Dear Marklin friends,

As many of you know I have ventured into the larger gauges of Marklin after over a decade focusing primarily on 00/HO from the Pre-War and early Post-War period. An opportunity came up almost a year ago to purchase a Marklin collection in New York. A family member had a collection of O Gauge Marklin trains that he was looking to sell. His father was a soldier in WWII and had shipped back several large crates. The owner was looking to sell the trains but was still somewhat attached to them. He had seen some of my restoration work with Marklin and asked that I send him photos and a video of the train running when I was finished working on them.

Although I was hoping to pick up the trains in person it ended up being easier to ship them. We agreed to this after almost a year of back-and-forth arranging the sale. I asked him if he could send the crates as well because they are part of the history. Although they increased the shipping costs slightly he did agree to send them over too. And I am very glad he did! Here are some photos of the collection, immediately after I opened 3 large crates of Marklin. The original shipping label from Germany to the USA was on there, as well as the new shipping label to where the trains are now. The crates were shipped from a city in Germany, but it's difficult to read the handwriting. I believe I can make out the city "Dresden" but perhaps our German friends who are more familiar with the geography and handwriting can decipher better.

I include some photos of the restoration work as well including some re-soldering and tinplate reconstruction which is still in progress.

I have created a gallery on a separate page so the photos do not take up the whole post here. You can see a gallery of photos, each with a caption (click on the first photo to begin the gallery and then use the arrows).

https://marklinstop.com/...llection-hr-70-12920-tw/

Someday soon I hope to have a video of all the trains running, the accessories and coaches lit with lights, and operating. Of all the toys in this collection I think my favorite is the "Bahnwarterhaus" because the guard in the house can actually fly out the doors and his hands go up. He is standing on an arm that moves by an electromagnet. A pristine example can be found here on eBay but the price is very high!

Hope you enjoy the photos and look forward to your comments.

Best,

Paul

Thanks for your words, Steve. Looking forward to your post!

That's the best part about collecting, right? Piecing the story together based on what the previous owner shares and what you discover and then sharing the story with other people. Yes the toys are great but the stories behind them are sometimes even more intriguing!

Paul

Wow, I would love a video when you are finished Paul.....looks awesome. Nice fabrication work!