My Brother In Law gave me a train set, a pretty sharp 2-6-0 and four 4 wheeled cars and some track, but I have no idea how to wire it. It's ready to plug into an American style plug, but my only experience is with DC trains. Is this AC, and what about reversing circuits and why the metal "shoe" under the locomotive and and andHELP
Some pics might help. Marklin used three rail for AC, and their own version of DCC-sometihng called M/Motorola and used the center "studs (3rd rail)" for AC power and signals. The metal shoe could be the stud/3rd rail pickup. From what I've gathered from what the Germans say, you can run DCC and M/Motorola on the same track so long as you have decoders that can speak both since DCC uses 2 rail, and M/Motorola uses the center studs, but there are still some compatibly and power issues. Hope it all works out, I've admired Marklin locos for a some time and read that they are good runners. I'm only DC as well so hopefully someone can jump in who knows more. You might also want to post in the DCC forum as well.
I'm also a little interested in this 120v 60Hz conversion. Most of the Marklin controllers I've seen are setup for Europe's 220v-230v 50Hz power. In my dead field (Video Broadcast) North American Power and everyone else's power can cause some headaches from time to time.
The metal shoe under the locomotive, is to pick up power from the studs you'll find in the middle of the track pieces. This makes that reversing circuits are no problem, because you don't have the +/- issue you'll face operating DC. My father used to have Marklin and it was a very reliable system, and their locos are extreme good pullers.
OK, Maybe I'm dense,the transformer has a red, a yellow, and two grey terminals. There aren't any controls besides the speed dial (potentiometer?). The studs between the rails appear to be plastic. I dont want to damage the locomotive by experimenting, can someone explain how this all works ?
Hello Sir, I think I can help, because I own some Marklin equipment. Basically speaking, you connect the first wire from the red terminal to the middle rail (the studs), and the second wire from one of the grey terminals (does not matter which one) to the two outer rails. By the way, my transformer has two brown terminals, not two grey terminals like yours. And the yellow terminal is used for connecting to various accessories made by Marklin. I'm assuming your transformer is made for 120 Volts, 60Htz. If however your Marklin transformer is designed for European 220-230 voltage, you would need a "step-up" transformer to use the Marklin 230V power pack here in North America. First be aware, the vast majority of HO scale locomotives (well over 99.99%) that Marklin has ever made is 3 rail, AC powered. Marklin has made three different lineups of track (with center stud contact) for their HO scale trains, which they call "M", "K" and "C" track. Those are just three different lineups of track products. The M track is the oldest, going back to about 1953 and was produced until at least 2003. It has a solid metal roadbed integrated into the track. It's no longer being made, but there is still tons on the second hand market. It can rust if stored in a damp place. Then around 1969 (don't remember exact year) Marklin introduced their "K" lineup of track. It does not have any roadbed, you're supposed to use cork (or similar) roadbed with it. K track is unique, because it's the only HO scale Marklin lineup that offers flextrack. K track is still being produced, and is still available brand new. The latest lineup is the "C" track, introduced around 1996 or thereabouts, and is still being produced. Just like the old M track, C track also has an integrated roadbed, but it's made of plastic, not the metal roadbed like the M track. It should not rust as bad as the old M track, because the roadbed is plastic, and I believe the rails are stainless steal. I also want to mention, all 3 rail, AC powered Marklin locomotives have a reversing unit inside, similar to what O gauge Lionel trains have. At first it was strictly a mechanical device, then later an electro-mechanical device, then later a computer chip. And now every locomotive they produce has a decoder inside (similar to a DCC decoder), but Marklins decoder is a proprietary design. You must use a Marklin transformer, to run Marklin trains. Do not use a normal DC transformer, or a regular DCC system, to run Marklin trains. Also, you won't be able to run any DC or DCC locomotives (made by Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Bachmann, Life-Like, etc) on Marklin track, unless they are modified. You can operate any analog and digital AC Marklin locomotive with a regular Marklin analog transformer. But to take advantage of all the extra features in decoder equipped locomotives (such as controlling lights, sounds, etc), you might want to get a Marklin digital controller. And one more piece of information. If you have been wondering how you reverse your Marklin train with your analog Marklin transformer, you will need to move the red dial to the left (past the 0), only for a brief second. That will tell the reversing unit to cycle into reverse mode, and allow you to run in reverse. And later when you want to go forward again, you move the red dial left (past the 0) briefly again, to be able to go forward again. I hope this all makes sense. You should be able to find more information on the internet, and at various forums devoted to Marklin trains.
Thank you howard1975. I feel alot better about this now. By the way it's C track. Now to figure out how to attach the wires. THANX!
You're welcome Helitac. On the bottom of every piece of C track, you will see metal prongs sticking out. Marklin makes a special connector wire (39 inches long) with spade connectors, to fit on the prongs. The piece they sell, is Marklin 74040 Feeder Wire Set, M.S.R.P. is $5.40 dollars. The spade connectors connect to the track, and the other end connects to your transformer. You can also make your own set, if you have spade connectors that fit on the prongs underneath the track. Marklin also sells a package of 20 spade connectors separately, if you wanted to use your own wire. That is part number, Marklin 74995, and the M.S.R.P. is also $5.40 dollars. If you do a Google search for Marklin 74040 Feeder Wire Set, you will find more information and pictures of what it looks like (and how to properly connect it to the track).
No, thank you howard1975, I'm off on a Google search. I'm pretty sure if I could see a picture of it I'll be O.K. Thanx alot and Welcome to Trainboard! GOT IT!! A Picture is worth a........
I also want to mention a few other things, since I have time, based on your questions and the other posters. The studs in the middle of the track are indeed metal, and the metal shoe on the locomotive picks up electricity from the studs. Both outside rails are connected electrically together, and grounded together. In other words, unlike the 2 rail DC trains you are familiar with, with Marklin it's super easy to have reversing tracks, wyes and turntables, with no extra wiring. This is because, the middle stud rail is positive, and both running rails are negative, for instance. No matter how complicated your layout is, it's super simple to hook up electrically. Let's first talk about an analog setup. We'll discuss Marklin Digital (Marklin's version of DCC) later. So with analog control, no matter how complicated your layout, and "IF" you are using only one locomotive, all you need is two wires from the powerpack to the rails. Naturally when you want to run two or more locomotives, in an analog layout, you will need two or more transformers (power packs), and divide the layout into blocks. You would need more wiring of course. This is the same as analog 2 rail, DC layouts. And if you wanted to use Marklin digital, to operate a small railroad with a handful of digital locomotives running at the same time -- then you only need two wires to the track (same as 2 rail, DCC layouts). Bigger digital layouts should still be divided into power districts, for protection from electrical problems (overloads, short circuits, etc) -- and to better distribute the power when running a large layout with many locomotives (which is the same advice given for 2 rail, DCC layouts). If you don't mind, what kind of transformer and locomotive do you have? Have fun, Howard.
The locomotive is a 2-6-0 tank type (no tender), painted about the same shade of green as when I first joined the Army a long time ago. I was browsing the Walthers website and the transformer looks to be part # 441-6646. only a dial and the connection points and a power cord wired for American outlets. I've got a rough triangle of track and a left and right turnout. Don"t know how far this will go as I'm not into euro prototype, but it would be fun to run it once in a while.:tb-biggrin:
That sounds like a nice setup you have there. I have only been involved with Marklin for a couple of years now, I'm still learning myself. I have been active in 2 rail, DC trains (HO and N scales) for the past 28 years. From what I have heard, the Marklin 6646 is a good analog transformer, and is plenty powerful enough to operate a train. I have one myself, but I have never used it, because it's the 230V European version. I'll probably sell it, because I have no need for it. To operate my Marklin, I use the cheap version of Marklin Digital, their Delta Digital Controller. It's a very plain and basic digital controller. At this time, I only have a single Marklin locomotive, 3 freight and 2 passengers cars. And a small amount of track. The rest of my collection is 2 rail, DC stuff. Hopefully your equipment will give you many years of trouble free service.
I have an old Fleischman that amazes me, except it won't tolerate code 83 turnouts! I'd expect that this one will do it's job. I'm house/pet sitting for a few more days, then it's on! (I bought the Fleischman in Germany and told the gentleman what I had in mind , so it has no prob with DC. Again, I can't thank you enough for your help. Bobby
HI You guys know that there is a diffence in the wheels on the cars too. I do a bit of German HO, DC, and if I buy a Marklin wagon I get the wheels swapped out 1 for one with DC ones. Later HO cars also have standard coupler pockets and you can swap some of them out. This is in case you guys get some cars from other companies.
Probably most of the older European trains (and even some new stuff) have problems running on code 83 track. The wheels don't have the NMRA profile common here in North America. Over in Europe, the DC trains have the NEM wheel profile. The NEM is a slightly deeper flange. And when you look back since HO was invented in 1935, there is a lot of variety in flange depths. A handful HO scale products can't even run on code 100 track without hitting the spike heads! For instance, the Trix Express Super track is a 3 rail track, is code 124, and was introduced in 1935. At first it was AC, and was later changed to DC in 1953 -- and was still 3 rail. I just read about that at Wikipedia. And Marklin has a different wheel profile, compared to anyone else. The inner distance between the wheels is 14.3mm (NEM) versus 14mm (Märklin). That can cause problems over switches (turnouts) and crossings, if you mix and match Marklin products with DC products. If you want to run Marklin stuff on DC track, you need to change the wheels to DC compatible. And vice-versa, if you want to run DC trains on Marklin track, you need to change the wheels to Marklin compatible. Anyway, your Fleischman should probably be fine on code 100 track. I used to own a DC powered Fleischman locomotive (I sold it a while ago), and it ran fine on code 100 track, but it had trouble with code 83 track.
I had a ¤¤¤¤¤bahn loco that had really thick flanges. It ran fine on straight track and curves BUT it always derailed at switches. The flanges were far too thick to pass through the frogs. Bill Banaszak
I would say that it's a good idea to simply google or bing marklin like so: http://www.marklin.com/ Then look for marklin forums like so: http://www.marklin-users.net/ Although trainboard members are always helpful and willing to chime in, sometimes your best resource is to go to the manufacturer and the users.
connecting Maerklin track to standard American track? Howard1975: Thanks for all the helpful information you gave in your post! I'm curious about what you had in mind when you wrote: "Also, you won't be able to run any DC or DCC locomotives (made by Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Bachmann, Life-Like, etc) on Marklin track, unless they are modified." I'm not interested in modifying standard American locomotives to run on the Maerklin system, but rather would like to attach a few stretches of the most recent Maerklin track - no turnouts - to a layout containing normal Kato HO track, run with standard, non-Maerklin locomotives (in DCC, but I don't think that matters for our purposes). I want to do this because I've found a curved great trestle set by Noch made to fit Maerklin, and would like to use the Maerklin track to fit its curves, which are not our standard American 18", 22", etc., radii.) I'm aware that there will be a significant difference in height (and perhaps code as well) between the Kato and the Maerklin, but figure that I could alleviate this problem with some shims to get the tops of the tracks flush with each other. I don't plan to attach any rail joiners directly to the Maerklin, but would like them to be powered just by the Kato track to which I'd connect them. The trick here would seem to be to get the two outer rails of the Maerklin completely isolated from each other, so as not to run into any polarity problems. Obviously, I want to bypass the center line (rail, or whatever it's called) of the Maerklin, which would seem easy enough by just not connecting it to the Kato; and attach the two outer rails of the Maerklin to those of the Kato. So, if you'll indulge me, my questions are the following: 1. Would something like this even be possible to do? 2. If so, would any modification in the Maerklin be needed in order to do this? 3. If so, how one would go about modifying the Maerklin to fit? 4. Do you know if any modifications would have to be made in the Maerklin in order to keep the two outer rails completely insulated from each other - or are they already made this way; and 5. Am I correct in assuming that there's no connection within the Maerklin track between either outer rail and the inner one? (My thought is that the locomotive would do this itself by closing the circuit internally.) Your sage advice would be greatly appreciated! -Ed (= "newbie")
