This year on eBay I won a Rheingold set 4228 at a good price ($200.00). The seller listed the set used but was not clear on its condition and I do not blame him when I saw it when came in (buyer be aware!). The set either stored in a very damp area or got wet and not properly dried out. The outer box was warped to start off with. Inside all the cars had some rust (or a lot depending on your take on it) the worst being the baggage car where the paint is crazed and on one side the doors will not open due to rust. The roof shows some green spots where the paint has come off. When I put it on the tracks overall it does not look as bad as it sounds since one looks at a distance. I discovered the joys of current conducting couplers which now I am better at with all my practice. Not all the cars lit and thanks to form I was told how to take the car apart. The coupler on one end was missing a copper strip inside the coupler and a spring. There was no way it the copper strip could fall out of the coupler so either it was robbed for parts or missing from the factory I suspect the latter as the slider showed no obvious wear. The parts were available from Marklin thank God and Marklin was very helpful in identifying the parts. I had to get the parts from Walthers which made a long wait for them. When everything was put together and running there was constant derailment on my M tracks. After careful observation and liberal applications of adult beverages I finally got it to run decent. First I noticed the wheel sets would partially lift off the tracks if the current conductor was not perfectly straight. Since they are plastic they are pliable so I added weights to the ends of the cars. Next was the wheel sets t can come off vary easily and hard to see but since they come off easy so they can be easily put back - never had that problem with my 90+ cars before. Everything was running and now I have a problem with my BR 18 (33185) that pulls it. The screw that holds the front wheels came out (P/N 750180)! Apparently it was missing some time as I had some problems with it in the past on the curved turnouts, hopefully the part comes this weekend. At least the problems was not the way I installed the track or the type (M track). One reason I posted this is may help some members with their derailments and also to wish everyone Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!