Marx electric -vs- O-27 turnouts

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I am in the process of building a small (make that very small) O-27 layout to run aolder Wind-up Marx items I recently picked up, it has 2 modern Lionel O-27 turnouts. I currently only have wind-up or battery powered stock which run fine on the modern O-27 track, but I am considering a couple older track powered engines.

Now I have read that some Marx items that have the wheel drive gearing right at the flange have problems with jambing on turnouts frogs. Can someone fill me in on what I need to know before I invest in something I will not be able to run on my current tiny set-up.

Thanks Vic

2

Just chek the drivers. If the gears on on the flange you will need Marx switches.

3

If you want to run both Marx and Lionel, I recommend you get the old style, all metal, Marx switches. These will run all the Marx engines including the “fat wheel” ones. The plastic Marx switches do not work well with Lionel trains.

Bruce Baker

4

You can use Marx plastic or metal switches, or Lionel 1024:

or Lionel 1121:

Rob

5

Thanks thats what I was concerned about, I’ll keep an eye open for some on Feebay, but since I already have the Lionels now maybe I’ll just stick to the windups stuff for the time being.

6

It’s been my experience that the plastic ones don’t work that well with Marx trains either.

Off the top of my head, here’s a few engines by Marx that should work with Lionel switches: the 666 and 1666 2-4-2 steamers, the 1095 ATSF E unit, and the 81F Monon diesel.

If you are looking at a side view of an engine and can’t tell if the gears go all the way to the edges of the flanges, you can look between the wheels. If there is only one gear, it is a single reduction motor (has the fat flanges and won’t work with newer switches). If it has two gears side by side, it has a double reduction motor with normal flanges that should work with newer switches.

There’s always the option of using a small Scout engine (or a 2034) with a Marx tender too.

J White

7

Thanks I’ll look for that double gearing, my small collection currently focuses on windup litho tinplate items, I was hoping to pick up a litho diesel set and maybe a track powered Vanderbilt down the line, now I know what to look for ‘under the hood’ so to speak.[:D]

8

my 333 runs fine on Lionel 1024 or 1121 switches. My 999 didn’t, so I have one main that I run the Marx engines on, so I swapped out the Lionels for Marx switches.