Handsome car Matt. I like the shiny window frames. My Rheingold/Helvetia has brass ones.

Without having a place to post photos to then link to a posting (ie photobucket), how do I upload photos with a message?

Thanks

Mike C

I get the impression that the brass/gold windowframes were a later addition. These cars were delivered in the blue/beige Rheingold scheme and then went on to become the TEE Rheingold/Rheinpfeil in red/beige.

I would probably buy a matching set of red/beige ones but I don't seem to be able to find them anywhere at sensible prices. I paid between £30 and £35 per coach for these which I thought pretty fair considering the detailing and high standard of finish.

The dome car from my Rheingold set has "RHEINGOLD" in gold lettering on the sides, yes. I think there were two batches of the prototypes with different numbers of windows in the dome - the later one had larger panes of glass so fewer windows. This might well explain inconsistencies in lettering, plus I'd imagine they changed over time anyway - the V200 for example went from having "DB" in full in chrome letters on the sides to the little "keks" symbol.

If you have the 42995 Apfelpfeil set you can see this easily, as one car is from the first batch and the other from the second. I am also vaguely looking for the old 4092 and 4099 Apfelpfeil coaches but these seem incredibly rare, according to the Modellbahnboerse site they were only made in 1979. Definitely going to hunt out a red/beige 4099 at some point though.

I have looked at buying trans-Atlantic but I think it'd come out just as expensive in the end, as retailers over there are having to buy the models in Euros. At the moment I'm sniffing out the few bargains I can, like the first versions of 9093/4 for £12 each boxed and in great condition.

Why did marklin make the luxury express coaches longer? Is it because they've switched manufacturers? Shouldn't they also lengthen the class BR103 electric also. I think the current one is 1/100 scale length.

Marklin and Trix decided to change to the 1:93 standard, which has been used by Fleischmann since the 1990s. Roco had also released a few models (the swiss EWIV) in this scale, but has since gone to full 1:87. Hag's EWI were 1:87, the IC2000 and McDonald's WR were 1:93.

I presume that this decision was taken so that Maerklin could directly compete with Fleischmann. I guess that there may have been insufficient sales of the 1:100 coaches and the idea of poaching some of Fleischmann's clientele may have been appealing. The question is whether any new clients will offset the potential loss of clients who preferred the shorter coaches.

I would have preferred to see a little more detail, especially for the interior decorations.

It just happens that 1:93 coaches are about the longest length that can pass on parallel tracks of R1 and R2 without touching. With Ma-Trix's design offset mounted bogies, the carriage overhang is even smaller than with normal bogies.

So far, I have purchased some of Maerklin's new SBB lightsteel coaches (about exact 1:87) and the Trix FS 23414 and a few DB UIC coaches. I am waiting for delivery of a set of Rheinpfeil coaches (no Dome car and no Restaurant).

I just got the Roco TEE Rheingold Set in 1:87 and it is a gem.
I have my 1:87 on display and run the 1:100 and 1:93 material on my little test loop.
When I finally buy the Gotthard layout from the Swiss Transport Museum, I will be able to run my 1:87 as well.
I keep forgetting that if I want to save up for that, I have to stop buying loks and coaches. Still, it's a nice dream.

Regards

Mike C
Montreal
Go HABS Go!

DITTO!!!!

Is that Roco class 103 in 00 scale???

I'd have thought the problem with the Br.103 is getting the slightly different cab shape? I know the extra length on the later batch was to give the driver a bit more space so I'd guess the curves are slightly different.

Very good price, Matt!

Hi Matt, et al

I used basically 4 different methods (3 of them apply to most Märklin cars):

- redrilled coupling
- different bogie with NEM pocket
- replacement of car bottom and bogies (my preferred method, but not available for all cars)
- specific short coupling adapters like SYMOBA, etc.

I'll probably open a different thread for that discussion.