Only 1.800? Are you sure?

A Friend who was present at the presentation of 39241 at Marklin factory this past September made this question to the Marklin officials. They told him that this locomotive will be produced in 10.000 pieces.

Regards

Paris

The number I quoted is the number for the German market.

Märklin has over-produced some the recent high-end or special models (for example the Ontario Northland F7, and the gold VT11.5), and this has a negative effect on prices, values and future sales. So perhaps the modest quantity of this new loco is a cautious strategy, especially as it has a premium price.

Nigel

Any news about the box? Is going to be a special box (wooden) or what?

German text says "Sold out at the factory" (werksseitig ausverkauft).
My guess: the container has arrived and locos were shipped to the dealers.

They write the same about the booster 60172. And the booster 60172 was cancelled.

Same for Trix 22941.

Was it shipped? Or was it cancelled?
Most dealers show it as "sold out" ...

Either Märklin's web page is wrong at the moment or I think that they might have cancelled it.

When any Märklin model that I have ever followed was just being delivered, it was shown as available to buy on their website and not marked "Article Not Produced Anymore". That usually only happens months/years after an item is sold out, not the first month that the models are being delivered.

But when I look at Marklin's English language web page right now, 39241 shows a status of "Planned Delivery: November 2017", as it always has.

I basically agree.

Märklin showcased this loco so prominently and then so many of us ordered them, that it would be very bad for them if they backed out now.

I hope that it is just an incorrect entry on their website, and that one of these beauties is headed to my tracks as well.

Hi Jacques,

Thankyou.
Very close observation in good light is necessary to see where the problem occurs as the vehicle enters the turnout.
I use a small neede file to shave a few tenths of a millimtere off the side of the offending puko where the wheel touches.
That does the job.

regards
Kimball

I'd be ready to speculate the same !
The 39241 represents the loco in it's post WW 2 / SNCF condition.
These 241As were from the pré SNCF times and Chemins de fer de l'est operations.
And there were several modifications and variations. Including one that came to Germany to be studied and modified and ran under the Br07 numbering system of the DRG.
Then there will be opportunities for iconic loco and coaches sets.
Just start saving... 😁
Cheers
Jacques

Everything just seemed to line up on this particular mode to make it very special, in limited supply and then to disappear quickly.

I am really glad that I have a pre-order on this beauty.

Now if I could just get as good at predicting lottery numbers.

All the above are part of the game,you are so right.

My mistake, it was actually **BR 08 1001** of post WWII DR (not DRG)
Basically a 241 A with a "Coal dust" tender, like the 0riginal BR 05003

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR_08_1001
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Est_241

Cheers

Thanks for the info!

Some info and a picture here: http://www.3rails.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5762 The tender has a typical German shape.

Too bad though it isnt a DRG/DRB variant. I tried to look something up in my own documentation but didnt find anything. Were these french locos not used in Germany during the occupation?

Post-war DR is way less interesting for me.

Bert

True, but the 241 A 65 is a French model. The majority of Märklin customers are Germans, who are generally reluctant to buy French, Belgian, Italian or Dutch models because it wouldn't be prototypical to use them on a layout together with German trains. Do you remember the Russian Sapsan high-speed train based on the ICE 3? It looks much nicer than the boring DB versions, but Märklin had a hard time selling it.

I know that there are quite a lot of people who don't care about that and just want to see their trains run, which is perfectly justified. But nowadays many buyers are quite fussy about prototypes, so it's usually difficult for Märklin to sell models made for certain European countries. Nevertheless, dealers seem to be banking on this model because it's outstanding.

I may be wrong, but I'd be surprised if the dealers really had customers for all the class 241 locos they have pre-ordered. Every Märklin dealer has to order at least one copy because contracts say that an official dealer has to sell every item that Märklin makes, even if none of their customers wants it, so some locos inevitably end up on Ebay after some time.

Best regards,
Mark

The model 39241 was sold with packaging. No wooden box. This model is sold out and a new edition is not planned - Marklin.

Hi Jim,

I don't know if Märklin makes exceptions for dealers abroad, but I've read or heard about contracts with German shops. American law is fundamentally different from its German counterpart, so my guess would be that contracts with dealers outside Germany might differ.

Probably you remember the story that Märklin's S 2/6 was allegedly designed in Korea and produced in China. I don't know if that's really true, but if it is, the 241 loco might have been designed in the same place. To give you an idea of what Märklin's production runs are like, I can tell you that for MHI items it's usually 4,000 units nowadays. (I know that from a reliable source.) Usually these are not new tooling, so I suppose that a first version is only profitable if Märklin produces more than 5,000 units. Often they release two or three different versions of newly designed locos within the first two years, so I would guess that the initial production run of all the cast-iron parts in Göppingen would have to be at least 10,000. Remember the Scandinavian Dm3 a few years ago? There were two versions right away and a third one soon after, probably all from the same production run.

In the case of special locos such as the 241 or the S 2/6, Märklin cannot sell enough units and presumably has those models made in Asia. Collectors are happy because they get a loco that hasn't been produced in very large numbers and sells out quickly.

Best regards,
Mark

P.S. Let's just assume as an example that Märklin makes a profit of 100 euros per unit for a steam loco that cost 1,000,000 euros to develop. The company would have to sell at least 10,000 units in the first production run to redeem its initial investment. If they earn less than 100 euros per unit, they'd have to produce more than 10,000. It's only a theoretical number, but it gives you an idea.

In 2009, Mr Pluta said that Märklin didn't know which models were profitable because they never calculated that. That was one thing he changed immediately when he took over, so since then Märklin has only sold models it can make some money on, at least in principle. I personally don't think they can easily redeem the investment they have recently made for new turnouts, but such products are needed to satisfy the numerous customers who asked for them. The accountants must have told the managers that this investment had to be spread over a few accounting years. Maybe that's why it took so long.

The seller looking for idiots.

Here you can see it passing a R1 curved switch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_dXPbm0OgI

Maybe the fuss over being R2 only was a little exaggerated.

Are the curves R1 ? I thought the outside of curved switches was R2, and the inside is R1? Here it looks as if the locomotive is staying on the outside curve.

I also thought that the outer branch had a larger radii until last year when someone posted some Märklin documentation showing R1 on both branches.

I believe that the acceptable curve radius limitations for locos that Märklin specs are conservative and that within reason this loco can be run slowly and carefully through R1 if needed.

It would be possible if there isn't enough clearance for the rotation, often caused by the steam locos' cylinders.
But on this type of loco with 4 coupled drivers, it is probably the amount of lateral "play" of the drivers.
It's always a compromise between lateral "play" (to negotiate the curve) and possible bending of the coupling rods.
It is true for the 1:1 scale locos, even more so for models where the curves are way sharper than on real railroads.
On the video, you can see the 241 A 65 sligthtly "horse riding" with one of the drivers wobbling slightly.
I think I will not regret to have my layout now set up with a number of clear main line track paths with minimum radii > R2!
If my dealer could now just deliver the 39241 now....

You are right, it looks like it's working very well.
I could have left the sharper curves and switches.
But now it's done...and it will allow some other locos (e.g. my 3-rail converted Be 6/8 I from Metropolitan and my Be 4/7 from Fulgurex to finally run around the layout instead of back and forth! )
Thanks for the video!
Cheers

Glad your pleased with it, I will have to weight for it to be released in original SNCF livery. Can you try it on radius 36? Pleeeeese