Where to pre-order Marklin stuff?

Model Railroader
1

So this morning I looked at Facebook and saw Marklin is bringing out a locomotive and 3 freight cars based upon AC/DC. The equipment is due in October, and as a huge fan of AC/DC I want this train! My local dealer can’t get Marklin, so does anyone have any suggestions of a reliable source for Marklin here in the US I can get my pre-order in with? The Marklin website never did show me a dealer in the US, but to be fair with a 50km maximum radius that isn’t surprising. I am in Indiana and would prefer to deal with someone local, but am willing to do mail order if needed.

2

I trust Rene Schweitzer can give us a list of Trains advertisers that can order and deliver the items in question.

Here is one that specifically advertises their ability to special-order Marklin products:

(You can find them quickly by googling “Marklin special order USA” so it’s not spam to give the link). I would certainly think that calling them toll-free would pretty quickly confirm if there are problems getting Marklin from Europe now…

3

While I have not purchased many ‘big ticket’ items from Euro Rail Hobbies I have ordered several Kibri, Faller and Vollmer kits from them and I believe I have also purchased some Artitec detail items as well. They are a long-established retailer and, while you might not get any ‘big discount’ leads as, perhaps, TrainWorld might offer I believe you will get a fair deal and good customer service.

Good Luck, Ed

4

Contact Us – Ajckids - this place is in Texas and they specialize in Euro trains.

5

Welcome

6

Reynaulds Euro Imports is another good source and pre-ordering is definitely possible on Marklin stuff, among many others. I like their YouTube videos - very informative!

I don’t believe they carry any OO UK stuff, so that might be a show-stopper for some. They do carry Rivarossi, but maybe that pre-dates the Hornby acquisition. If it’s German - they have it: locos and scenery kits.

Speaking of the OP’s Indiana, Reynaulds is about 20 mi west of Chicago.

7

Hello All,

To clarify you are referring to the band and not the European train control system?

Märklin uses a three-conductor power system that will not work with North American DCC, often referred to as AC power.

If you are looking for locomotives that will work with the North American DCC system, you will need to either convert the Märklin to Trix (manufactured by Märklin) wheel sets or purchase- -if available- -the Trix version.

I have done the conversion before…

Well, that was easy…relatively…

You will also need to replace the wheels on the cars (wagons) with insulated axle type.

The Märklin wheels have live axles and will short out a North American DCC system.

Don’t ask me how I know, but I know.

Good luck on your search, and as always…

Hope this helps.

8

It’s pretty obvious he means this:

https://www.maerklin.de/en/lp/2025/rock-n-roll-train-x-acdc

as even a .0017-second Google search would reveal. Think of all that typing you could have saved!

9

The Trix version is DCC compatible:

Here’s one US (Florida) retailer taking preorders:

Or New Jersey:

Cheers, Ed

10

Thanks for the suggestions. My LHS thinks he may be able to get these for me, and asked me to give him a week to see. I would much rather deal locally.