Jim R's Marx Trains

Marx trains were a product of Louis Marx & Co. toy manufacturers. The Louis Marx & Co. was in business in the US from 1919 to 1978.

Founded in New York in 1919 by Louis and his brother David, the company excelled at creating quality products at afordable prices.

The Marx Co. logo consisted of the letters 'MAR' in a circle with a large X through it. The company's basic policies were 'Give the customer more toy for less money' and 'Quality is not negotiable.'

The Louis Marx & Co. had three manufacturing plants in the US - Erie, Pennsylvannia, Gerard, Pennsylvannia and Glen Dale, West Virginia. Louis Marx & Co. also had numerous plants overseas.

Marx trains were produced at the Gerard plant, acquired in 1934.

Louis Marx sold his company to Quaker Oats in 1972 for $54 million, retiring at the age of 76.

Quaker struggled with it's Marx division, closing the Erie and Gerard plants in 1975 and, in early 1976, selling what remained to a British conglomerate, Dunbee-Combex-Marx, who had purchased the former Marx UK subsiduary in 1967.

Due to a failing economy and to changing trends, the Marx brand disappeared in 1978. Dunbee-Combex-Marx filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 1980.

Marx Toys produced tin lithographed trains, die cast trains and plastic molded trains in both steam line and diesel.

There are an enormous variety of Marx trains to explore. So join in and be part of the fun!

One of my personal favorite Marx train offerings is the steam locomotive #666.

It sports a 2-4-2 (Columbia) wheel arrangement, which was a common wheel arrangment for early Marx locomotives. However, what was not common was that, unlike it's more compact cousins, it sported a size more appropriate to O scale.

Marx produced #666s from 1955 to 1961 and again from 1967 to 1974.

As was common with Marx train, it ws powered by an open frame AC motor block with affixed axels and wheels. The armature had a gear on the end that meshed with other gears to drive the wheels. All #666s had lights, an E-unit (direction device that changed the direction of the locomotive each time it was turned off and than on again) and a smoke unit. The shell was made of die cast metal and showed a nice amount of detail.

The #666 had a number of variations.

1)Black locomotive with white stripes along the boiler walkway.

2)Black locomotive with white stripes along the boiler walkway with a smoke cylinder.

3)Black locomotive, no stripes.

4)Army green locomotive, produced in 1957 and 1958 only.

5)Grey locomotive produced in 1971 - reportedly very rare.

The #666 is an O scale model train, though there are those who feel it is closer to S scale, that runs on three rail O27 track.

Another of my personal favorite Marx steam locomotives is te #333.

The #333 has a 4-6-2 (Pacific) wheel arrangement. It is the only Marx model to have that arrangement. Like the #666, the #333 was a larger (weighing in at about 4lbs) and detailed model.

Marx produced the #333 from 1949 to 1954 in two variations. The earlier models did not have smoke units and had no awnings over the cabside windows. Early models also had two piece outer long drive rods. The later version did have a smoke unit and sported awnings over the cab side windows, as well as having one piece outer long drive rods. #333 locomotives came in either flat or satin finish black.

The #333 also had the Marx open frame AC motor. It had two jade green marker lights, a headlight and illuminated number board. The #333 had handrails along each side of the boiler and spoked drivers.The shell is a heavy die cast metal. All #333s had directional E-units.

Due, largely, to it's size and detail, the #333 is considered one of the more collectible Marx trains.

The #333 is an O scale train that runs on three rail O27 track.