Last Updated on May 2, 2024 by Dave Farquhar
Marx train set 9624 was an electric train set Marx that Sears sold in 1953. But you may also hear collectors refer to it as Happi-Time train set 9624, because that’s what Marx printed on the box. It was something of a transition set, mixing new plastic diesel engines with tin lithographed freight cars.
Marx reused this set number a few times. This blog post covers the variation Sears sold in 1953.
Happi-Time train set 9624 from 1953
Set #9624 was a mid-level Marx electric train set in Sears’ 1953 Christmas catalog, featuring twin diesel engines made of plastic with tin lithographed freight cars, for a modern look while using up 3/16 car bodies that Marx was phasing out. Sears priced it at $19.49 and boasted a similar set sold for $23.98 the year before. That’s about $223 in 2023 dollars. This set predates Sears’ use of the Allstate brand on its train sets.
Marx lettered this set for the New York Central railroad, mixing up a variety of freight cars with New York Central engines and a caboose.
It consisted of the following:
- New York Central #4000 E-7 electric diesel locomotive
- New York Central #4000 unpowered E-7 diesel locomotive
- 1950 GAEX boxcar, green OR 174580 NYC Pacemaker boxcar, red and gray
- 3553 Cities Service tank car, green
- 46572 Chesapeake & Ohio high side gondola, black
- New York Central Pacemaker Caboose (road number varies from 20110-20124)
- 14 pieces of O27 track (advertised as 159 inches of track)
- 1209 transformer
The caboose is notable for being a 7-inch caboose fitted with 8-wheel trucks. Marx did this a fair bit with the tin cars in their diesel sets, because the 7-inch line had a wider variety of caboose designs than the 3/16 line had.
A 45-watt transformer and an oval of 14 pieces of O27 track rounded out the set. Specifically, it included four O27 curved sections and 10 O27 straight sections. Sears called it 159 inches of track in its catalog description, and a 5-foot-long train, which helped to make it sound bigger than it was. Sears also sold extra track at 18 cents apiece for O27, and 22 cents apiece for wide-diameter O34 curves.
If you have one of these sets and you’d like to see it running again, I don’t blame you. Here’s some advice on setting up a Marx train set. I also have some tips on servicing the model 1209 transformer.
Marx sold a lot of train sets lettered for the New York Central. Other Marx sets lettered for the New York Central include 3994, 4205, 4218, 9605, 9610, 9624, 9639, and 52875.
Positioning
Sears positioned the 9624 set as a value-priced midranged electric set. It was fine as a first train or an upgrade from a windup set. Consumers might also have bought this set to supplement another electric set, say, to get a diesel engine to supplement a steam engine, along with extra track. It was cheaper than buying the components separately.
Rarity and value
I frequently get questions about the value of old Marx train sets. As for the value of set 9624 today, most of the value is in the diesel engines, which sell for around $90 in nice condition. None of the freight cars are especially rare but the high-side gondola is the most common. If complete, I would estimate the value of this set at around $275, more than Sears charged when new after factoring inflation.
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.