LokShop ( http://www.lokshop.de ) have a pretty comprehensive spare part listing...

However, as usual when doing EU-US exports - watch the postage... In short, accumulate your spare part needs and/or coordinate the needs with friends within the hobby in your area... Ordering a single part from Europe is not a good idea, but if you have a spare part order value of 100 USD or more it is usually worth the effort.

Hi!
www.lokshop.de has many spare parts, http://www.modelleisenbahn.com/ has some.

I hope they both ship to the USA.

But also checking availability with your local dealer sounds like a good idea.

No need to be "discrete" Jacques, our US members need to know how where to get parts as swiftly as possible... If there are US dealers who can provide spare parts, tell us about them...

Topic moved to "General MRR", Lutz - no need to be upset...

Lutz, while I appreciate most of your posts, this one is wrong!!! Walthers, IMHO is a piss poor "distributor" of Maerklin spares. Most of the parts, you note, on their website, are "Expected" with date "Unknown" and on "Back order", meaning that they are not "in stock". If I am not mistaken, they have been our USA distributor for over a year, now, so Walthers would have no excuse for not getting spare parts in stock and on their website? You do not live in North America, so tell us what kind of experience you have had, dealing with Walthers? There have been many other threads on this list concerning Walthers and IMHO, Walthers is one of the reasons that Maerklin is loosing market share and exposure in North America. I also collect LGB and it has almost disappeared from the North American market, when it used to have 30 to 40 percent of the Large Scale business. Maybe we should invite Mr. Pluta, to our forum, so he can learn directly, from the customer, what we have to go through? (Sorry off topic)

Jaques is 100% right on. When I needed parts for a Maerklin lok, my local hobby shop repair person, went directly to Germany (to another dealer, his contact), bypassing the whole Marklin of America, system. pyxa69, marklin.de, does not ship to the USA, because it has a "no compete" clause with its USA distributor, Walthers.

It is too bad that marklin.de, did not seem to put a spare parts support clause, in its contract with Walthers. My buddy works for Mazda of America, and every Mazda dealer, has to have a minimum parts inventory, to be a new car dealer. As a "zone rep", he makes sure the dealer had these parts, so that if you broke down in rural Montana, a part is available. This is called "Customer Service"!!!

On the subject of spare parts...

Where could I go to find spare part lists for older Marklin locomotives? I have a #3024 E18 and I did not come with the original manual. I need to know the part number for the pickup shoe and traction tires. Is there a website out there where you can find this information for older products?

Thanks
Darren

Lutz, I cannot compete with you on your technical knowledge of Maerklin and other model railroad manufacturers. My lok, was taken to my dealer, for a repair, which I could not perform.

For those outside of North America, Walthers is the largest distributor of Model Railroad products in North America. They publish multiple hardcopy catalogs for the various scales. They (IMHO) supply roughly 80 to 90% of all the hobby shops. They supply just product, not technical support, to these dealers. All the shops in my area, will order through Walthers, if you wish, but only one, carries Maerklin. By carry, I mean they have an inventory of new items on the shelves, have some spare parts and have some knowledge of the product. In theory, pyxa69 could go to almost any hobby shop in North America and order his parts, not just his local Maerklin dealer.

Your spot comparison of Walthers versus Marklin.de spare parts website, indicates both companies have a 33% out of stock/ back order/ red light average, which is similar, and I guess acceptable, if you produce model railroads (not automobiles).

I propose pyxa69 report back to the forum, on his experience getting spare parts from his local dealer and Walthers?

I too, will go to the closest hobby store in my area, North End Train Center, and order Mit Volldampf in die Zukunft - "Wir sind dabei!" Ma #44150, the Märklin “Full Steam Ahead into the Future” Freight Car and report back to the forum on dealing with Walthers and a dealer with no knowledge of Maerklin, Trix or LGB, as this is how Marklin.de choses to distribute its products in North America. Maybe I am mistaken???

Go to www.marklin.com (USA site) and click on "technical resource" at the lower left side. Click on service manual. Click on file 10b.

You can also go to the German site www.maerklin.de and drill down until you get exploded diagrams of all loks.
Eric

Thank for all the links. I now have the information I need.

Darren