Welcome to the forum   
Welcome Guest! To enable all features please Login or Register.

Notification

Icon
Error

Share
Options
View
Go to last post in this topic Go to first unread post in this topic
Offline artfull dodger  
#1 Posted : 24 January 2021 07:43:59(UTC)
artfull dodger

United States   
Joined: 31/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 475
Location: Indiana, Kokomo
Since we all come from around the globe here, and many of us are stuck mostly at home during this health crisis, lets have some fun memories of what lead us to modeling with Marklin trains vs all the other stuff.

I'm from the USA, born in '73, have Asperger's Syndrome/high functioning Autism. Trains of all kinds are a major obsession, common for autistics to have. I had the typical childhood Lionel setup after a failed start with the Tyco HO trains of the late 1970s with the horrible Powr-Torq drive set up. Moved into scale 2 rail HO when I joined a local club at 16 yrs old(still had some Lionel at home). Then when my aunt remarried to a fine German gentleman I first got introduced to LGB G scale trains with a starter set from one of their trips to Germany to visit his family. I knew of Marklin during this time, but it was not on my "radar" as of yet. Then on one of their last trips to Germany before he passed, he visited Marklin and returned home with a second hand V160 that I still have, along with a Christmas car only available in Germany. Those led me to get track(M track at first) and build a small layout to run them on. Uncle Herman had a rich German background, his father having served alongside Kaiser Wilhelm II in the cavalry. My aunt has pics of this and he loved to recount some of his father's stories. Uncle Herman introduced me to many German foods, Octoberfest, real German Bier and so forth. Being the family train nut, he enjoyed sharing the trains with me. He would translate some of the German model magazines he picked up for me on other trips, trying to teach me a little of the language and how to speak them. While I am not of any German decent, my mother was Irish and my father was nearly 100% Cherokee Indian, I really enjoy many things from Germany, the food, many of the festivals which they try to have here even in Indiana and of coarse, the trains!

After moving out of my parents house and getting married, I found that Marklin fit better with its tight curves and "3 rail" AC power set up similar to the Lionel I grew up with. But more realistic with studs instead of a solid center rail, many engines being diecast metal and even some freight wagons/cars were tinplate. I have dabbled in many scales/gauges over the years now, with gauge 1/G outdoors in my back garden on a raised setup for live steam operation and my new HO layout I am building with C track. Whilst I have some Euro Marklin, I think the USA side will be more of the focus with more of a generic scenery so both can be run and look good. Like the LGB, my first taste of German quality when it comes to trains, Marklin brought the same to my HO world. First in analog and now with digital control, not the newest as that is still beyond what I can spend on a control system. I am using a Uhlenbrock IntelliboxIR to run my little 4x8 layout.

How about the rest of you, what brought you to Marklin, either as a child or an adult? Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's..I have Asperger's Syndrome!!!!
thanks 14 users liked this useful post by artfull dodger
Offline French_Fabrice  
#2 Posted : 24 January 2021 10:05:46(UTC)
French_Fabrice

France   
Joined: 16/05/2011(UTC)
Posts: 1,475
Location: Lyon, France
Hello Everyone

Well, for me, the train virus started when I was 6.
At the beginning, my parents bought me at Xmas a small Lima train set (2 rails DC).

My mother used to take me to look at department store windows, before Christmas, at Paris.
There were Marklin trains turning around and I was dreaming, but I had no idea of the price of such items.

Then later I moved from Paris to the Alps.
Fortunately, in this new location, there was a train store close to me, and I was very frequently discussing with the vendor, and asking him the permission to open the boxes of brand new train items...
From time to time, I bought a wagon or 2, and more exceptionally a loco. That was all Jouef brand.

When I was 10, I had 6 Lima/Jouef locos, 20 wagons, and a number of rails with switches and also some signals.
One day, my father got an old table (1m80 x 1m) and gave it to me, so I started immediately to build a fixed layout and experiment various track combinations, setting up signals, and operating the trains.
That was the 1st time I set a return loop, and I encountered the problem of + connected to -, needing to invert manually the polarity on the transformer when reaching the middle of the return loop (with cut rails implementation). I found this constraint really boring.

Then when I was 11, I met another kid at school, who had Marklin trains.
He invited me many times to play trains, and I discovered the unique advantage of 3 rails system (no more limitation to track combinations).
This was the revelation ! Woot

A few months after I decided to resell all my Jouef trains, and bought my first Marklin train set. I never went back.
I also quickly discovered Marklin prices were 3 or 4 times more expensive than Jouef.Crying
I decided that when I'll be older I'll have a job earning enough money in order to bought some Marklin trains... And much later, I became a software engineer.

So for me, the real motivation to switch to Marklin was to solve a technical problem. Not very poetic, but it's my truth.

