Originally Posted by: mike c 
Originally Posted by: mrmarklin I wouldn't waste a dime on Roco Loks.
They are largely plastic and use tender drive. They are designed as DC Loks first, and only adapted to Marklin running later. While I have seen some run well on Marklin track, I've seen just as many not do so well. My experience with brand "X" Loks is that while more detailed sometimes, you'll tend to find this detail littering your layout.
Marklin Loks have metal boilers and increasingly, metal tenders as well. Go for the quality.
In addition there are no price guides so resale value is very low.
I would not pay too much attention to a comment like this by one of the Maerklin or die adherents. I have over 50 Maerklin loks in my collection and an equal number of loks from other manufacturers. I have not as yet run into a single issue with any of my Roco loks.
Some Maerklin models have metal bodies and chassis. Others will have metal chassis and plastic body or a mix of metal and plastic parts in the body (e.g. plastic cab, metal boiler). This is usually specified in the item description.
Plastic bodies offer the possibility of increased detail. Many manufacturers offer very fine detail added parts which can be added to the model.
If you are buying a model because it is Maerklin and you are concerned about resale value, listen to Mr. Marklin.
If you are buying a model because that particular model interests you, and perhaps, Maerklin does not make that model, then go ahead and check out other manufacturer's offerings.
Today's Maerklin models are no better in quality than the top offerings from companies like LSM, Roco and others. Your best bet before buying any model (even Maerklin) is to google the model to see what reviews and comments you can find.
Regards
Mike C
Well said, cannot agree more.
I have been "practicing" Marklin for over 60 years now, and it has always been excellent quality....but, occasionally here and there something strange would appear.
For example, I remember when the pretty 3049 BR E04/104 appeared, it was a "hit and miss" in terms of gear noise. That's when I learned to analyse gear teeth profiles and discovered that some gears were really good, some others were terrible. At the time most gear were stamped with a die. Smart to do so because an inexpensive process, but only valid if you keep the die within tolerance. It seemed at the time that Marklin may have "pushed it" a bit producing lots of gears that were no longer acceptable. That's also when I started curing the problem by replacing/ cutting gears myself.
Again today those quirks appear here and there (not just with M, with everyone!)
The various versions of the recent Re 4/4 I of Marklin (I have 5 of these ) are at best "uneven" in running quality!
The one from my Bavaria set is an absolute Marvel, but the exact same one in one of my friends' set s a real coffee grinder, especially in curves.
My copy of the new Lyria TGV is also puzzling: two identical powered cars obviously from the smae production batch, one is silky smooth, the other one is shaky as hell , although they are both driven from the same one and only decoder
The new Rae TEE is fantastic, super finish, the lights are perfect, runs as a dream, but the couplers are made of non resilient, non flexible material: they don't couple reliably, and ultimately break after multiple attemps to re-connect. And I won't talk about the corny set of sounds! (This is supposed to model the Cisalpino ,Paris to Milano, and the platform announcement is a goofy "Gleis funf TEE nach Amsterdam" in some colorful Swiss dialect)
I have recently bought a few ROCO because Marklin does not make the models. Beautiful , and perfect so far in terms of running characteristics but some of the detail pieces continue to fall off!
I agree that it is very hard to try to both obtain 1 dpm (defect per million) level in model RR production, because it is costly to implement thing like SPC (statistical control process)
Why is it hard?
Because we, the Marklin users, are probably not ready to pay Marklin the price that would allow them to implement systems for design and production that would guarantee even a 100 dpm defect levels.
The closest I have come to such levels at affordable prices was KATO, made in Japan, but that was back in the 1990's. And the price was very affordable, because that's how they had engaged in manufacturing systems from the very start!
So ***I live with it***, and try to mitigate by myself most of the really annoying problems I sometime find on some of my new locos.
Those who fail become shelf-queens until I get a new ideaon how to fix it.
And that's also where I find pleasure with my model RR activity.
To each his own.
Cheers
