Marx Western Pacific train set 7215

In the early 1970s, Marx sold a diesel electric train set lettered for the Western Pacific, catalog number 7215, that featured a 25 watt transformer and a distinctive green and gold color scheme. If you have one today, it’s worth more than its original retail price, even adjusted for inflation.

The story behind the Western Pacific diesel electric train set

The Marx 7215 set was a basic 4-wheel plastic set that ran on a 25 watt transformer and O27 track. It was inexpensive but served an important link in Marx’s sales funnel. A child who took an interest in trains based on receiving one of these sets could upgrade to a more expensive set and use parts from both sets to make a bigger layout. The fake black trucks on one or more of the cars indicates a set that was sold in 1974. Unpainted trucks indicate a set from earlier in the decade, perhaps as early as 1972.

As the name suggests, the Western Pacific was a railroad that primarily operated in the western states. Headquartered in Oakland, it connected the population centers of northern California with Salt Lake City, and inter operated with other railroads to reach as far east as Chicago. It merged with the Union Pacific railroad in 1982. The green and gold color scheme mimicked the color of the Oakland Athletics uniforms of the era and would have given the set more appeal in California than sets lettered for eastern railroads.

The Marx diesel electric train set, catalog# 7215

The Marx Western Pacific diesel freight train set was very similar to other 4 wheel plastic sets they sold at discount stores a decade before. But it came in a more colorful box, in hopes of making it more appealing on store shelves. It consisted of 25 watt transformer, 8 pieces of track, a diesel switcher, and three cars for a four unit train. The cars rolled on four plastic wheels with fake truck sides to make them look like eight wheels, with fixed plastic knuckle couplers.

Here’s what came in the box:

• Western Pacific GE 70 ton diesel switcher, green
• Pennsylvania gondola 4 wheel, red, #347100
• ATSF box car 4 wheel, white, #3280
• Western Pacific 4 wheel caboose, green, #643
• 25 watt transformer
• 8 sections of O27 track (the box boasted of 84 inches of track, measuring the circumference)

The gold lettering on the diesel switcher and the caboose is prone to wear off, and is a key driver of value. With the lettering worn off, a complete boxed set typically sells for around $50. Nice gold lettering will drive the value higher. A nice box can also drive the value higher. The box is flimsy and that’s probably part of the reason it’s worth as much as the train. The box car and gondola won’t get much attention when sold individually, but the engine and the green caboose can have value on their own to someone wanting to complete a set, if they are complete and don’t have any broken parts.

What the set originally cost

The Marx 7215 diesel electric train set retailed for $16.95 and retailers sometimes discounted it to closer to $12 or even $10 during the holiday season.

Marx didn’t promote this set as well as it could have. Most of the ads I could find for this set didn’t feature an image at all. The ads that did have an image used a line drawing of a steam freight set with a caption stating “not exactly as shown.”

Marx tried to remedy this in 1974 and 1975 with its Great American Railroads series, which it did a better job of promoting, though the results were disappointing. The railroad industry as a whole wasn’t doing well in the early 1970s and while Baby Boomers nostalgic for their train sets were interested in getting trains for their young kids, public interest in railroads was declining. Twenty years earlier, electric train sets practically sold themselves. They were a harder sell in the early 1970s and that partially explains the deep discounting.