Cheers
Fabrice

thanks 18 users liked this useful post by French_Fabrice
Offline hxmiesa  
#3 Posted : 24 January 2021 11:24:55(UTC)
hxmiesa

Spain   
Joined: 15/12/2005(UTC)
Posts: 3,519
Location: Spain
Received a starterset from my grandparents for X-mas, when I was 8 years old. (With a 3029 loco and 2 low open wagons, 10VA blue metal trafo and R1 curves)
I was very happy, even if my collection only grew extremely slowly.
Most of my other friends in the neighbourhood had Märklin too, and it was the brand that mostly advertised in the weekly "Donald Duck" magazine. It was also the brand with the most exposure in the toy shops.

Some friends had Lima and only very few had Fleischmann. In all cases of non-Märklin; you couldn't really play with the stuff, as the loocos would hardly move, and everything was more or less broken by damages. (head-on collisions was the rule rather than the exception...) -Not so with those who had Märklin trains; These would always run. -the noise and ozone-smell didn't bother us, and I soon became accustomed to that.
In contrary to Fabrice, I never really experienced the polarity problem with 2-rail trains, neither did I ever realize that Märklin was particularly expensive; Lima was cheaper, but looked and worked accordingly. Fleischmann cost the same as Märklin, but you couldn't couple the waggons with the Märklin ones anyway, and would derail on every point.

I only got my 2nd loco at my 10 years b-day. (3080), and so, extremely slowly my collection grew at the rate of about a loco every for 2 years. (BR24, Litra MY from the DSB).
I never built a permanent layout, but was instead a very active carpet-bahner. I became VERY good at the M-track geometry and was able to hook up all the electrical connections (including automated block-signalling) in record time on the floor.

Around 18 years of age, I was beginning to think more in the lines of realistic modelling, and began to acquire K-track. This was not apt for carpet-bahning, but on the other hand the size of the collection was getting too big to handle for setting up and tearing down continuously on the floor anyway.
The idea of completely changing to 2-rail was also discarded, as I couldn't see how I could afford to change everything, without having to start over again almost from zero. It had cost me a lot of time to grow my collection to a suitable size, which by the way always seemed to be much smaller than what I wanted...

<Many years of trying to build 3 different layouts which were never more than half-finished>

Enter present day; My 4th layout (Each layout doubled in size from the previous one, ending up with the current one that resides in a dedicated 30m2 room);
It still contains some of my old M-track (only in hidden areas), and holds no less than 8 different return-loops (and triangle/diamond) configurations within the track plan. With some triangles nested within another triangle; I wouldn't even know how to solve this electrically with 2-rail track...
Sure, I would like to lose the ugly studs in the tracks, but it's really one of the smaller compromises of a layout, and there are really other more serious issues to solve before that. I think we have all seen on photos, videos and/or in real life, that Märklin layout can look perfectly beautiful anyway!
Best regards
Henrik Hoexbroe ("The Dane In Spain")
http://hoexbroe.tripod.com
thanks 14 users liked this useful post by hxmiesa
Offline rhfil  
#4 Posted : 24 January 2021 11:33:13(UTC)
rhfil

United States   
Joined: 05/09/2014(UTC)
Posts: 422
Location: NEW HAMPSHIRE, Somersworth
Around age 4, 75 years ago I received an American Flyer three rail set up and later a Lionel loco. I had a 4' X 8' figure 8 layout with a few operating models - a crane and a milk car with a platform. But I lost interest in model railroading around age 8 and returned to it when looking for a hobby to take up free retirement time at age 72. I first tried ho but quickly became frustrated at the difficulty of making the switches work properly and the fact that steam engines kept shorting out when going through switches. I went to a local train show and observed how the Marklin system worked. So I packed up my ho sysem and went all in with Markin with no regrets now.
thanks 11 users liked this useful post by rhfil
Offline PJMärklin  
#5 Posted : 24 January 2021 12:31:54(UTC)
PJMärklin

Australia   
Joined: 04/12/2013(UTC)
Posts: 2,206
Location: Hobart, Australia
Originally Posted by: French_Fabrice Go to Quoted Post
Hello Everyone.Well, for me, the train virus started when I was 6.
...My mother used to take me to look at department store windows, before Christmas, at Paris. ...

...CheersFabrice


Hello FabriceSmile ,

What delightful memories you have of your Paris Christmas windows visits with your mother!

Similarly, as a child, my dear wife was taken by her parents each year to the windows of
department stores in Sydney to view the elaborate Christmas displays.

We met and married in Hobart and later lived in Sydney for six years, in which time we went
with our first son to view the displays and again each time since when we have visited
Sydney in December with any of our three sons.
Indeed we particularly did the viewings with our grandchildren in Dec 2019.ThumpUp


UserPostedImage


UserPostedImage


UserPostedImage


UserPostedImage


Your narrative brings back such wonderful memories that we missed in 2020 and which I expect we
would all like to continue around the world after we come to accommodation with this pesky virus !!

My Best Wishes to you and all our members for a better 2021; may we all survive this virus to
recall such memories and visit our department store windows with our families this
December in Christmas 2021.


