Fellow Marklinists,javascript:insertsmiley(' ','/forum/Images/Emoticons/msp_biggrin.gif')


Just wanted to take a moment and upload some pictures of a refurbished CCS-800 version 1 from early 1947.
As said, I came across this CCS-800 last November. I was in pretty good shape but there were some items I needed to replace.
I wanted to keep as much of the original as possible, replacing only what was needed. I purchased this
Marklin CCS800 from a gentleman in California. It looked like it was in pretty good shape.

Some of the wheels were suffering from zinc pest, which as many of you know was prevalent in that material from that time frame.

I knew that I would have to order some spare parts from Ritter in Germany to bring this gem back to its original glory. I did however want to retain as much of the original equipment as possible, replacing only what was absolutely necessary. Luckily the main frames, motor housing and main bodies were all zinc pest free. Attached are some photos of the before and after cleaning, repair and restoration. Parts replaced, the front and rear bogies - original wheel sets were reused and not replaced. From the 12 main drive wheels, 6 were replaced - 6 are original. One coupler was replaced. Everything else was completely disassembled, meticulously cleaned, oiled and reassembled. Complete with the early 1947 Schlitz Schrauben.



I contacted the seller and sent him some photos of the completed locomotive.

He actually gave me some back ground history on this locomotive which was kind of neat.

Below is his story.



Hello,

I'm speechless...absolutely superb restoration! You truly own one of the best examples of the Marklin ~Holy Grail~!
I have forwarded the pictures to my friend, Pierre who I sold it for, he will be god smacked for sure...

A bit of a history on the Crocodile:

Pierre was the son of a WW2 Swiss diplomat who was somewhat of a playboy and separated from his mother when Pierre was a small boy. Pierre's father would still visit with Pierre once every year or two and always have a present to smooth things over vis-a-vis his extended absences from Pierre's life.

Usually, the presents would be Marklin train cars and engines but he would never give Pierre the Crocodile which his father kept in a display case in his apartment in Switzerland along with many other quite rare HO trains from his life of collecting.
When Pierre's father passed away some years ago, Pierre was happy and sad all at the same time to discover the Crocodile still in his fathers Swiss estate.
He packed it up with everything else and shipped it back to California where it graced HIS display cabinet for 25 years or so, until he needed to raise funds for the school in Cambodia.
The upside to whole saga is that Pierre was able to hire two more teachers at his school with the funds from the sale!

So, there you have it, dusty memento's turned into education to make our world a better place...




Regards and Enjoy,

Great crocodile, I note the red light.