Marx 666 + Marx 666 = Unkillable Engines!

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Having already resuscitated one Marx 666 steam loco, I turned my attentions to another 666 which had been languishing on my workbench for a year or more. When I first got it (another stray), I’d written it off as a loss; the drive wheels were flopping about and the thing looked generally disreputable.

Still, the happily buzzing 666 I had, well, got me to thinking, and today, I tackled the other one. As it turns out, the wheels were a tad loose on the axle, but once I applied a bit of ACC gel (by Loctite), they snapped into position nicely. Next, I took off the motor cover and cleaned off the commutator and brushes, and shined up the third rail pickup…

Now, mind you, I didn’t even try to run the little beggar up. I just took it into the train room and plopped it on the track.

As soon as I applied power, darned if the thing didn’t take off, sounding like a well-oiled Singer sewing machine! And with a little tweaking of the ground wire, smoking up a storm!

Marx locomotives really ARE unkillable!

Just as the first 666 loco sports a donor Lionel tender, so does the second one (this one is an early 1950s Lionel Scout tender complete with Scout gondola and caboose; the matching loco smokes, but doesn’t have a smoke generator, meaning it’s shot. So much for the vaunted superiority of Lionel, at least in the low-end field)…
Yanno, for a trolley guy, I’m sure fixing a lot of steam locomotives lately…

2

The Marx locos are pretty robust engines for being the cheaper end of the toy train gene pool. Glad you got another 666 up and running again. I use Marx engines with Lionel tenders to pull Lionel cars on my layout too.

3

Any tips on fixing a stuck e-unit? Goes forward great and reverse when it feels like it. I’ve tapped it and sprayed it with some tuner cleaner so for now, just locked it in forward.

4

Best way I’ve found to unstick a stuck E-unit is simply to keep working the beggar until it works free…

Mitch

5

Unkillable is pretty accurate! Here is an example:

Before:

During:

After:

Gotta love the wonderful, incredible Marx!

6

Nicely restored! How are you going to reinstall the drive rods?

Mitch

7

The drive rod studs on Marx wheels are fairly malleable. If you examine the way the rods are held onto the stud, you will see that it is a rolled edge. To remove the rods, I carefully work the edge all the way around with a pair of smooth jawed needle nose. It takes time, but the metal can be evenly compressed/squeezed down so that the drive rods can be lifted off. To install you use a punch to evenly roll/expand the edge enough to keep the drive rod in place - basically reversing the process.

8

I too, can attest to the near impossibility for a Marx 666 to completely fail to run, aside from actually destroying it.

I had (it was stolen, along with a box full of Lionel and Marx trains) a Marx 666 that only had three wheels when I bought it. It was missing the lead and trailing wheels, and one of the drivers with a drive rod on it.

When I got it home, I put it on a test loop of track, to see if it would even budge. I’ll be darned if the thing didn’t fly around the loop, despite missing a driver. It took me a bit to round up replacement wheels for the loco, and while I worked on the chassis, I painted the boiler Ford tractor blue, with Ford 8N Red on the cab rood, with gold paint on the bell, and silver paint for the trim along the smokebox and firebox.

Here is the only picture I could find of it. I do plan on recreating the engine, which I had named “Blue Belle” in the near future, as soon as I get my hands on another Marx 666 that needs a bit of work (I have around a half dozen Marx 666 locos, but they are all in pretty darn good shape, so I am not going to repaint them).

9

Ooo! That’s a pretty paint scheme. Hope you find a new Blue Belle soon!

Mitch

10

little known fact is there was a Marx 666 set on the Titanic when she went down. After almost 100 years in the salt water the set was recovered , and with just a little WD 40 rauns like new. (tounge firmly planted in cheek)

11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6HYzfEZPXc

:wink:

Mitch

12

I’ve read where a guy said he had to use a “wheel extractor” to losen the wheels a bit on a 666 loco he had just got on line. I have been searching to get a look at this tool but haven’t seen one? Is it the only way to remove or even losen the drive wheels on a Marx drive assy. ? I have a 666 with stack smoker that has one of the bolts that pass thru the armature has broken off even with the brushes plate/panel. I’m wanting to change that broken bolt/stud so that I can attach a nut to complete the 4 point bolting arrangement correctly. I see the bolts are staked into the geared side of the drive assy. with no head, and I can’t find any documentation for this type of repair to replace a broken bolt.

13

Jim,

The best permanent “fix” for that problem, short of a replacement motor, is a replacement field coil side plate for the post war double reduction motor. Robert Grossman may have one on hand. His last parts list shows it in stock @ $5.00 It is not shown on the website so email him or call him. Just tell him what you have, and he will get you what you need.

His web site is: www.trainpartsformarx.com
email is: info@trainpartsformarx.com

Robert is very helpful, and responds to emails. His phone number is also on his website. If you can get the part from Robert, you will need to completely dismantle

14

I was able to drill the thicker brass part that passes thru the coil and tap threads into it to accept a brass threaded bolt of the same size and tapper. This was cut to the same height as the other top bolt on the right side of the brushes cover. It came out great!

15

I saw that the E-Unit bus bar on a Marx 333 & 1829 drive assy. has a tention clip that bites the wire for the head light so that you don’t have to unsoldier the wire when you remove the drive assy. from the shell for work. The clip is tiny but works like the clips on the track wire connections to the transformer. Is it possible to add that feature to the E-Unit bus bar on a dual gear assy. like in the 666, 1666, some 490, and 400s? I’ve looked at parts supplier sites but haven’t seen the clip for sale.

16

I have also looked for those clips. The only ones I have found are too large for a proper application. Marx used the same type of clip as a quick headlight disconnect on the Commodore Vanderbilt engines. If you find a source, I would like to know about it.

GA

17

Did you paint the motor frame ? Or blue it ? Looks great what ever you done to it. [Y]

18

I blued it with Oxpho cold blue solution. I was a gunsmith in another life!

19

I must be one of the few people on earth who had a Marx locomotive that would not run anymore with just a cleaning.

I have one that had a stripped idler gear caused by too long of a replacement body mounting screw being used, (screw looked like something from a light switch cover)

It looks like it was run at a good speed and the tip of the side rod had hit the screw threads that were sticking out, jammed up the gears and knocked the teeth off the idler gear.

I repaired it with a good gear, hardest part was finding a “junk” motor for spare parts to get a good gear. Every motor I found was too nice to part out, so I ended finding a used gear from a box lot of o gauge parts I had found.

It works great now, I figured I’d pass this story on to save some trouble, check the clearence between the tips of the side rods and the body screws beforerunning a used locomotive, sometimes people “throw together junk” to sell at train shows and they have no idea what they are doing.

-Jason

20

Were you serious about the Marx 666 being on the Titanic? Or am I just gullible?