Regards,

PJ BigGrin
thanks 12 users liked this useful post by PJMärklin
Offline morsing  
#6 Posted : 24 January 2021 14:27:48(UTC)
morsing

United Kingdom   
Joined: 16/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 586
Location: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
When I was four (in 1979), someone gave me a Lima train set for Christmas, I think. I have no recollection of this, however, my dad, despite not really being able to afford it, thought I shouldn't have such a poor quality set, so put it in a cupboard and bought me the classic Marklin starter set with the model 3000 a flat and a tipper car.

Sold it when I was an old teenager as it hadn't been out in years, but now got back in to the hobby 25 years later.

Regards,
Henrik

-----
Modelling west Denmark era IV - possibly with some out-of-place elements!
Marklin C-track + CS3+
12m2 layout to be controlled by RocRail
thanks 13 users liked this useful post by morsing
Offline artfull dodger  
#7 Posted : 24 January 2021 16:49:32(UTC)
artfull dodger

United States   
Joined: 31/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 475
Location: Indiana, Kokomo
Love the stories and the pictures of the Paris window displays. Sadly that tradition has largely disappeared in the USA, but was once very much anticipated at Christmas time as seeing Santa Clause in the holiday parade that kicked off the Christmas season right after Thanksgiving. All the larger stores, such as Macy's, FAO Schwartz, Sears, JC Pennies, Higbee's ect would build elaborate window displays and back in the years just before and after WWII would feature trains. Mostly Lionel and American Flyer, but FAO Schwartz had a nice Marklin display layout and trains to sell for those that lived in NYC. I am sure there were others sprinkled in around the USA. But this was all before my time. Hobby shops and the years "wish books" from Sears and JC Pennies were my shopping places as a child. Wasn't till my aunt remarried that the German connection and trains from Marklin and LGB came into my life. Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's..I have Asperger's Syndrome!!!!
thanks 8 users liked this useful post by artfull dodger
Offline biswasg  
#8 Posted : 24 January 2021 16:59:06(UTC)
biswasg

Switzerland   
Joined: 31/12/2005(UTC)
Posts: 226
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
As a child growing up in India got fascinated seeing a train set at a cousin's place. His father had bought it during his visit abroad. No idea what brand it was. That hooked me on, read a lot about model railroading, but never had a chance to own one, until I was in the mid-30s when I bought one Lima set for my kids on one of my visit to the US. Later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, and around 2005, while going around the shops saw an offer for the Marklin 29850 starter set and bought it. That was when I became a member of this forum. Since then have accumulated additional Marklin locos, track, and accessories with the intention of making a permanent layout. Only now getting around to build one in the attic.

This forum has been very helpful.

Now planning to introduce it to my twin grandkids on their next birthday when they turn 3 with the Marklin My World set.
Gautam
thanks 10 users liked this useful post by biswasg
Offline river6109  
#9 Posted : 24 January 2021 19:32:23(UTC)
river6109

Australia   
Joined: 22/01/2009(UTC)
Posts: 14,636
Location: On 1965 Märklin Boulevard just around from Roco Square
Similar here, layout in department store street window, got my first set 3000 (correction CM800) at Christmas when I was 76, I change this to when I was a child.

John

Edited by user 25 January 2021 00:52:35(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

https://www.youtube.com/river6109
https://www.youtube.com/6109river
5 years in Destruction mode
50 years in Repairing mode
thanks 8 users liked this useful post by river6109
Offline RayF  
#10 Posted : 24 January 2021 20:01:50(UTC)
RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,838
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
The year I was born. 1958, my older brother was given a small Marklin train set for Christmas. He played with it occasionally and as I grew older it became more my toy than his as he turned to other things. The original train, a CM800 and three 4 wheel coaches, was added to after a year or two with a second Br89, a 3000 this time, and a couple of freight wagons. For many years these were my only Marklin trains until I again took up Marklin in the mid 1980s.

In between, as Marklin became difficult to source in Gibraltar, I dabbled in other brands and scales. Over the years I ran a Triang 00 British Railways train, a Lima HO SNCF train, and started a Graham Farish N gauge GWR branch line layout with a Pannier tank and a handful of passenger coaches and freight wagons. I also built a couple of 00 white-metal locomotive kits with the intention of building a small branch line in 00, but it never progressed to an actual layout.

In 1986, on a business trip to London, I happened on the excellent range of Marklin trains that they had at the time in Hamley's in Regent Street. I looked at the trains, bought myself a catalogue, and was well and truly hooked. Through Hamleys and Beatties of High Holborn I obtained the spare parts I needed to get my old locos back in working order, and a year later, on another business, I bought my first new Marklin train, a 3085 Br003 and a set of coaches. After that I started accumulating trains until I built my first permanent layout in my son's bedroom in the mid 1990s.

I progressed from analogue to Delta, and then to a 6021 digital controller, until I eventually settled on the MS2 controllers which I currently use. In the meantime I scrapped the original layout i had built in M-track and replaced it with C-track, a move I never regretted with its superior running qualities.

