Congratulations - I bid on this set too, I think you got a good price. I would have bid more but I just bought a similar set.

Although Ritter does seem to make quality parts I haven't had any luck in purchasing from them ever.

The yellow letter is true, those were made in the pre-war years. Yours was likely produced partially in 1938/39 and then some of the cars were possibly made in 1944/45 when production began again.

Best wishes,

Paul

Edited by user 25 January 2018 23:43:54(UTC)  | Reason: Removed recommendation of a parts supplier that I was ultimately unsuccessful ordering from

I knew I could count on you for the catalog scans, Steve, thanks for sharing! You're right on about all the O Gauge info. I did a quick overview of O Gauge here, it needs more depth but covers some of the high-level info:

https://marklinstop.com/...-o-gauge-intro-overview/

Also of note is this similar set on eBay-US - note there are no yellow inscriptions.

https://rover.ebay.com/r...2%3Ag%3A0NIAAOSwwcRaUVIA

I agree that there was no specific set but Marklin many times created bundles during the War time that were perhaps packaged together. That is why when you see an HR 66 12920 or HR 70 12920 you almost always find a 1941, 1942 J, 1943, and 1944. I would say that's the basic set, then those with a little more to spend added the interiors, which were denoted by a "G" appended to the model number. The set that I purchased has two 1944 cars (one with a whistle inside), two 1943 cars, and a 1945 car. The HR loco and the 40cm cars certainly do go together perfectly. The shorter 174X cars a better suited for the E 66 or GR 66 locos...

By the way, I just purchased some Atlas O-54 6060 track which I highly recommend...it's not Marklin but certainly much easier to find! From your avatar it looks like you might collect Lionel or some other brands so I'm sure you're more familiar with non-Marklin track, etc. I'm still trying to hunt down a good transformer...

Best,

Paul

Hi Paul, Steve, Thanks for your responses and great information. Yes, I have a great deal of Lionel, American Flyer, and other stuff Jep, bing, KBN, Bassett Lowke, Would be better if I could focus on something. My layout is tube style tinplate track with a couple of lower level 042/054 curves and I've been working on an upper level with 072 or maybe 096 for some other locos I have. I suspect this HR66 will have to go up there too as the 042 will likely be tad tight for it with the flanged center drivers.

I did ask the seller if he had found any other stuff with the Marklin train and he did say he found some track and lockons etc, so we'll see what turns up. For what it's worth, I use old transformers, always have even with the Lionel Legacy loco's I have although I need to add some protection for those locos. I figure the Postwar Lionel ZW would be good for this but probably better would be the Prewar 250 Watt Z since it dials up to 24 volts and the ZW only to 20 volts. I will say this, those old Lionel transformers are real lumps but man they are indestructible and they really will get a big heavy train up and motoring. Nothing like a set of 2343 twin motor F-3s humming on 072 curves pulling everything you can tie on with the Z cranked up all the way .

After looking some of those interiors on line it almost seems like you could fabricate something like them out of thin brass or sheet metal. Would not be correct, but might not be to bad lol.

Paul, since you were watching this set on ebay, I assume you saw the E66 12920 set also on ebay right now with the three 175XX series cars? Before this set was listed, I made offers of $400 and $450 FOR THE E66 set but he turned me down. He came back and said he'd take $500 for the set. Glad I waited for the HR I suppose even $500 for the E66 set isn't all that bad but it's probably at the top of what that particular pile is worth

Hi Dennis,

Green locos were made until the middle of 1933, then the colour changed to matt black. The GR is particularly difficult to find in green, since production only began in early 1933, and by the time the New Items Sheet of 1933 was sent to dealers in May, the loco was described as being finished in Matt Black. Of course they were still available after that, but only as special orders from the factory.

Below is a picture of a dark red E920 made as a special order for Hermann Goering.



Unfortunately, since I don't speak Lionel, I've made a glossary below with the correct English terms in the centre and the Hornby equivalent on the RH side:

027 - 1ft Radius curved rails - EA1 Electrical Curved Rails

036 - 1.5ft Radius curved rails

042 - 1.75fr Radius curved rails

048 - 2ft Radius curved rails - EA2 Electrical Curved Rails

054 - 2.25ft Radius curved rails

072 - 3ft Radius curved rails - EA3 Curved Rails

096 - 4ft Radius curved rails

Lockon - Terminal Connecting Plate - TCP Terminal Connecting Plate

The Marklin HR is capable of running on 3ft Radius or larger curved rails. The ones I would recommend are Hornby Solid Steel Rails, and of course the Marklin Modellschienen.

Very nice Dennis, I don't collect Lionel myself but the Prewar trains are very nice. I particularly like the streamlined Commodore Vanderbilts. Is that an original Blue Comet in the station? As well as Marklin HO I also collect Hornby O gauge, a picture showing some of my locos is attached below.



Gargraves track is nice, although since Marklin locos are fitted with Spoon pickups, not rollers like on Lionel items, you might have some difficulties around points and crossings. Since your layout looks to be fitted with tubular-rail tinplate tracks, you shouldn't have any issues though.

regards
Peter

Peter, I can't resist since you mentioned you liked the Commodore Vanderbilts. Here are two. One is the Lionel Red Comet 264E, this one is all original. The second is a custom stretch job I've been working on. I took two 264E shells and two tender shells and spliced them in order to get a real 4-6-4 sized tinplate CV. Actually, the Marklin Prewar CV was my motivation for my 265E stretch project. I still have a ways to go and don't work on it as often as I would like but I think I will be happy with it once it is finally complete.