The Marx diesel freight train set number 9622 was a 1958 electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 8-wheel plastic cars. It’s an attractive set and and one you don’t see every day. Marx made it for Sears and they sold it under the Allstate brand name.
Marx diesel type electrical train set 9622
The set consisted of a pair of #1998 diesel locomotives numbered 54 and a work caboose numbered 586 lettered for the Rock Island, a Class I railroad that served 14 states in the central United States.
The Rock Island diesels and caboose flanked the following plastic cars to make a nine-unit set:
- CB&Q flatcar with bridge load, red, number 5545
- Erie flatcar with truck/trailer load, red, unnumbered
- Southern auto carrier with four autos, red, number 51100
- New York Central crane car, unnumbered
- Allstate Motor Oil tank car, blue, unnumbered
- New York Central boxcar, green, number 176893
A model 1669 transformer provided power, and it came with a loop of O27 track in the form of 8 curved sections and four straight sections. It also included five plastic telephone poles.
What was the Rock Island?
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad that connected 14 states in the Central United States via 10,669 miles of track as of 1970. A spiritual song first recorded in 1934 titled “Rock Island Line” was inspired by the Rock Island railway.It served the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. It stretched as far east as Chicago, as far north as Minneapolis, as far west as Denver, and as far south as Galveston.
By 1958, when this set was made, Rock Island was past its prime and looking for a merger partner. In 1964, it sought to merge with Union Pacific. The process dragged on for 10 years, and Rock Island earned a profit for the last time in 1965. In 1974, Union Pacific walked away from the deal. Rock Island filed for bankruptcy a year later with a mere $300 cash on hand. It reorganized and started to wind down its railroad operations. By 1980, it was out of the railroad business and became a holding company. Maytag Corporation purchased it in 1988, ending Rock Island’s legacy.
Another Rock Island train with Marx heritage appeared in the 1990s.
Value
I’ve only seen one example of set 9622 sell. When it did, it sold for more than $600. So if you find a Marx or Allstate train set numbered 9622, you’ve found something special. The value of your example will vary depending on completeness and condition.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.