Today I own roughly 180 locomotives, and I run five trains at a time for a week at a time. It takes months to get through all my trains. I'm now looking at thinning down my collection to make room for some more new trains.
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
thanks 11 users liked this useful post by RayF
Offline Rwill  
#11 Posted : 24 January 2021 20:57:08(UTC)
Rwill

United Kingdom   
Joined: 04/05/2015(UTC)
Posts: 777
Location: England, London
Born a little before Ray. My father was a schoolteacher - a well respected profession but exceedingly poorly paid and living in London money was a bit tight. I was bought for Christmas in about 1960 a second-hand train set quite old Hornby and much to my horror it was O gauge and clockwork whereas everyone else had dublo electric. Nevertheless loads of mates used to pile round our house and abuse the "trains". It got put in the loft when girls and music became more important and when my parents retired to Cornwall whilst I was away at Uni it disappeared probably to the jumble sale. I still wish somehow we had kept it - probably worth a fortune now!.35 years ago married with kids on the way I tinkered with a Hornby OO set - nothing special just a carpet bahn. Then on the arrival of my youngest son (he is 33 now) my wife's sister and husband rushed over from Switzerland "to help "and picked up at Geneva Airport a Marklin Re4/4 and a couple of carriages in an Airport shop. I'll never forget the sparks when I put on the two rail track. Digital was just coming in so I bought a starter set and had converted the Swiss lok. My job used to take me all over the country and always in the glove compartment of the car was the listing of M dealers. Whether it was three kids, a massive mortgage or a M hobby we never had much money despite having quite a good job. Holidays were camping. The kids were never totally enthused about the railway but they still shout out the digital codes of the older loks as they run around the present set up. We moved house a couple of times and the trains were boxed into the loft. Then seven years ago made redundant two years off retirement age the railway was reborn and has headed to where it is now. None of the kids show that much interest and the grandkids are soon bored so what the future holds I don't know
thanks 9 users liked this useful post by Rwill
Offline artfull dodger  
#12 Posted : 24 January 2021 21:40:48(UTC)
artfull dodger

United States   
Joined: 31/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 475
Location: Indiana, Kokomo
Teaching is a very under paid and under funded profession. Very much unappreciated in today's society. I think most of us juggled bills, kids and the normal household duties among enjoying trains, buying them when we can, some are not able to start a layout till the kids move out or retirement age is reached. We never had kids, medical issues on her side and I am not sure how well I would have done dealing with having kids with my own issues being on the autism spectrum. I am blessed with a good job right now as is my wife, so that helps with being able to enjoy life when we are not at work. Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's..I have Asperger's Syndrome!!!!
thanks 7 users liked this useful post by artfull dodger
Offline JohnjeanB  
#13 Posted : 25 January 2021 00:07:02(UTC)
JohnjeanB

France   
Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC)
Posts: 3,083
Location: Paris, France
Hi
My story began in first years of high school near Paris in 1960 (11 years old) one of my buddies had a father crazy about Märklin trains.
He had the first of new M track with studs but still an RSM800 and a 3016. To me it was wonderland with all these lights, good functioning, etc.

Because my grades at school were not so great my parents offered me a low grade train set (Jouef) but it was not as much fun as Märklin.
So I promised myself to earn the money to buy Märklin by making small jobs (inventory list, painting, etc) I even spent 3 month in Münster (Wesfallen) as Studentpraktikum. So I soon got myself a Märklin layout with 15 trains. I did this while finishing high school and joining an Engineer school until 1969 (then 23 years old). Then, the army, girls, I sold the train to buy a car then my first lady came and my baby.

But the disease was still there and I fell again for Märklin near 1984 and it is still with me today
Here is the state of my disease


Conclusion: if you deprive a child of Märklin trains he/she will be obsessed with Märklin Trains for life
Cheers
Jean
thanks 16 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
Offline Eurobahnfan  
#14 Posted : 25 January 2021 22:40:42(UTC)
Eurobahnfan

United States   
Joined: 09/08/2008(UTC)
Posts: 407
Location: Stockton, CA
Like a lot of folks, I grew up with trains, grew out of trains... and grew back into them later in life.

As a boy, I had HO trains consisting of Athearn and Roundhouse kits and locomotives, along with the usual Tyco offerings, but always wanted European trains, regardless of manufacturer -- something that wouldn't happen until I came back into the hobby in my mid-thirties. Model railroading back then was a seasonal affair, meaning Christmas and a layout under the tree. In the months in between, I would occupy myself with my father's pre-war Lionel streamliner and American Flyer O gauge freight set, building temporary floor layouts in my bedroom. Shortly before my high school graduation, my father added two locomotives to our mutual collection: an AHM/Rivarossi Big Boy and Cab Forward, both of which I still have, along with his pre-war items.

Re-entering the hobby while living in Berlin, I started out with N-scale as I found the HO offerings a little too confusing and/or frustrating what with the power requirements -- AC or DC -- and coupler compatibility issues. At least N-scale was "universal" in terms of both power needs and couplers across all manufacturers.

