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Estimating the value of a Marx train

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 23, 2016November 25, 20181950s, american flyer, Baby Boomers, Joy Line, Kansas City, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, marx trains, New York, New York Central, pbs, Quaker Oats, tin, Union Pacific

One of the most frequent questions I see or receive directly about Marx trains is what a Marx train is worth, or the value of a Marx train. Of course without seeing the train, it’s nearly impossible to give a good estimate, but there are some general rules that you can follow, either to protect yourself as a buyer, or to keep your expectations realistic as a seller.

Dave Farquhar

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.

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The Marx 21 Santa Fe diesels

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 19, 2016May 17, 20241:64 scale, lionel, marx, o gauge, tin

In 1950, Marx introduced the largest locomotive it ever made, the Marx 21 Santa Fe diesel. Marx made both powered and unpowered versions, and they were dressed up in the same warbonnet scheme as Lionel’s iconic F3 diesels, but unlike Lionel’s effort, they were nearly 1:48 scale (proper for O gauge) and made of metal.

Marx only made them for two years.

Dave Farquhar

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Adjust Lionel CW-80 fixed voltage

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 15, 2016February 14, 2016lionel

The CW-80, unlike postwar transformers, only has two accessory posts. To adjust the Lionel CW-80 fixed voltage, the posts are programmable. If you lost your manual, here’s how to do it.

The accessory voltage was set to 12 volts at the factory, which is usually a good setting, but sometimes they get adjusted, or sometimes you need something different. Here’s how to set it to what you want, in five steps.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel train won’t slow down? Here’s the fix.

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 12, 2016February 17, 2017lionel, lionel train, LW

Someone asked me recently why their Lionel train won’t slow down, and when I asked for elaboration, I learned the train wasn’t responding to the throttle on the transformer.

Usually I see the opposite problem, but this one is an easy mistake to make. Fortunately the fix for it is also easy.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel 2034 locomotive repair

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 5, 2016December 29, 2017american flyer, electric trains, lionel, Lionel Postwar, marx, metal polish, old trains

I have a Lionel 2034 that had a bent cab I fixed, but it ran poorly too. It would run, but only in super slow-mo, and that was when it would run at all. If I was really patient, sometimes I could get it to run a little after a few minutes, but it had minimal pulling power even then. So I took a shot at Lionel 2034 locomotive repair. It was successful.

The motor needed some maintenance, but it didn’t need any parts. Here’s how I fixed it in less than an hour.

Dave Farquhar

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Fixing a bent Lionel 2034 die-cast roof

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 4, 2016January 24, 2016lionel, locking pliers

I had a Lionel 2034 engine that had, at some point in its life, suffered a fall off a table, most likely onto concrete. The result was a severely bent corner on the cab roof.

But a fall off the table doesn’t have to be the end of the line. It’s possible to fix this injury.

Dave Farquhar

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6 options for removing paint from model trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 29, 2016August 30, 2017american flyer, Dollar Tree, electric trains, Hot Wheels, lionel, marx, matchbox, plastic models, Purple Power, train layout

It’s not uncommon to find model trains with unwanted paint on them, or original paint that’s damaged beyond the point of being able to rehabilitate it. Fortunately, the price is usually low on these trains, and there are numerous household chemicals that can strip the paint off these trains and give them a fresh start.

These tricks also work with other toys and plastic models, but while some of these methods seem to be unknown in the train community, some of them are very well known among collectors who restore vintage plastic model kits. This is an example where knowledge across disciplines can be very valuable, so I hope the car and airplane modelers won’t mind me sharing their secrets.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel 675 history

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 28, 2016January 15, 20171950s, lionel, Lionel 675, o scale, o27, PRR, tolerances

The Lionel 675, 2025 and 2035 locomotives are three of the most iconic and sought-after engines Lionel produced in the postwar era. They depicted the Pennsylvania K-5, an ill-fated 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive that was intended to replace the iconic K-4, a popular locomotive that had roamed the rails for one of the largest railroads in the United States since 1911, and was later recognized as the official state locomotive of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the K-5 proved less successful and only two were ever made, although the PRR did run both of them into the 1950s.

Some documents identify the 675/2025/2035 as a K-4, but Lionel’s own service literature from the period says it was a K-5.

Lionel’s version proved far, far more successful than the real thing, almost becoming an icon itself. The first edition of Krause’s Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains, 1945-1969 featured a Lionel 675 from 1946 on its cover.

Dave Farquhar

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All about the Lionel LW transformer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 26, 2016April 15, 2017american flyer, home depot, KW, lionel, lockon, LW, marx, power cord, red wire, troubleshooting

The Lionel LW Trainmaster is a 125 watt transformer that Lionel produced from 1955 to 1966. They are reasonably durable and Lionel made them for a long time. That means you can find them easily on the secondary market. They can be expensive if they have their original box and paperwork. But if you just want to run a train and don’t care about the paper, you can get a serviced LW for $50-$60, and an as-is one for under $40. At 125 watts, it’s the most powerful single-handle transformer of the postwar era.

The LW is a quirky transformer so there are some things about if you need to be aware of if you have other Lionel transformers, but as long as you keep those in mind, it’s a fine transformer that will serve you well. The quirks have nothing at all to do with reliability. Lionel just designed its layout a bit differently than many of their other models. In some ways it’s the ideal accessory transformer. We’ll cover that later.

One thing to keep in mind: Unplug the LW when you’re not using it. It doesn’t have its own power switch. I plug my transformers into a power strip and turn all of them on and off with the strip’s on/off switch.

Dave Farquhar

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How to remove a plastic Lionel truck rivet

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 21, 2016January 16, 20161980s, lionel

In the 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel was part of General Mills, one cost-cutting measure they took was to attach trucks to car bodies with a plastic doohickey. It’s not really a rivet, but more like a clip, and it doesn’t exactly hold the trucks steady.

Removing them isn’t difficult but the method may not be immediately obvious. And sometimes these Lionel cars really did use rivets. I can explain how to remove those as well.

Dave Farquhar

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