Lets See Your Marx Layout

Here is my most important set.  I have that track in the first photo and set it up once a year, on my birthday, on the kitchen table, and run it.  I have a set of similar loco and cars I bought of e-bay about five years ago that I keep upstairs and run on the layout once and a while.  I have two locos like this one, one wind up and one converted electric.  But the one in the second photo is the original, pre-war, that belonged to my Dad when he was a kid. 

Lee the wonderful thing about kids imaginations is a simple Marx engine can be as good as a scale Hudson. My first train that I remember was a 2026. Christmas 1948. I looked at that engine with wonder. Still have it. Don

Mine isn't a totally Marx layout as I do run some Lionel from time to time, but mainly Marx is run here.

Wow, love it Andy, thank you. Don

I built this reproduction of a Marx dealer display layout years ago. It was very accurate right down to the textured splatter type paint. 100% Marx.

And then there is this one I built for the Nixon Library last Holiday season, 95% Marx.

Six inch and seven inch Marx, on schedule and on time!  I used my Marx for a holiday

tree layout, but haven't even set that up the last few years.

Wonderful layouts, Steve. I really enjoyed the videos. Thanks for posting them.

Love that Marx! Thanks for sharing.

Absolutely right there.  I keep that in mind when I release the "inner eight year old" in my on projects like my Army train and secret rocket base. They Marx trains I played with were very 'realistic" to me and nothing more scale/more expensive could have pleased me any more.  

Note in my pictures, both in 1953 and 2013, the tender is backwards.  That was okay for me back then, so I keep it that way on display now as a reminder . . . .

This thread brings back lots of lovely memories. 

Here is my Marx Portable/Storable Layout that won first place in the 2013 OGR forum, micro layout contest and appeared as a feature construction article in the December 2013 issue of OGR Magazine.

Here is my Marx electric trains and 6" cars  under the Christmas tree in 2011.

Here is a video of my favorite Marx operating accessory, the #567 Side Dumping Car and #1615 Dumping Station.

Here is my Marx battery powered "Train With The Brain", ands its amazing automatic operation!

My brother and I used to set up his wind up Marx train on the kitchen table every now and then. 

We used the lid from the bread box as a station stop. We would try to let the engine wind down as to stop at the make believe station Even though it was a freight train. 

We had hours of fun. 

You bring up a good point inasmuch as many of us began with Marx Trains. Back in the day in Chicago, as a child, I had a floor layout as a circle of track on our apartment sun porch. Not every parent had the wherewithal to purchase a AF or Lionel set and it makes me wonder that if it were not for Marx as an introduction to the hobby, would I have gone down this path? 

There is something to be said for their deserved reputation as being nearly indestructible as well as having incredible variety, everything from S scale on O to six inch rolling stock to very large equipment rivaling the size of Unique Arts. From tin, to die cast to plastic, from four axle to two axle, I would say there is more variety in Marx than any other manufacturer.

On my layout I switch out the Marx for more contemporary stuff, and the general consensus from my family is that everyone prefers the more colorful Marx as eye candy.

Brings back many memories. Back in early 50s, we still did not have electricity at the farm, it was coming, they were already installing poles and wires down the coun try roads. Hope was by Christmas we would have lights, but was not to be. Back then, the power company, believe it or not, to sell electricity, wired your home. Exposed wires with porcelan switches, hanging ceiling lights, etc. House was wired, but it would not be till April we were told. So for Christmas, I got a wind-up Marx train set. Oh yes, it was found Christmas morning under the tree running around since dad just wound it up. But I did the same thing on the kitchen table, wind it up, sometimes not fully, and bet to see were she would stop. Was years later, mom thinking she was getting me an "electric" train. Picked up a Marx battery operated train. I still have it, and its only been run 2/3 times. Until last year, getting into "O", never had a Lionel.

Love this Marx post, bringing a flood of memories to this old man.

I guess I'm in my second childhood? I never had an electric train until I was 12 and it was a Tyco HO set. That led to years of scale model railroading that I enjoyed as as a teen and young adult.

Now my tastes have change and Marx is just a whole lot more fun to me now.

My 1st was a Marx set that my grandpa gave me for Christmas when I was 4 or 5.  Had a loop of track on a piece of plywood that slid under the couch.  I literately ran it into the ground.  The locomotive stopped moving and I had broken most of the couplers off of the cars.  Paper clips or string around the axles was all that kept the cars together.  I still have it and got the locomotive serviced so it runs again.  Mostly backwards unless I turn it over and manually flip the reverser (It gets stuck.).  I bought some tin cars from eBay and pull it out once in a while.

Now I have a question I've been meaning to ask, and this thread is as good a place as any since it's Marx layout related.  I bought a pair of Marx switches a while ago and already have a 90 crossing, and some old track, but I want to get new track to use to connect the switches and crossing to build a layout to again slide under my couch.  Would Lionel O27 track or O track be a better match since I understand height is the difference between the two?  He's my plan below.

Thanks Electroliner for posting that wonderful Marx video.

I received my first Marx set in 1960.

Still collect and run Marx trains. 

keep hoping one of the manufactures would remake Marx train sets. 

Phil.    

This is my very small all tinplate layout.  I run only tinplate on this and most of it is Marx although from time to time I will run some very early Lionel Tinplate on it as well.  The metal trestles are modern made in the U.S.A. reproductions of early Marx metal trestles.

I use vintage metal Marx switches and crossing on my layout with late model Lionel and K-Line O-27 track. It works just fine. Marx track was also O-27.

I don't know if my switches are earlier or later or whatever.  I just know that they work with my locomotive, which is one with the fat gear flanges and a center pickup shoe instead of rollers.  I could get it to go over a FasTrack crossing if the speed was just right (Too slow and it stops, too fast and off of the track it goes, just right and it hops through the tight spots and keeps going on the other side.) but I rather just run it on tin track.  Thanks for the info, now I just need to find some new Lionel O27 track.

MegaSteam also makes a smoke which recreates that great smelling Marx smoke in the WICKED green colored bottle!