Around the same time, I discovered Maerklin's MAXI line of trains. Like my father's pre-war trains, they were big, metal, and fun to play with. A couple trips to the Maerklin Museum added to my familiarity with the brand and its variety of offerings. One day, while inquiring about the price of an Arnold BR 18 for my Rheingold set, I noticed that it was about 5 marks less than Maerklin's corresponding HO offering. "If you're going to pay that kind of money for a locomotive, don't you think you should be able to at least SEE it a little better?" this voice told me inside my head. Well, I left the shop with a 29625 start set. (I also bought the Arnold BR 18 -- how could I not?) A short time later, I would add the Maerklin Rheingold offering as well.

In the years since, I've amassed quite a collection of Maerklin items, both vintage analog as well as modern digital, along with the occasional MAXI items I let slip by years ago. I've also built a nice collection of pre- and post-war Lionel -- for the kid in me ;) And yes, I still have my N-scale trains.

It's been quite a journey, one that is still in progress. Along the way, I've met some great people, including my wonderful wife, who share this passion for the miniature trains from that little company based in Goeppingen -- and a few other manufacturers as well. Is there a cure? I certainly hope not!

thanks 10 users liked this useful post by Eurobahnfan
Offline Br502362  
#15 Posted : 26 January 2021 09:56:27(UTC)
Br502362

Finland   
Joined: 05/03/2014(UTC)
Posts: 680
Location: Finland
Hi,

When I was born in 1960 my father and uncle had all ready started with Märklin so you can say that I was infected from the beginning.
They had their layout (305cmx115cm) in the basement. All equipment in the photo are still in working order! Here is the layout still uncompleted.

keltsu.jpg

I had also a "teppichbahn" in my uncles room when he was working abroad in Sweden and Norway.

Vintti.jpg

vintti1.jpg

In 1964 I got a 3937 locomotive as christmas present.

j1964.jpg

I was allways asking my father to take me to visit local toy stores in Helsinki to take a look at their shop windows.
Stockmann in christmas time and near by Winter were my favourites.

winter.PNG
Photo taken by Rista Eeva SER, valokuvaaja 09.1970 and borrowed from Helsingin kaupunginmuseo.

In 1966 our family moved to a apartment building in near by suburb and the basement layout was dismantled but the table was moved upstairs
to our former kitchen. So I was able to run trains when we visited my grandmother. In the mid 70's this temporary layout was also dismantled
and the table stored but I got all Märklin stuff to our apartment so I was able to run trains on teppichbahn every now and then.

In the late 70's girls and cars came along and Märklin was not priority number one any more and fortunately I didn't sell anything.
1983 I met my first wife and after we moved together I was able to build a layout to my former room at my parents apartment.
I used the same (305x115) table for that layout and it stayed there until our daughter was born in 1991.

Hertsika.png

After that all Märklin stuff was stored to my parents house. (They moved back to my grandmothers house after she and my uncle passed away)
It was around 1995 when I purchased a 2900 starter kit to my son and built a small layout to a board.

tunneli.png

After divorce there were many silent years and finally after meeting Hanna in 2006 I started to collect mainly 1:87 building kits.
We didn't have any space for a layout in our apartment so I stored all newly purchased items.
In spring 2013 we managed to buy a house and in the autumn I started to built the latest layout which
you can find in this string:MY NEW LAYOUT

Cheers

Åke

Edited by user 27 January 2021 06:47:05(UTC)  | Reason: Typo

thanks 20 users liked this useful post by Br502362
Offline dominator  
#16 Posted : 26 January 2021 21:28:38(UTC)
dominator

New Zealand   
Joined: 20/01/2015(UTC)
Posts: 1,195
Location: Kerikeri
When I was 7 years old, my uncle heard about a 'Marklin railway for sale so he asked my dad if I would like it. My uncle offered to buy it for us and dad could pay him back [ motor mechanics didn't earn much in those days ] . Dad then obtained an 8'x4' plywood board and fitted a "Dexion frame around it. He then set it up in our lounge, but would not allow me to see what was going on. I was blindfolded and lead into the lounge and asked to guess what was there. As soon as I heard the trains, I knew what it was.
That was my Christmas present that year. It had a DA800, a CM800, and an RES800, 4 of the 4 axle coaches, 3 of the 4000 coaches and quite a few 2 axle goods wagons.
Its still going today and has been setup permanently in The Train Room since 2000. it is 75% bigger in area from what it was in 58, but a lot more track, and of course, it has both analogue tracks and digital tracks now.'

