you for sharing. 🎄🚂🚃🚃🚃🎄 Merry Christmas Ron and Happy Birthday to the wife🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺👍
Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Tough week for spilling things. Good thing is now your work space is nice and clean. Great to see the old train running again. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Thanks John, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Happy Holidays Ron to you and "The Little Lady".😊
Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Neat little engines. I came across a couple and they are bulletproof. Set on track and took off and run. The paint does improve the looks a bit. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Merry Christmas Ron to you and your family. Thanks for making your videos! Looking forward to cleaning scub and restoring more trains next year!
Thank you John, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
As always Great show, that Marx never ran better. and Merry Christmas Ron
Thanks William Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Another good one thanks Ron you have a merry Christmas you and your wife and your dog
Thanks James, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
She looks great Ron. Thanks for the great videos.
Thank you, I appreciate you watching!
Nice job working on this Marx 999 set right here!! She looks awesome! I hope you have a merry christmas! 33%er
Thanks Matt, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Nice job on the marx trains Ron! Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!! Keep the videos coming!!
Thank you Bob! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Awesome work bringing this one back to life. Great choice on the classic Model of the week. That was a very nice picture of Heather Locklear. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Thanks SF Bob, H.L. sure broke some hearts back in the 80's for sure. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Thanks Michael, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
That is a neat little bogger. Went from no go, to doing burn outs, love it.
Lubrication is a good thing :-)
Nice Holiday Video great job
Thanks Norman
Very cool train set. Merry Christmas!
Thanks Jim, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Your "nippers" are also know as End Cutters. After over thirty years in hardwood flooring I know them well. Painting the smoke box/firebox was a great idea and really added to the look of the engine. I recognized Heather Locklear right away. She got my attention more than a few squares back. Lol. Another great video! Happy Birthday to your better half and Merry Christmas!
End Cutters and side cutters...... Makes since now. I always called my side cutters a pair of dikes. Yes that H.L. could sure break up a happy home back in the day for sure. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
MERRY CHRISTMAS RON. Your videos have greatly helped me repairing locomotives this past year. Now I buy $5 and $10 locomotives at shows and root around in em to get them up and running again. Wife loved last weeks transformation beautiful job. Keep em coming in the next year.
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well Andy!
Wow! Really intersting. You did a nice job with the painting and everything. My first new train set was Marx, mid-sixties. All of the cars were plastic bodies, 027 scale. Santa Fe A&B F unit locomotives, oddball couplers that were not compatible with Lionel. - Johnny from Texas.
Thanks J From T! Yes all Marx had different couplers than Lionel, just seemed silly to me
I used a small strip of black vinyl tape on one of rear wheel, solved the slipping problem.
I will have to try that thanks
MERRY CHRISTMAS BUDDY FROM MICHIGAN.
Thanks Jeff Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Nice! Will be great to watch tonight
:-)
Those old Marx trains is what I grew up with. Had a blast as a young’in playing with them! Great job Ron and Merry Christmas to you and your wife!
Thanks Marty, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
A friend of mine restored a similar set 5 years ago. The track was black as well. Being he was missing a few sections, he got some new made replacements and blackened the rails to match the rest , then polished the rail tops. Nowadays he sets it up in the front of his office every year,lol.
Cool that he's still running it!
Another great video Ron !!!
Thank you Dale :-)
My family and I are glad that your videos exist Merry Christmas from the Walkers.
Thank you Steven, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I really enjoy the vid's along w/the narrative!!!
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
illin' in south philly
I model N scale stoney creek branch of the Reading Railroad.
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. Thanks for watching.
33%ter here!! That train is built for speed😂
Yes it is!
merry christmas and a happy new year 2025
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Lionel is fun! Loud. Metal. Fast!
Yup, Yup, and YUP!! :-)
Holly Molly!!! Is that a pre famous Cheryl Tiegs??? Late 1970s!!!
Close, Heather Locklear
Good morning from Miami, waiting to board the cruise ship🎉
Well that sounds like a GREAT way to celebrate the season. Good for you and the Missus!!
Hi Ron, thank you for another excellent year of entertaining video's, Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2025.
Ps if you're going to pee on spark plugs, make sure the engine is switched off 😂
Thanks for the good advice ;-) Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
Hi Ron. Great video. I’ve been buyin’ up old Marx trains lately too. They just don’t quit. Sorry you didn’t like those Dremel abrasive wheels so much. I find the red ones do the best with the least mess. I had an issue with slipping wheels on my Marx 1666 as well. It worked much better once I degreased the track and wheels with some CRC electronics cleaner. Take care and Happy Holiday!
Thank you. I do like them abrasive pads, I just made the mess all over my desk, not there fault ;-) Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
My opinion on marx sets is they are very good For running around a Christmas tree and for starting out Most of my engines are marx (5) with 3 lionels and 1 American flyer O scale
Back in the day Marx trains were bought by "Working Men" for there boys and the Lionels which were much more expensive were bought by "White Collar" Fellers for there kids. Marx has a strong following among Model Train Enthusiasts to this day.
Heather Locklear I believe. Very cool restoration. My first O27 set was the Marx Big Rail Work Train from about 1971 or 2. It was in the ever popular Penn Central Livery! For Tamiya paint find some Paint Retarder and mix that in Tamiya bottle paint and it won’t do the paint over pull off anymore. Chisel tip white paint pens are great for runningboard white edges. She looks great!!!
Maybe a thin rubber band on both of the forward drivers as they looked geared.
Another Win for Erick! Thanks for the paint tips. I thought about rubber band but didn't have any small enough. Me and my 12th hour production runs ;-)
@ Maybe try some of the clear hair tie bands. Pretty thin and would be close to inivisible.
