Marx Trains' Hail Mary Play - The Meteor Set Of 1974
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.พ. 2024
- This humble and often-overlooked O gauge train set represents a significant piece of toy train history. Here we have a rather basic, yet significant train set - Marx’s The Meteor set of 1974 - not to be confused with their Disney Meteor set.
At first glance, there’s nothing special here at all - a basic Marx 4-wheel GE 70-ton diesel, followed by two basic 4-wheel cars and a 4-wheel caboose, all sporting non-operating Marx knuckle couplers. But on closer inspection, there are clues to another story - the story of the last, desperate attempt of a once-great company to simply survive.
*As an Amazon Associate and a member of other affiliate networks, We may receive commissions on qualifying sales generated from the links on this channel.**
Visit Our Virtual Storefront! walmrt.us/3sIUMQu
Visit Our Sponsors:
Diecast Models Wholesale: www.jdoqocy.com/click-1009945...
Lionel Trains on Amazon: amzn.to/46tZiR5
Hobby Tools on Amazon: amzn.to/3rtRkc1
Replacement DC Motor for Marx 117 Locomotive: amzn.to/3vU7pcL
Toy Train Tips And Tricks is a channel devoted to the operation, repair, history, and collecting of classic 3-rail O and O27 gauge trains made by Lionel, Marx, K-Line, Menards, and other manufacturers.
Keep the trains running!
Music and Visual Effects Courtesy of Pixabay.com
Facebook: / ttttlocomaniac
Twitter: / ttttmike
Instagram: / mrmoore2001
#Promotion #Lioneltrains #Trainset #Trainrepair #Traincollecting #Ogauge #Oscale
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.😄
Great story!
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! 🚂
Thank you very much!
That would be the last marx 'O' gauge train produced that year, Just two years earlier marx droped it's 'HO' gauge line.
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.
Sounds like fun!
I recently got the meteor set. I added a rectifier to the loco so I can run this gutless wonder on my layout.
Just be careful of the voltage. Have fun!
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?
Thanks for the tip!
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!
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.
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.
As I mentioned in the video I was running it off an HO pack, but I was careful not to exceed 6 volts.
Very interesting motor swap and great Marx history. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
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!
Thanks for watching!
I have this train set it still works
Cool!
Cool set Mike.
:-)
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.
Good point! I did notice more drag on the curves, especially from the reefer.
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.
Yes, but be careful about the 6v motor!
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.
Thanks for the information!
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.
Good to know!
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!
Thanks. Yes, for AC power you need a rectifier.
I like the set
:-)
Marx guy here, sad to see the decline in the quality of their products.
Survival comes first.
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?
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. th-cam.com/video/iY2M-jawP0c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FX90Qesv6dlnRTri
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.
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.
The tin-litho cars in the Marx wind-up sets of the late 1960s had plastic wheels on a metal axle.
Thanks for the information!
Once saw a Marx Radio Shack train set.
Cool!
Gun oil on the axles well make the wheels turn freer !, without where do the plastic ,