Dereck

Edited by user 27 January 2021 22:42:13(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Northland. NZ REMEMBER 0228 for ä
thanks 9 users liked this useful post by dominator
Offline Mr. Ron  
#17 Posted : 26 January 2021 23:36:13(UTC)
Mr. Ron

United States   
Joined: 05/07/2020(UTC)
Posts: 311
Location: Mississippi, Vancleave
As with most, I started out with a Lionel train around the Christmas tree. Actually my first train was Marx, not Lionel as we weren't that well off. I quickly lost interest and instead discovered scale model trains. This was around 1945 when I was 11 years old. A friend of mine had a small Marklin train which I would play with in his home. At the time, my HO 2 rail trains wouldn't run on his 3 rail track, so I drifted away from Marklin and grew with 2 rail trains for the next 10 years. Then employment, girls, cars and the other things that define "coming-of-age" put trains on the back burner. After much living and 3 marriages, I finally after retirement started to revive my interest in trains. I now had the space and the funds to create my railroad empire. I always knew about marklin, but the solid center rail always turned me off. I realized now, that Marklin had gone with studs in their track. That changed my mind about Marklin. I had always regarded Marklin as a "toy" train, but after looking at catalogs and watching you tube videos, I saw how more realistic a system Marklin was. About 8 months ago, I started buying Marklin trains and track from E-bay and started building a layout. Various detours along the way, (illness, covid, etc) have slowed my railroad progress. 3 weeks ago, I started building the framework in a 11'x12' space. That is now complete and I am starting to lay track, following a plan I worked out on my computer. I'm using experience gained during my 2-rail days to implement my pseudo Marklin layout, combining American with European prototypes. Since this will be the last layout I will ever build, I'm pulling out all my knowledge gained over the years to make this a dream layout. I still have a lot to learn, specifically about scenery and wiring, but hope to report back with my progress. Model railroading is the greatest hobby of all. It has been replaced over the years with model planes, cars and more recently by video games, but trains still have a strong following. I was surprised at the number of Marklin followers in the U.S. thinking it was much larger in Europe, but it is global in reach and popularity.
I do kinda miss building models from wood kits, but at my age, I don't think my hands are steady enough. Marklin fits the bill.
thanks 10 users liked this useful post by Mr. Ron
Offline ocram63_uk  
#18 Posted : 27 January 2021 08:22:02(UTC)
ocram63_uk

United Kingdom   
Joined: 07/01/2015(UTC)
Posts: 704
Location: England, Suffolk
Good morning everyone, hope you are all well amd keeping safe. January is almost finished!!! How time flies.
Ake, the 'teppichbahn' that you had when you were little is very nice indeed. Which Marklin layout was it? Is it listed in any of the Marklin M track design booklets?

I started with Marklin in 1976 with a start set, then bought a second hand layout from an American family that was returning to the USA from Italy. Some time around the 80s I sold everything to an Italian music producer and bought myself a nice Pentax K1000 camera as a new hobby. When my son was born in 1996 I moved to Fleischmann which lasted until I got separated from my wife.
A colleague got rid of an M Marklin layout that had been stored in his garage. You can imagine the state it was in. Anyway i got it into working order in a couple of weeks. I had in my kitchen until I left Milan for Rome in 2010. I had upgraded from M track to C and gone totally digital by then. The digital world was shown to me by a friend that was studying for his P.Hd at MIT in the early 2000 and have never looked back.
I moved to UK in 2014 and left it in storage. In 2017 it was stolen from the storage facility. I started buying back some of it and replaced some of the old locos, 3047, with more modern ones. I reconverted back to two rail some of the Italian locos I had and sold them, they were creating problems on my flying layouts. In 2020 my second wife offered the dining room table to put the layout on. I did but it has been a frustrating experience and I have dismantled everything, it wasn't much, and put it away for good. Maybe one day I will bring it all out again. Who knows.
thanks 8 users liked this useful post by ocram63_uk
Offline Br502362  
#19 Posted : 27 January 2021 09:16:53(UTC)
Br502362

Finland   
Joined: 05/03/2014(UTC)
Posts: 680
Location: Finland
Originally Posted by: ocram63_uk Go to Quoted Post

Ake, the 'teppichbahn' that you had when you were little is very nice indeed. Which Marklin layout was it? Is it listed in any of the Marklin M track design booklets?



Hi Marco,

That layout wasn't from any design booklet but from my uncles brain.
I must admit that he had been studying those booklets and that layout must have had some influence of them BigGrin

Best regards

Åke


Offline TrainIride  
#20 Posted : 27 January 2021 13:55:32(UTC)
TrainIride

France   
Joined: 23/10/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,904
Location: FRANCE
Hi friends

Born 1961, I started with a JOUEF startup set "Train Auto Couchettes" for an early sixties Christmas gift.
With a BB9200, a CIWL sleeping coach, and two car transport wagons,
the quality was not so good and not so bad, all the consist wheels were in plastic.

then I posted the rest of the story on a website I did not yet updated for a long time Blink :

https://www.marklin-user.../pags/Thestorypart1.html

https://www.marklin-user.../pags/Thestorypart2.html

For some design layout choices, I even changed my mind slightly since BigGrin .

