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Offline Kaspar  
#1 Posted : 05 June 2023 19:10:17(UTC)
Kaspar


Joined: 09/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: norway
Hi,

Just got my hands on a used 26600 set, unfortunately its got some broken passenger car connecting rods, and worse on some cars the connector housing itself is broken or missing.

And there is no user manual which would have the parts list possibly.

Does anyone have this and could share images of the part list?

Does anyone know it the connector housings and rods are custom for this model, or some standard Märklin parts used at the time.

Best
KS

FE39D777-908F-44DF-9FFA-AAD7B406F541.jpeg
Offline Alsterstreek  
#2 Posted : 06 June 2023 00:07:50(UTC)
Alsterstreek

Germany   
Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC)
Posts: 5,666
Location: Hybrid Home
Spare parts you are asking for:

Märklin E579120 - Coupler Pockets for Streamliner cars California Zephyr (CZ), Amtrak, AT&SF ...
Märklin E580730 - Coupler current conducting tab
Märklin E239550 - Current conducting tow bar

To make it easier to put the CZ on rails, I am employing these instead of the tow bars:
Märklin E115737 - Current conducting coupler
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by Alsterstreek
Offline mike c  
#3 Posted : 06 June 2023 05:02:34(UTC)
mike c

Canada   
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC)
Posts: 7,880
Location: Montreal, QC
I believe that once you replace the broken shafts, you can use the current conducting close couplers instead of the fixed bar between coaches.
If you decide to use Viesmann or other couplers, you would have to solder the wires to the Maerklin contact plates inside the coaches

Regards

Mike C
Offline Kaspar  
#4 Posted : 06 June 2023 10:28:00(UTC)
Kaspar


Joined: 09/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: norway
Originally Posted by: Alsterstreek Go to Quoted Post
Spare parts you are asking for:

Märklin E579120 - Coupler Pockets for Streamliner cars California Zephyr (CZ), Amtrak, AT&SF ...
Märklin E580730 - Coupler current conducting tab
Märklin E239550 - Current conducting tow bar

To make it easier to put the CZ on rails, I am employing these instead of the tow bars:
Märklin E115737 - Current conducting coupler


Thanks a lot for this :) The only thing missing is the small spring that holds the pocket in place inside the car. Did the parts list have a number for this one? Best Kaspar
Offline Kaspar  
#5 Posted : 06 June 2023 10:31:49(UTC)
Kaspar


Joined: 09/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: norway
Originally Posted by: mike c Go to Quoted Post
I believe that once you replace the broken shafts, you can use the current conducting close couplers instead of the fixed bar between coaches.
If you decide to use Viesmann or other couplers, you would have to solder the wires to the Maerklin contact plates inside the coaches

Regards

Mike C


Hi Mike. This is an interesting thought. Would the distance be similar with the close couplers (compared to the drawbar) ?

Also do you need to actually replace the shafts to use the couplers? I only need to replace half of them so the remaining pockets would still be original, they can not accommodate the new couplers?

Best Kaspar
Offline Alsterstreek  
#6 Posted : 06 June 2023 15:17:25(UTC)
Alsterstreek

Germany   
Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC)
Posts: 5,666
Location: Hybrid Home
Originally Posted by: Kaspar Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Alsterstreek Go to Quoted Post
Spare parts you are asking for:

Märklin E579120 - Coupler Pockets for Streamliner cars California Zephyr (CZ), Amtrak, AT&SF ...
Märklin E580730 - Coupler current conducting tab
Märklin E239550 - Current conducting tow bar

To make it easier to put the CZ on rails, I am employing these instead of the tow bars:
Märklin E115737 - Current conducting coupler


Thanks a lot for this :) The only thing missing is the small spring that holds the pocket in place inside the car. Did the parts list have a number for this one? Best Kaspar

There is no such thing as a parts list. The sources are "experience" and "investigation".
Cool
These should do the trick, but I cannot guarantee that they equal the "originals":

Märklin E321965 drawbar springs
Offline Alsterstreek  
#7 Posted : 06 June 2023 15:21:28(UTC)
Alsterstreek

Germany   
Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC)
Posts: 5,666
Location: Hybrid Home
Originally Posted by: Kaspar Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: mike c Go to Quoted Post
I believe that once you replace the broken shafts, you can use the current conducting close couplers instead of the fixed bar between coaches.
If you decide to use Viesmann or other couplers, you would have to solder the wires to the Maerklin contact plates inside the coaches

Regards

Mike C


Hi Mike. This is an interesting thought. Would the distance be similar with the close couplers (compared to the drawbar) ?

Also do you need to actually replace the shafts to use the couplers? I only need to replace half of them so the remaining pockets would still be original, they can not accommodate the new couplers?

Best Kaspar

That's what I already proposed in post #2: use couplers instead of tow bars (aka drawbars).
Wink
The distance is indeed similar. Do you mean by shafts the coupler pockets? If so, the Märklin coupler pockets can hold either Märklin couplers or Märklin tow bars (aka drawbars), no soldering needed, just plug and play.
Offline bgemski  
#8 Posted : 06 June 2023 15:30:18(UTC)
bgemski

United States   
Joined: 15/05/2003(UTC)
Posts: 167
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
There is a USA seller that has them in stock his user name is gscholz. I usually keep a few of those in my parts bin. Easy to replace. He is based in California and super easy to deal with.

