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How to disassemble a Marx 666 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 11, 2015September 3, 2017hardware store, lionel, Louis Marx, Lucas Red, marx, marx trains, o27, tin, trainz

Disassembling a postwar Marx 666 locomotive, or its plastic counterpart the 1666, isn’t too difficult, but it helps to have some instructions.

Marx designed its trains so that a father or older brother could service them, so it comes apart with simple household tools, and you can get most of what you’ll need to service it at the nearest hardware or auto parts store, with the exception of the bulb for the headlight.

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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How many Lionel CTC lockons you need

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 5, 2015September 11, 2022american flyer, lionel, lockon, marx, marx trains, o27, s gauge, trainz

You usually need at least two Lionel CTC lockons, but most Lionel O and O27 train sets came with a single CTC lockon connector.

If your train slows down as it gets farther away from the transformer, that’s the biggest tell-tale sign that you need at least one more lockon.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel crossovers and Marx trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 21, 2015September 15, 2016lionel, Lionel O27, lionel train, marx, marx trains, o27

A common question is whether Marx trains will work with Lionel crossovers, or vice versa. The answer is not well, but with a caveat. A big caveat. Here’s what to look out for with Lionel crossovers and Marx trains.

Dave Farquhar

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Available diameters of tubular O and O27 track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 19, 2015October 22, 20221980s, lionel, lionel train, marx, Marx O34, marx trains, o gauge, o27, RADIUS, sakai, tubular track

A frequent question, especially for those who are just discovering or rediscovering vintage Lionel and Marx trains is what sizes of track are (or were) available, and how many pieces come to a circle.

Unlike other scales, Lionel marketed its track by diameter, not radius. As you undoubtedly remember from geometry class, radius is the distance from the center of the circle to the edge, while diameter is the distance from edge to edge. So a circle of O27 track is approximately 27 inches wide. O27 track stands about 7/16 of an inch tall, while higher end O gauge (also sometimes called O31) track stands about a quarter inch taller, at about 11/16 of an inch tall.

Dave Farquhar

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Aluminum paint is a cheap alternative to replating

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 26, 2015September 3, 2017american flyer, erector, hardware store, lionel, marx, tin

Aficionados of old toys, particularly building kits like Erector and Meccano, or prewar tinplate trains made by companies like Lionel, American Flyer and Marx, know all too well that the tin plating on unpainted parts can wear off with time, and with it, bring unsightly rust.

When restoring a piece, they’ll often use a replating kit to apply a new coat of tin. But sometimes you want a piece to look better but can’t justify the expense of a replating kit, or the piece is too badly pitted to replate well and need an alternative.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel train light bulb chart

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 19, 2015February 23, 2019american flyer, ba9s, billboard, electric trains, hardware store, KW, lionel, lionel train, LW, marx, NYC, o gauge, trainz

Lionel used 15 different types of light bulbs in its O gauge electric trains in the postwar era, but in most cases–87% of catalog numbers, and a lot more than that in actual number of items produced–you can get by with two. Since knowing when can be difficult, here’s a Lionel train light bulb chart.

Lionel almost always specified 14 or 18 volts. Using an 18-volt bulb in place of a 14-volt original, or a 22-volt bulb in place of an 18-volt original results in longer service life. And there were two base types that Lionel used more than any other. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Preventing front or rear truck derailment on Lionel locomotives

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 12, 2015September 10, 2017lionel, marx

Years ago, I brought a Lionel 2026 locomotive in for repair that had belonged to my dad. It ran poorly, and either dad or his kid brother had taken it apart at some point and lost some of the parts, including the front truck.

And then, when I got the locomotive back and I put it on the track for a test run, it derailed constantly. The front truck just wouldn’t stay on the track, no matter what I did.

Dave Farquhar

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Don’t use lamp oil as smoke fluid in Lionel trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains May 29, 2015November 18, 2021lionel, lionel train, marx, marx trains, toy train

Every so often, the topic of lamp oil as a cheap substitute for smoke fluid in Lionel and Marx trains comes up.

The topic has been beaten to death on many closed message groups, but finding the answer isn’t always that easy. But, in short, it’s not a safe thing to do.

Dave Farquhar

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Creative sourcing for O and S scale train layout figures

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 6, 2014November 24, 20181:64 scale, american flyer, Big Lots, christmas, Cobblestone Corners, CVS, Dollar Tree, HO, ho scale, marx, marx trains, o gauge, o scale, s gauge, s scale, train layout

Hobby shops frequently carry a decent selection of figures for O and S gauge layouts, but if you look at the magazines long enough, you start to see almost all of them have the same figures–and they’re probably the same figures the shop near you sells as well.

There are ways to get a better variety of figures so your layout can have something distinctive about it–and the good news is you can save some money doing it as well.

Dave Farquhar

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Tips for using Dept. 56 and Lemax-type buildings with Lionel trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 29, 2014December 10, 20211:64 scale, 1950s, american flyer, christmas, Cobblestone Corners, Dept 56, Dollar Tree, electric trains, estate sales, holiday village, Lemax, lionel, marx, marx trains, s scale

A frequent question I see regards the proper scale of snow village-type buildings, like Department 56 and Lemax, and whether they’re suitable for use with Lionel electric trains.

The answer is that their scale varies, but the buildings work very effectively with traditional Lionel trains, or, for that matter, 1:64 S scale American Flyer trains. Many hobbyists have built elaborate winter-themed layouts using these buildings. Typically the scale runs from anywhere from 1:64 to 1:48, with lots of selective compression to make the buildings fit an approximate footprint. The very same thing is true of the Lionel trains of the 1950s, so, intentional or not, they end up being a pretty good match.

The figures sold with these buildings, on the other hand, tend to be much larger–very close to 1:24 scale. This discrepancy bothers some people more than others. 1:24 figures are better suited for G scale.

Dave Farquhar

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