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Review: The Definitive Guide to Marx Trains, by Walt Hiteshew

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 13, 2011December 1, 2015greenberg, Joy Line, marx, marx trains, reference book, train show

A week go I wrote about the newest Greenberg Pocket Guide, which I recommended as a useful, if flawed, resource. Today I’ll talk about one of the best ways to fill in the gaps.

Several years ago, Walt Hiteshew released his Definitive Guide to Marx 6″ and Joy Line Trains on CD-ROM, priced at $29.95. The Definitive Guide covers every known 6″ car Marx produced and includes photos, pricing, and production history. Basically, everything known or that can be reasonably inferred about Marx’s most prolific line. When Mr. Hiteshew says Definitive Guide, he means it.
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Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Greenberg’s Marx Trains Pocket Price Guide, 9th edition: A review

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 7, 2011November 25, 2018Classic Toy Trains, commodore, estate sales, greenberg, KCS, lionel, marx, marx trains, New York, New York Central, Pocket Price Guide, reference book, tin, toy train, train show, Veteran Marx, yahoo

I received my copy of the new 9th edition of the Greenberg Pocket Price Guide for Marx trains this past weekend. Marx used to print on its packages, “One of the many Marx toys. Have you all of them?” This book won’t completely answer that question, but at the very least, it gives you a start, and helps you avoid paying too much for the ones you don’t have yet.

Dave Farquhar

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How to remove paint from a tin litho toy or train

Dave Farquhar Toy trains October 8, 2011June 3, 2019degreaser, Joshua Lionel Cowen, lionel, marx, Purple Power, tin

It isn’t terribly rare to find old tin lithographed toys or trains that have been overpainted. Boys will be boys, after all, and have you ever met a boy that didn’t love paint?

When it comes to restoring these toys, there are no guarantees. Removing the paint without damaging the lithography beneath is tricky, at best. And, of course, there’s a pretty good chance that whatever lies beneath that paint is scratched up or otherwise damaged. Generally speaking, it’s the well-worn toys that get painted, not mint-condition ones.

But if you’re feeling brave and at least a little bit lucky, you can remove the paint, see what’s under it, and maybe, just maybe, it will prove to be salvageable.

Dave Farquhar

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Good news for Marx train enthusiasts

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 16, 2011December 27, 2015american flyer, greenberg, lionel, marx, marx trains, Pocket Price Guide, toy train

Kalmbach has decided, after more than a decade, to release a new Greenberg Pocket Price Guide for Marx trains (here’s my review). Although the O’Brien Collecting Toy Trains guides have a section on Marx, the Greenberg guides have always been more complete and more accurate. The most recent O’Brien guide from 2006 completely omitted Marx’s 3/16 line, a difficult flaw to overlook. That’s why the out-of-print Greenberg book from 2001 remained the standard for all these years and in recent years used copies commanded prices of $100 and more.
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Dave Farquhar

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Quoting famous people accurately

Dave Farquhar net.culture May 4, 2011August 30, 2016lifehacker, Mark Twain, marx

If you’re going to quote people on the Internet, you might as well quote them accurately. Here are some tips for quoting famous people accurately, based on my own detective work on one of my favorite quotes.

“The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you never can know if they are genuine.” –Abraham Lincoln

The death of bin Laden prompted a couple of quotes attributed to Mark Twain and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to be repeated endlessly on social networking sites. It turned out both quotes were false. Inaccurate quotes also tend to pop up in election years.

Here are some good tips to avoid spreading fake quotes the next time something really newsworthy happens. One nifty trick: A Google search, filtered by date, to see if the quote existed anywhere before the event.

“Abraham Lincoln” may be right, that you can never know for certain, but you can get a really good idea with a little bit of digging.
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Dave Farquhar

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Installing trucks on junker train cars

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 23, 2011February 21, 2013american flyer, hardware store, k line, lionel, marx, o27, Prewar Lionel, Quantum Hot Sauce

Sometimes a train car breaks, and sometimes you get a good deal on a train car that’s missing its running gear. Whatever the reason, sooner or later most hobbyists find themselves needing to attach trucks to the underside of their train cars, and if they’re like me, they soon find that using a regular nut and bolt doesn’t cut it–the nut works itself loose after a few times around the track, which leads to wobbly running, which leads to derailments.

There’s a solution other than expensive riveting tools, if you’re just interested in making cars run well, rather than restorations that are as historically accurate as possible. For about 15 bucks, you can get enough parts to do 50 cars.

Dave Farquhar

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How to straighten bent prewar/tinplate axles

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 20, 2011January 27, 2022american flyer, ives, lionel, locking pliers, marx, tin

A common problem with prewar/tinplate cars, regardless of make (American Flyer, Ives, Lionel, Marx) is bent axles. If the car wobbles when it moves, one or more of the axles is bent.

Reproduction parts might or might not be available, so I prefer to just straighten the old ones.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel Fastrack review

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 10, 2011November 29, 2020christmas, conductivity, India, lionel, Lionel Fastrack, marx, marx trains, MTH, o gauge, o27, tin, troubleshooting, tubular track, WWII

How Lionel Fastrack compares to traditional tubular track and competing O gauge track is a common question. I own both, so I can probably make a comparison. Here is my Lionel Fastrack review.

For the most part, it’s not bad. But it’s not perfect. For some people, the drawbacks are easy enough to overlook. For others, they could be showstoppers. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

Dave Farquhar

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Christmas Eve, a train that wouldn’t run, and a happy ending

Dave Farquhar Toy trains, Uncategorized January 2, 2011April 17, 2017bachmann, christmas, Christmas Eve, HO, ho scale, John Dominik, lionel, Lionel Polar Express, Louis Marx, marx, n scale, New York, New York City, troubleshooting

It was Christmas Eve. I finished playing Santa, then I plopped down in front of the computer to unwind and signed into Facebook. Internet pal John Dominik posted a status update about buying a Bachmann N-scale train set and it not working, and how he knew he should have tried it out before Christmas Eve. I offered to help. He related the epic troubleshooting he went through–OK, perhaps it wasn’t epic, but his account of the things he tried was longer than the Book of Jude and several other books of the Bible–and, frankly, there wasn’t anything I would have thought of that he hadn’t already tried. He went beyond that and even tried things I wouldn’t have tried. Or recommend, for that matter, but that’s OK. He mentioned he’d had a set of HO trains when he was younger, and that gave me an idea. I asked if he still had that power pack, because, if he was willing to do a little creative and sloppy wiring, he’d be able to get that new Bachmann set working with it. He said he did.

The temporary fix worked, and Christmas Eve was salvaged. John said he hoped Bachmann would be cooperative about the bad power pack.

Dave Farquhar

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Screw sizes and tips for various common types of Lionel track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 25, 2010November 25, 2018christmas, hardware store, home improvement, lionel, Lionel Fastrack, marx, o27, tubular track

So, maybe you set up a loop of track and an electric train for Christmas, and now you’re thinking about a permanent layout. I’ve been there. Once you build a table, you’ll need to attach your track. Screws are the most common way to do that. Here’s a list of the best screws for Lionel track. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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