Youtuber SMT Mainline recently encountered a Marx 4915S Steam type electric train set when recording a video. He said he didn’t know much about it but thought it was neat. In this blog post, I’ll give some background on Marx train set 4915S.
Marx 4915S was an inexpensive starter set. It used Marx’s 4-wheel plastic cars with plastic knuckle couplers. It used AC power and ran on 3-rail track, like most Marx electric sets. This was a set that Marx sold to retailers who wanted to compete with sets the discounter W.T. Grant sold exclusively, like the Marx 4218.
It consisted of the following items:
- 400 0-4-0 steam locomotive
- NYC tender
- NYC crane car
- 21913 Lehigh Valley 2-bay hopper
- 4564 NYC caboose
- 34pc paper village
- 6 telephone poles
- 25 watt transformer, model 309
- 8 curved track sections
- 2 straight track sections
The intent with this set was to be able to set up a loop of track, whether temporarily on the floor or on a table, then arrange the village around and in it to add visual interest. Over time, they could add additional track or upgrade to a nicer set and reuse the track and village with the new set.
Retailers typically sold sets like this for between $12 and $15 in the 1950s. That’s around $130 in 2023 dollars, so it wasn’t a cheap set, but it was considerably less than a Lionel set sold for. This was a set that a working-class laborer could buy for the equivalent of about a day’s wages.
Age and value of the Marx 4915S Steam type electric train set
Based on the use of the 400 locomotive, the Marx 4915S Steam type electric train set has to date to the years of 1952 to 1961, or a subset of them. Marx introduced the 400 in 1952, and discontinued it in 1961 in favor of the less-expensive 490 locomotive.
As far as the value of the set, I would place it at around $50-$75 depending on how complete it is, and the condition. It’s not as sought after as the higher-end 8-wheel sets, but I don’t see as many 4-wheel sets as I see 8-wheel, either.
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.