Marx Happi-Time 9632 train set

Last Updated on March 31, 2024 by Dave Farquhar

Marx train set 9632 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 9632, because that’s what Marx printed on the box. While some Marx collectors joke that the only rare Marx train set is the one that doesn’t run, this entry-level set is surprisingly rare and valuable today.

Happi-Time train set 9632

Set #9632 was the entry-level Marx electric train set in Sears’ 1953 Christmas catalog, featuring twin diesel engines and plastic cars, for a modern look. Sears priced it at $12.79. That’s about $146 in 2023 dollars. This set predates Sears’ use of the Allstate brand on its train sets.

Marx lettered this set for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, teaming up a tin lithographed electric locomotive and unpowered unit with 4-wheel plastsic freight cars.

It consisted of the following:

• Baltimore & Ohio electric diesel locomotive
• Baltimore & Ohio unpowered diesel locomotive
• 467110 Baltimore & Ohio boxcar, 4-wheel plastic
• 347100 Pennsylvania gondola, 4-wheel plastic
• 504 Baltimore & Ohio caboose, blue, 4-wheel plastic
• 8 pieces of O27 track (advertised as 120 inches of track)
• 1209 transformer

A 45-watt transformer and an oval of 8 pieces of O27 track rounded out the set. Specifically, it included four O27 curved sections and four O27 straight sections. Sears called it 120 inches of track in its catalog description, and a 45-inch 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.

What was the Baltimore and Ohio?

You’ve probably heard of the B&O Railroad from playing the popular board game Monopoly. B&O stood for Baltimore and Ohio, the oldest railroad in the United States. It operated from 1830 to 1987, when it merged with the Chessie System. Today it is part of the modern CSX Transportation.

As the name suggests, its goal was to connect Baltimore to the Ohio River, something it achieved in 1852. Successfully crossing the Appalachian Mountains connected Baltimore with the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. At the end of 1970, it operated more than 10,000 miles of track, reaching as far west as St. Louis and as far north as Lake Ontario.

Marx also featured the B&O diesels with a tin caboose in the 7-inch 9629 set.

Positioning

Sears positioned the 9632 set as a entry-level electric set, next to the pricier 9624 set on the same page. Customers who bought windup sets in previous years could use this set to upgrade their kids to electric. 6-inch cars from windup sets worked just fine alongside the 4-wheel plastic cars in electric sets. 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 9632 today, it’s rarer and more expensive than it looks. While the boxcar and gondola are among the most common cars Marx ever made, the B&O caboose is scarce, and the B&O lithographed engines aren’t common. If complete, I would estimate the value of this set as over $250, so it’s worth more than it cost new, even after you factor inflation.

The scarcity of the caboose suggests this set didn’t sell all that well, in spite of its value price. But even more scarce is Marx set number 29609, which is an 8-wheel version of this set, with the same cars but on 3/16 scale trucks.