Best Regards
Joël
thanks 4 users liked this useful post by TrainIride
Offline Roland  
#21 Posted : 27 January 2021 16:22:44(UTC)
Roland

Canada   
Joined: 09/11/2013(UTC)
Posts: 332
Location: Toronto, Canada
My father grew up in northern Germany and was fascinated by the steam locomotives which were the workhorses of the Deutsche Bundesbahn at the time. His grandfather owned a farm in the northwest which had a minor branch line running right by their house. A love for trains was inevitable. He was very fortunate to receive a Märklin 0 gauge set as a boy and collected Märklin HO on and off from the late 1950s onwards. After immigrating to Canada, I was born in 1979 and the building of a couple of temporary layouts began. A 2943 set and also a BR 89 with a yellow Bananenwagen and red Kippwagen were my introduction to Märklin. In the late 80s we built a more permanent 6m x 1.5m layout that I spent countless hours running.

We spent many Christmas' in Germany and always came back with new goodies for the layout (the exchange rate was very beneficial back then, not to mention the bonus MwST reimbursement). One of my favourite memories as a boy was visiting the local Märklin dealer shops in Bremen. My main interest was/is Era IV eLoks and diesels as this is what I grew up seeing and travelling on, so the BR 111 (2859 set) I received around my 10th birthday was a dream come true. Eventually as a teenager I also of course developed other interests but fast forward to around 10 years ago while on a business trip to Germany including a stop at the Miniatur Wunderland, my childhood love for model trains was re-ignited. I started buying Märklin digital and today, with two sons of my own, I'm slowly building a layout that we all enjoy.
My Layout Build | Märklin CS3+ | K-track | Merkur | Viessmann | LDT | iTrain | Modeling DB + SBB
thanks 8 users liked this useful post by Roland
Offline ocram63_uk  
#22 Posted : 27 January 2021 17:28:26(UTC)
ocram63_uk

United Kingdom   
Joined: 07/01/2015(UTC)
Posts: 704
Location: England, Suffolk
Hi Ake, I do not want to deny the genius of your uncle, but I have found what seems a similar layout, Trackplan 7, on Marklin's layout booklet 0351 published in 1972
I can put only the picture hoping that I'm not infringing any copyright :-)

Trackplan 7.jpg
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by ocram63_uk
Offline Swisscat  
#23 Posted : 09 February 2021 00:07:15(UTC)
Swisscat

United States   
Joined: 27/08/2020(UTC)
Posts: 3
Location: Portland,Oregon
I lived in Switzerland for a number of years and I like models. Marklin is the biggest European model railroad manufacturer so i chose them for a base while I just search online for swiss rolling stock from various manufactures.
thanks 1 user liked this useful post by Swisscat
Offline Vanvlak  
#24 Posted : 09 February 2021 07:15:49(UTC)
Vanvlak

Malta   
Joined: 01/06/2019(UTC)
Posts: 58
Location: Naxxar
A mistake...
I started early (at the age of four?) with a present from my parents, a Hornby O gauge Big Big Train toy running on batteries on big, plasticky red rails - I still have it.
Then came my first Lima at around nine, which was a whole new world for me - loved it to bits, and I still have it too. A few more Limas followed - you couldn't get anything except from a more specialized shop here, and the first Marklins I saw - N gauge - were well beyond my resources.
A hiatus of decades followed, with occasional airing of the Limas.
A trip to the Harz kicked off the big revival - a daily dose of Harzer Schmalspurbahnen for a week and a nice little shop where my wife bought be a Roco BR75 did the trick.
As I have limited space I planned to stick to small shelf layouts and perhaps a tiny oval (I am still there); and I would buy only small shunting locomotives. Until I got a Rivarossi cab-forward from e-bay, that is. Typical small shunting loco, that....Blink
In a sort of buying frenzy I scooped up a Marklin V60. That one did fit the intended plan better than the cab forward, but was of course AC.
And of course I had to get rails and a transformer for it, and then I discovered the blue I bought was not ideal, and then got a mobile station.... you get the idea.
I run DC locos as well, including my old, old Lima trains - and some newer ones.
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by Vanvlak
Offline MalinAC  
#25 Posted : 09 February 2021 08:15:55(UTC)
MalinAC

Ireland   
Joined: 29/05/2014(UTC)
Posts: 839
Location: DONEGAL, CARNDONAGH
Are you sure it was Marklin N gauge.As far as I knew Marklin never made N gauge .
Offline marklinist5999  
#26 Posted : 12 February 2021 20:40:45(UTC)
marklinist5999

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 3,074
Location: Michigan, Troy
I started with dc 2 rail in 1990. Then I found a Marklin dealer when I visited their shop just to look around at others. Well I hadn't seen or known much about European trains, and I got hooked. After buying a Jouef TGV Atlantique' 325 KM./hr. record set made in France from them, and a few Roco Locs., I got a a Marklin2916 starter set. Then almost a 3370 or 3371 ICE Experimental, but opted for a 3511 grey Lady of Wurtemburg. They had a customer decline on his Fleischmann Amtrak ICE 1, so I took it. I became good friends with the owners. He was German from Wisconsin, his wife from Dusseldorf. It was a place to visit, talk, have coffee, and meet other hobbyists. I even began learning German. I missed them after they closed and retired.
My collection grew, and grew, and stalled from 2007 through last spring. No denero's to spare.
Then my dad left us all in failry decent financial shape,and I began drawing my retirment early last June. Just a few years early. I crunched the numbers, and it was only a $5,000 defecit over 3 years to wait. I drew that much by October. We save most of it. I was concerned the markets may decline due to Covid 19. If the fund depreciates, I won't be cut in amount. Only if it goes belly up all together, in which instance all you get is 40% from Uncle Sam. Hey, but thank's President Johnson, etc. anyway!
Now I'm back to enjoying my hobby!
thanks 1 user liked this useful post by marklinist5999
Offline hennabm  
#27 Posted : 13 February 2021 14:53:12(UTC)
hennabm