That Niagara Falls tank car. NIAGARA FALLS! Slowly I turned . . Step by Step . . Inch by Inch. 😂😂😂
Dang Corporate 'Merica anyway
I have some black track, I bought in a lot, just four 9 or 10" straights n two 5" straights. I use them for my test track!
Right on!
My family has this old red Lionel diesel and I'm planning on fixing it soon
Cool!
The 999 was the work horse for the Marx sets. , it wasn’t uncommon to find different road names on the coal tender and caboose, that happened in the factory to get sets shipped out.
I agree
24:12 model cheryl tiegs. i think i got this one.
So Close
Hey Ron I was wondering, do you know where or how I could replace the metal pickup for the center rail?
There might be some Marx parts places out there. I would google them.
Also, with just 2 wheels with rods, I dont see the need to quarter them. Nothing will get jammed up?
Yup, you're right on.
Hold the phone did you say two bagger, lol? You have had a couple of long videos due to the work involved and I don't want you to burn out so cool your jets and relax. I think you just needed a light sand on the original track or better yet the locomotive wheels ruff them up for traction's sake. The train looks great and works great so hats off to you but allot of time plus work. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Jersey Bill
First Feller to pick up the "2 Bagger" comment ;-). I couldn't think of what to do to ruff up the wheel surfaces. Seems the more it ran, the better it got at pulling. Maybe just needs some track time? Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I have the same marx locomotive and for some reason it will go forward and reverse by itself sometimes is it normal for my marx train to do that or why is it doing that
It's loosing the power pickup from the track. The reversing solenoid looses power and drops. when power is restored it pulls the plunger up which switches the direction. clean your wheels and track should eliminate problem. dont forget to lube the motor and stuff while your at it.
@classicmodeltrains what kind of grease do you recommend I use for the marx gears?
I have this set but it is slightly older because it has a different boxcar
Very Cool!
perma-tex makes good traction also thin strips of gorilla tape
Thanks for the tips Greg!
got another one wrong. well at least the train is running and slipping. i know they say not to do this. try some sand paper on the track. had same problem with my N gauge train. cleaning the track did not help. so i had a sanding block, a couple of quick swipes and the train is running fine. merry christmas , or happy festivus.
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
I was thinking if the not driving wheels are taking too much weight of loco. Try remove trailing wheels front and rear if it will be better, try reduce the presure of non driving wheels to the track.
All 4 drivers are powered open the loco. the trucks are just hanging out, offering no up or down pressure on the frame of the loco.
It looks like heather lochair
Locklear, yup!
Need some traction tires
I agree, the wheel flange is not made for them though
What is simple Green
It's a liquid de-greaser.
im 72 i know how that old locomotive feels i dont wanna move either
He he!!
Heather Locklear
First one to get it right!! Nice job!!
🎵Duh, Duh, Duh,
Another one gets the lube,
🎵Duh, Duh, Duh,
Another one gets the lube,
And, another one's scrubbed, and another one's fixed,
Another one gets the lube,
Ohhhh,
Hey, Ron's gonna get you too,
Another one gets the lube...🎶
Hope I don't get copyrighted by screwtoob...
Your too Funny M.C.!! Merry Christmas to you Mister
Pardon my stupid question, are Marx Trains O gauge or S gauge?
O gauge my friend
They are 3 rail O "Gauge" but closer to 3/16" scale
They are S SCALE (3/16 inch to the foot) but run on O SCALE track . This makes the engine and cars short enough to run around the 27 inch curves. Lionel did the same thing with their O27 trains, while their O scale trains were a full 1/4 inch to the foot (a true 1/48th scale) that generally required a broader curve because they were longer cars.
I think the short answer to your question is O, but... there is some lingering terminology confusion in the hobby between "gauge" and "scale." Scale is the size reduction of the model and gauge is the width of the track. So I am guessing you meant scale, not gauge, for which the answer is O. I doubt the confusion will ever go away, as companies continue to set bad examples by using them interchangeably. S scale = 1:64 and O scale = 1:48 (HO 1:87). This is the size reduction of the models (1 scale foot of model = X feet in real life).
Gauge however is the distance (width) between the rails. All scales offer various different gauges; standard vs. narrow(s). Narrow gauge HO with 3 foot-spaced rails for eg. = HOn3. Likewise there is narrow gauge S scale (Sn3) and O (On3). It's a basic confusion that I went through early on. Ironically I just got corrected while visiting a club layout by saying for simplicity in conversation "HOn3 scale" instead of "gauge" (even though I know the difference). Different people have different understandings of the terms, so language can be confusing.
All that's to say I believe this Marx is O scale (standard gauge).. However I just read where some (most?) Marx ran on slightly narrow "O27" Lionel track, and now I have some doubt. I work in HO scale. I had Marx and Lionel as a kid that ran on the same track (which I believe was standard gauge, but am now thinking maybe it was O27??... not a dumb question in my mind and sorry for the long (now less than definitive) response. A way to know the gauge for sure is to measure the track width. Maybe the only sure thing I can say without more information is Marx is not S (scale).
@ You’re right, I should have said scale and not gauge.
I think the classic model is one of the Heathers, of which there were two at the time. (Thomas and Locklear, IIRC.) If it is, I don't know which one. If it isn't either, then, never mind.
ua-cam.com/video/OjYoNL4g5Vg/v-deo.html
This week its Locklear
Is that twiggy
Nope
You can only like if you are a 33% viewer
:-)
Heather Locklear
Yup
Heather Locklear
Yup!