Congratulations on your purchase. Marklin starter sets are a great way to get into Z. You are right, they are very high quality and run great! My only comment is to make sure and keep your track and wheels clean. