Marklin gondola car conversion

After my Marklin tank car conversion release, my friend Jeffrey White asked me about a month ago if I could come up with a conversion to use MTL trucks on Marklin Gondola cars. He was kind enough to donate a Reading Marklin gondola car for the cause. This is the solution I came up with. I've acquired a few Marklin gondola cars on Ebay since. I'm pretty pleased with how my new fleet of Marklin converted gondola cars came out.

Kit will convert 6 Marklin gondola cars to use MTL trucks with mounted couplers. Roller bearing or journal box trucks could be used. You can buy the kit here: https://www.shapeways.com/product/62RDEP2L9/marklin-gondola-conversion-kit

Still not as detailed as MTL cars. But I think a lot better than an unconverted Marklin gondola car. Plus its fast and easy to do. Waiting for the paint to dry is the longest part.

 

Hi, Jon. They look great. I never noticed how far away the trucks were on the Marklin gons. What an improvement. Are the MTL and Marklin based on the same prototype? I have several weathered and loaded Marklin gons that will get this treatment. Keep up the good work. Jim

 

Wow, so simple and looks great!!

Good job!

 

Nice, might also work for the Märklin cabeese. /Frank

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Nice improvement. I wish AZL or MTL would come out with a nice fixed end 52ft6in gon, but in the mean time this will give us another "stand-in" option.

 

Thanks everybody! Glad you like it. Frank, soon as I can find a caboose cheap on Ebay, its on the list along with the flat car. Dont know if the coal car is worth converting. The boxcar to me is just to out of scale and not worth the effort.

 

Marklin flatcar would be a cool one to make more prototypical too!

 

Jon. PM me. I have a UP caboose for the cause. Jim

 

See next link how I did change it. https://photos.app.goo.gl/NjDE3Nez5r1WcrtH2

I have also trimmed a little from the ends.
/Frank

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Jim, Thanks very much!

Frank, I like your conversion. Especially the decking. I'm not sure what Marklin was thinking when they made the deck. I plan on doing something similar for a conversion kit. But I'm going to try and use my 3 axle buckeye trucks. I'm also going to create some kind of load that will cover up most of the deck. Got a few ideas and maybe have a few different options for the load.

 

Thanks for the Gon idea. I've done the Caboose and tank cars but forgot the Gons. I don't really care how much it's proto (unless its really wrong) but the different sizing is just fine. There are many Proto manufactures so it should be.
@Frank: I've use Robert Ray's Flats, Gons & Bulkhead laser cut decks but the loose board technique looks *really* good !