Märklin 39651 first impressions.



The DB class 065 steam locomotive has been weathered from the factory. There is a similar model 39650, which was released as an insider club model in 2018. The main difference is that 39650 was not weathered. The 39650 is an era III model, while 39651 is era IV.



The weathering looks realistic, and is quite good for a series production model. The only real issue was the uneven wheels weathering. This could be improved by applying som Nuln oil though. There is more dirt at the front of the locomotive, and the amount is gradually reduced on the sides going backwards.





Here is a picture of the real locomotive, taken 1971.



The running sound function is good, and very loud at the default setting. Unfortunately, the motor is also quite loud. It’s not one of Märklin’s more quite models in that sense, so having a loud running sound makes sense. I did turn down the volume a bit though. The whistle sound has a soft touch to it; better than the harsh sound that many other models have.

There are three headlights, all weathered, and three rear lights. Two of the rear lights can be changed to red marker lights.







The cabin is closed, but it’s easy to remove the plastic part to fit the cabin crew.







Overall it’s a very nice model that can be used to pull both passenger trains and freight trains.

After running in the model

The model performs well after running in the model, and it has no problems pulling the three cars from the set 43990 at 3% uphill slope. The cars are not weathered, but look good together with the locomotive anyways since the weathering of the locomotive is mild towards the rear.





I took the locomotive apart. I pushed down some of the grease towards the gears since it looked like most of grease was sitting close to the edge. After putting it together, and running it a little bit, it appears to be more quite. I don’t know if this is due to the grease, or simply running it in.





Smoke unit

The model is equipped with a smoke unit. It’s not synchronized with the cylinder motion like some of the latest models. It smokes about the same amount regardless of locomotive speed, and looks relatively realistic at moderate and high speeds. Using the recommended maximum amount 0,2 ml of smoke fluid gives about 5 minutes of smoke.

Edited by user 27 March 2022 22:00:26(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hello. Thanks for the feedback.

The loco runs smoothly at low speeds. The frequency of the chuffs seems to match the wheel revolutions at low speed. But, I couldn’t say that it is synchronized with the piston position. At moderate speeds the frequency also appear to match reasonably well, but at high speeds it’s hard to tell.

I’m sure that your wagons would fit this locomotive well, especially if they are dusty. I use a little bit newer era IV wagons myself.

Thanks for pointing this out. I will check.

Regards,
Robert

I made a short review of the passenger car set Märklin 41326 that goes with Märklin 39651.