I have heard that the scale of every loco is 1:87
and wagon's (or freight wagons) scale is 1:100 is that true?

Coaches that are 26,4 m long are available as 24 cm M* models (scale 1:110), as 26,4 cm models (scale 1:100).
New M* coaches announced this year will be closer to 1:87, but still are too short.

200cm loco's? What are you running, scale 1 big boys? ;)

Right... ;-)

1:100 has been produced by Märklin for more than 30 years. (Not sure about the exact year though)

You are very right about the way Märklin has shortened the wagons; omitting entire compartments. This makes mixing 1:100 wagons from Fleischmann and Roco almost impossible, as these manufacturers did NOT omit compartments.
The 1:100 wagons from Roco are (were?) in fact Ade-wagons which they got when they bought out Röwa. Ade wagons can still be bought en kit-form.

Apart from the new 1:93 which Fleischmann "discovered" some 6 years ago, there are also other scales like 1:88,5, 1:90 etc... liberally used by the manufacturers today. (Go check the scale of some ICE-3 ;-)

The new Insider VT08 is actually 1:93, like the new wagons announced this year from Märklin.

Why 1:93; supposedly that is the max. size (length) for trains going round a R1 curve without picking up each and every caternary masts, signals, tunnels and rolling stock on parallel tracks.

I agree! I have the same wagon, and on my previous layout, it didnt go through all tunnels.
That´s why I have used this particular wagon as test-vehicle this time, when building my layout!
Alas it hit a spike in the rail (a provisional spike not nailed all the way down)
RIP+++

BTW; Kibri makes a tunnel-portal fit for M and C track geometry. (Sorry, dont remember the ref#)

A little bird told me that.(kidding)
A friend of mine told me that,who has many locomotives and knows many things.
I decided to open this topic so as to know if he is correct.

I said he knows many things not everything like you.
B.t.w. i sense that you are right.
There are always exceptions Hans, but the basic rule is 1:87 for the locomotives and shorter wagons...

He said me that that applies for the new locomotives...
So maybe you are both right.

what is the scale (or maybe scales) of the old 3016 crocodile, and the older E03's?
the old crocodile looks larger than 1/87. (I don't have one of the old ones.)

Up to 2005 M* produced class 110 that are too short (Kastenlok) and class 110 that are too long (Bügelfalte, trucks and frame are actually taken from class 111).
The new E 10.3 should be 1:87!

Don't expect class 218 to be 1:87 ...

And even if they write 1:87 in the catalog, you may get something different (ICE is 1:88.x or 1:89.x, not 1:87). That's why the sued Piko - they ICE 3 is exactly as long as M*, so this none is not 1:87 either ...
Edit: according to MIBA the scale of the ICE 3 is 1:88.8.

To be specific - 1973. It was the so called "Popwagen" #4091 thru #4094 with a scale of 1:98 for the 26,4m cars and 1:102 for the 27,5m cars. Here's a picture of three of them. As you might see, I've converted them in the meantime to short coupling which makes a much nicer train with other new cars, especially those from the sets #26512 and #42943.





Not really. Mixing them is not really an issue. The only (wellknown) problem is proper coupling with the ROCO cars due to their lower buffers. Bottom to top: Märklin #4292, #4092 (as well converted to short coupling), GFN #5199, ROCO #44390.





The ROCO cars are actually former RÖWA cars. The ADE cars were offered in scale 1:87 by Mr. Ade from his small own company that was left for him from the RÖWA crash.



Correct!

Even more/better - the GFN cars will fit almost ideal to the new Märklin cars, even though they already fit quite well to the 1:100 Märklin cars! (second car from top on following pic).



Fleischmann actually offers their 282mm cars already since 1989 with the announcement of their IR models. Due to the relative long delay of Märklin to offer their IR Bistro, I had purchased the 282mm GFN model and it was just perfect! (again second car from top).



In summary, the difference between the current Märklin 1:100 and the new 1:93,5 cars is much less harming than the real large step from 1:100 to 1:87.

First of all I thank you for your additional comments.
But I must disaggree about the above quote; When I say that it is "almost impossible" to mix the waggons, I am not talking about a technical couplings problem, but about the HUUUGE estethic problem in mixing SAME cars from different manufactores, when some has 8 and other 9(?) compartments (1st class), or 10 and 11(?) compartments (2nd class); Thereby making a Roco 1st class car almost EQUAL to a Märklin 2nd class!!!

Unfortunately, these "vintage" models have a bottom construction including the bogies and the way how they are mounted which IMHO cannot be converted to a short coupling version (maybe oly with a special kit from Symoba). Even worse, if you try to open the coupling holder to only replace the coupling with a new one it usually just breaks.



Therefor I simply replaced the complete bottom section by ordering the spare parts for the new cars. Now I not only have the advantage of the short coupling but also the electric connection for the interior lighting without the need for a contact shoe at every car.

I cannot tell you if this will solve your M-Switch lantern problem since I sold all my M-Track stuff to a friend in Boise, ID already many years ago. Lucky enough, Märklin came up with their Alpha tracks right in time again for my kids!

Useful pictures Lutz!

Sorry to say this;but M doesn't have a class 218.
They make only class 216 that are pretty close to 1:87.
Sure,they print 218 on it,but it still is a 216.

Bart