Märklin 579120 Coupler Pockets for Budd Streamliner Zephyr, Amtrak, AT&SF

I just checked he still has them in stock
Offline dickinsonj  
#9 Posted : 07 June 2023 01:38:20(UTC)
dickinsonj

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1,676
Location: Crozet, Virginia
I replaced the drawbars on my CZ with CC close couplers several years ago.

I ran that train for 20 years with the drawbars and these look just as good to me. As a bonus they are a lot easier to handle.
Regards,
Jim

I have almost all Märklin and mostly HO, although I do have a small number of Z gauge trains!
So many trains and so little time.
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by dickinsonj
Offline Kaspar  
#10 Posted : 30 June 2023 21:27:08(UTC)
Kaspar


Joined: 09/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: norway
So if anyone is still following this thread, I did get the spare parts recommended and can report that the Zephyr is up and running BigGrin

Zephyr

I did switch to close couplers and they look just as good and are of course easier to uncouple when needed. If anything I found the 321965 springs a bit fiddly to install. The few original springs were a larger type. But with some patience it did work.

As for the manual I was able to get scan from forum user Various Scales, I've attached a PDF version here for anyone else looking for this manual.

Marklin 26600 California Zephyr manual.pdf (1,237kb) downloaded 54 time(s).
thanks 6 users liked this useful post by Kaspar
Offline dickinsonj  
#11 Posted : 01 July 2023 01:02:43(UTC)
dickinsonj

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1,676
Location: Crozet, Virginia
My CZ is in storage and I have not seen it in months, so thanks for reminding me how cool it is. ThumpUp

I'm glad you have yours sorted now. Mine has always been one of the stars on my layout, even as I have added some very nice newer passenger trains over the years.
Regards,
Jim

I have almost all Märklin and mostly HO, although I do have a small number of Z gauge trains!
So many trains and so little time.
thanks 1 user liked this useful post by dickinsonj
Offline Kaspar  
#12 Posted : 13 July 2023 10:27:43(UTC)
Kaspar


Joined: 09/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: norway
Originally Posted by: dickinsonj Go to Quoted Post
My CZ is in storage and I have not seen it in months, so thanks for reminding me how cool it is. ThumpUp

I'm glad you have yours sorted now. Mine has always been one of the stars on my layout, even as I have added some very nice newer passenger trains over the years.


It’s a great model both to look at and to run. Last week I had a neighbor over and we ran trains for a few hours. The CZ ran almost the whole time, no fuss or derails.
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by Kaspar
Offline foumaro  
#13 Posted : 13 July 2023 11:21:19(UTC)
foumaro

Greece   
Joined: 08/12/2004(UTC)
Posts: 4,420
Location: Attiki Athens Greece
It is a perfect combo indeed.You can add the 43614 marklin car to have a longer train.Enjoy your perfect train.ThumpUp
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by foumaro
Offline DasBert33  
#14 Posted : 24 March 2024 10:43:27(UTC)
DasBert33

Belgium   
Joined: 21/01/2004(UTC)
Posts: 1,245
Hi all,

Thank you Kaspar for posting the manual, I just go a 2nd hand CZ and the manual was missing. This helps a lot.

The CZ I purchased was advertised as 'as good as new' but sadly the description was not super accurate. Half of the cars were ok depite being dusty, but others were really dirty and do have sun damage. Notably the plastic car ends and the transparant part of the vista domes have discolorations on the extremities (turning yellow). I know it is a - very- long shot, but is there any chance to get replacements for either part? Does anyone have the part numbers? I could spray the car ends with aluminium color if necessary, but for the transparent dome plastic I see no alternative.

On the baggage car the coupler mechanism does not stay in place, some notches holding the brass plate on the car chassis have broken off. For that I am going to attempt a repair with my 3D printer. And the seller forgot to put the foam parts between the loco bodies before shipping (they were on his pictures before) causing some black paint chipped of the locos during shipping. That needs repairs as well.


I paid 460 euros including shipping for my CZ. Too much or reasonable for a set in this condition? My kolls from 2016 I believe lists the price as 420 euros, but most ebay prices are way higher.

BR,
Bert




Offline bgemski  
#15 Posted : 26 March 2024 14:28:32(UTC)
bgemski

United States   
Joined: 15/05/2003(UTC)
Posts: 167
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ
Parts I’m really not sure other than mentioned couplers mentioned. I have not seen other parts for the cars themselves. The sets seem to be on USA EBay often and yes the prices asked seem to fall in between $700 to 800 for the set. I looked at the completed sales just last night and one sold for a little over $400. I am not sure what can be done about the domes discoloration but cleaning can be accomplished as well as the chipping paint. If it’s really bad I would search for another set altogether. Sorry I’m not all that helpful.
Offline DasBert33  
#16 Posted : 28 March 2024 09:04:29(UTC)
DasBert33

Belgium   
Joined: 21/01/2004(UTC)
Posts: 1,245
No problem. I know the chance of getting the spare parts I need is very close to 0.

I wonder whether it would be possible to remove the yellowing using a method like this:



but the plastic should be greenish transparant. I guess it would remove the green too? Does anyone have experience with this?

In the mean time I was able to fix some of the issues of my set, so only the yellowing remains. I also got the new current conduction couplers (72025) and they work great.

Br,
Bert

thanks 1 user liked this useful post by DasBert33
Offline marklinist5999  
#17 Posted : 28 March 2024 11:25:41(UTC)
marklinist5999

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2021(UTC)
Posts: 3,075
Location: Michigan, Troy
Pick your poison, yellow or clear plastic. A drop or two of green dye in water could possibly work.
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