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Offline plasteredparamedic  
#1 Posted : 10 July 2014 14:48:02(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
Ok I did it!! building a 2 rail dcc layout, found a beautiful Marklin 03-10 locomotive, blue livery, motor in the engine so the tender has plenty of room for sound module, half streamlined so it shows the wheels and running gear...then i find out Marklin is 3 rail ( insert obligatory insult here). haha, usually I do plenty of research before any purchase, but the offer was on ebay and it was too good to pass up. so here I am with a 2 rail operation and a 3 rail locomotive. now I have done hindsight research and Marklins website says the decoder allows the loco to operate in 3 rail or 2 rail, which sounds downright outrageous to me. and every forum I have seem says its one or the other and conversion is impractical perhaps even close to impossible. ok, life story over, can anyone offer insight, if anything changes it will have to be the loco, im not buying 3 rail track, period. maybe I am better off selling it on ebay, but apart from 3 rail, its has everything I wanted in a loco! Curse you marklin and your incompatibility! Please offer advice with reasons, do not just say "no, its cant be done" and if anyone has experience in converting or doing extensive work on marklin please give me advise. Thanks for your time and patience guys...what can I say, im impulsive I am in my 20s after all...you were all there once too!!
Offline H0  
#2 Posted : 10 July 2014 15:18:30(UTC)
H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,262
Location: DE-NW
Hi!
Welcome to the forum!

Märklin sells 2-rail locos under the names "Märklin HAMO" (old stuff) or "Trix" (current stuff).

Most likely it's not worth converting the loco and you're probably better off selling it and getting the corresponding 2-rail loco from Trix or Märklin HAMO.
Or maybe get one with a different livery and just swap the shells.

The decoder is the smallest problem (if it is a current loco and if you do not need analogue DC operation or DCC operation), but you have to add insulation to all wheel sets. It can be done, but I couldn't do it and I wouldn't try it.


BTW: many other brands also make 3-rail locos (MTH, Roco, Fleischmann, Piko, Brawa, ...), so with all brands read the description carefully.
Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
UserPostedImage
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Offline plasteredparamedic  
#3 Posted : 10 July 2014 18:52:15(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
Thank-you very much, I will look into Trix and see what they can offer, otherwise I will be selling it hahaha
Offline plasteredparamedic  
#4 Posted : 10 July 2014 19:01:31(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
BTW Marklin really ought to make their own conversion kit, Im sure theres lots of us 2 railers that would buy Marklin products if we could convert them over easily enough...maybe one day.....
Offline PMPeter  
#5 Posted : 10 July 2014 19:58:34(UTC)
PMPeter

Canada   
Joined: 04/04/2013(UTC)
Posts: 1,274
Location: Port Moody, BC
That's why Marklin makes TRIX to satisfy the 2 rail folks. The big problem with conversion is that in 3 rail the wheels are not insulated from each other. Unless you have the correct tools that is quite an undertaking. Probably cheaper to buy a TRIX version in the first place.

Cheers
Peter
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Offline cookee_nz  
#6 Posted : 11 July 2014 06:33:05(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,953
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: plasteredparamedic Go to Quoted Post
BTW Marklin really ought to make their own conversion kit, Im sure theres lots of us 2 railers that would buy Marklin products if we could convert them over easily enough...maybe one day.....


As Peter has pointed out, Marklin would not consider a conversion kit to be even a remote possibility, apart from the insulation of the wheels from each other there's also the wheel standard, the flange profile is different, the method of collecting power from the wheels would need changing and of course the couplings are different. but the wheel insulation is the biggie. Most average modelers would not have the skill to carry out the conversion anyway.

Going the other way it's a lot easier to convert a 2-rail Loco to operate on 3-rail track if you go about it properly.

Partly it is the long history of Märklin which makes this more difficult. In hindsight, had Mârklin designed their chassis such that the driving wheels were retained by a cover plate and could be dropped in and out from underneath, (with replaceable bushings) then conversion would be literally child's-play and maintenance would also be a heap easier, not to mention lower production and assembly costs.

I'm sure a few of us are curious about the specific model you purchased. If it has the original box the item number will do, otherwise the running number from the Cab should narrow it down. Photo's always welcome.

Something else to mention is I wonder when you last actually saw Märklin '3-rail' track? - the latest C-track has been out around nearly 20 years now and yet so many modelers in the 2-rail fraternity are so blinkered by distant memories that they automatically think of the older M-track, and very few have even seen the very realistic K-track despite being around since 1969.

The 'new' C-track is also available in 2-rail versions under the Trix banner, and even an experienced modeler would be pressed to tell them apart (particularly when ballasted on a layout).

Obviously we are not going to make a convert of you, nor would we try but the model you did purchase clearly appealed to you so if you can let us know exactly what it is hopefully we can find if there is a Trix equivalent that you can enjoy and if you got the first one at a very good price you should not have any trouble re-selling it. ThumpUp

Regards

Steve
Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
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Offline plasteredparamedic  
#7 Posted : 11 July 2014 17:19:38(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
There is no way I can respond without admitting to being a fool..hahaha; I have never seen Marklin track before, in fact until two days ago, I did not even know what 3 rail track was, after my purchase, I did extensive research ( a lot of good it did after the fact). However my layout is 2 rail and building a new layout or adding marklin 3 rail is too impractical for my needs, it really is a shame as I really admire Marklin's craftsmanship and detail. In any event, here are two photos of the locomotive. She really is a stunning piece of work! I was quite disappointed to learn she is incompatible with my system.
plasteredparamedic attached the following image(s):
$_57 (1).JPG
$_57 (2).JPG
Offline Renato  
#8 Posted : 11 July 2014 19:32:29(UTC)
Renato

Italy   
Joined: 19/03/2004(UTC)
Posts: 976
Location: Gorizia, Italy
Hi plasteredparamedic,

Welcome to the forum.

A nice locomotive indeed, but as others in the forum have already pointed out, it is very difficult to convert this locomotive for 2 rails operation.

Cheers

Renato
Offline jvuye  
#9 Posted : 11 July 2014 19:35:33(UTC)
jvuye

Belgium   
Joined: 01/03/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2,881
Location: South Western France
Funny...I once inherited a 2 rail HAmo version which I converted to 3 rail..however this could easily be reversed.
The chassis could then more or less be swapped ...
The complex stuff is really in the (metal) coupling rods that also need insulation.
But a swap would be easy if I were still living in California. (I was running a Märklin Official Service Station for a number of years)
However you are today on the wrong side of the Atlantic (or the Pacific for that matter BigGrin )
But If one day you decided to visit SW France, bring it along and we'll see what can be done
Cheers
Jacques Vuye aka Dr.Eisenbahn
Once a vandal, learned to be better and had great success!
Offline plasteredparamedic  
#10 Posted : 12 July 2014 20:25:58(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
I wonder if the shell could be swapped with a fleischmann or liliput...
Offline plasteredparamedic  
#11 Posted : 12 July 2014 21:53:49(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
Thank-you for the posts and advice gentlemen, I think it is best to just sell her and get something else in 2 rail.
Offline cookee_nz  
#12 Posted : 12 July 2014 23:13:32(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,953
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: plasteredparamedic Go to Quoted Post
Thank-you for the posts and advice gentlemen, I think it is best to just sell her and get something else in 2 rail.


Still dont know what it is. Item number? Photos don't show it
Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
Offline plasteredparamedic  
#13 Posted : 13 July 2014 01:13:47(UTC)
plasteredparamedic

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8
Location: california
Cab number is BR 03.1056 and the item number is 3391/3791
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