Scotland   
Joined: 22/09/2009(UTC)
Posts: 2,040
Location: Edinburgh,
I blame my father for my obsession !
In the late 50's he was posted to Germany and bought a small collection of M and had it as a carpet bahn in the quarters.
When he moved back to the UK, he still had room in the house they rented near Kinloss.
When he moved south again, the house had no room and it was put away until i was around 7 or 8. I was then introduced to it and played with it an awful lot.

I only had the 3011 at the time and it wasn't until I started earning money around 14/15 that I started buying more and more and more - a familiar story with many of us.

It wasn't until I reached the half century I finally managed to put together a fixed layout. Due to limited space this is modular and used for shows only. But at least I get to see it all going. My father has done so as well and even the 1957 3011 still runs perfectly.

And I am still adding to it as the years go by. The next big thing will be my retirement later this year, when I can give it more attention than recent years.
1957 - 1985 era
What's digital?
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by hennabm
Offline kiwiAlan  
#28 Posted : 13 February 2021 15:52:20(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,082
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
I came to Marklin through what is probably a most unusual route.

My father decided to take on some extra work when I was very small, and took on Marklin repair work for the New Zealand importer (at that time it was H. W. Clarke) and acquired a 16VA transformer that he would connect to the loco with a pair of clip leads. Later on a circle of 5100 track (including a curved connection track) appeared to better test run the locos. The result of this was I got to run many other peoples locos on 'my' circle of track (not even an oval!) including the largest locos of the day (ST800 etc) seeing how fast they would go before the transformer thermal cutout went or they flew off the track Scared Woot .

Later on I acquired some bits of rolling stock, Faller buildings, along with more track, including a pair of points as Christmas and birthday presents. You can imagine my delight when under the Christmas tree one year there was a parcel that seemed to be rather heavy, and was found to contain a 3003 loco. Now I had a loco of my own and didn't need to rely on other people getting locos repaired to have something to run for a short while.

Later on another present revealed a 3038 French electric loco. As time went by and I grew older I eventually sold all my Marklin, a decision I regretted years later. I got back into Marklin after attending the Auckland Marklin Club after my employment moved my place of residence. A little after that my grandmother left me some money when she passed away (she must have had a fair sized bank account as there were 23 grandchildren at that stage, and I assume we all got the same amount, plus any other dispursements) and I purchased a 3687 Glaskasten to start myself on the tracks again.
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by kiwiAlan
Offline uhrwerk  
#29 Posted : 13 February 2021 20:11:40(UTC)
uhrwerk

United States   
Joined: 03/01/2021(UTC)
Posts: 6
Location: Colorado, Longmont
I got into Marklin when my father gave me his train set when I was a child - I still have it, original box and all! It is clockwork O gauge.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/benmesander/f3Yx11

Many years later, I bought some Marklin Maxi on Craigslist. I enjoy Maxi a lot... and somehow I acquired a little bit of Z scale as well!

thanks 3 users liked this useful post by uhrwerk
Offline marklinist5999  
#30 Posted : 13 February 2021 20:15:44(UTC)
marklinist5999

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 3,074
Location: Michigan, Troy
All great stories! Also great is that we are all from all over the world! Eurobahn fan said he grew up wityh trains, grew out of them, then back into them. I guess I sort of did as well.
As a kid, my grandmother handed me down an early post war Marx 027 set. A beautifull tinplate srt with a PRR or NY Central 2-8-0 or 2-8-2 steamer, a grey low side car, a weathered yellow box car, a Penn Central coal car, and a red "Reading r.r." caboose. It had a large oval, 2 turnouts with large flat red solenoid boxes, a light tower, double street lamp, etc.
After the transformer died, we packed it away in newspaper. After my interest in trains re emrged, my mom gave it to me with the business card of a vintage collector/dealer with her idea I might sell it. My folks were avid flea market vendors, upscale mainly. Mom loved antiques. I never invesitagted selling it. I set it up at Christmas a few years, never replacing the trafo.
When my mom passed in 2013, I returned it to my one surviving uncle for his grandson. He was in awe, saying it was a blast from the past. He recaled it as a Christmas gift for them both in 1946. So it remains within the family.
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by marklinist5999
Users browsing this topic
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.

| Powered by YAF.NET | YAF.NET © 2003-2024, Yet Another Forum.NET
This page was generated in 2.128 seconds.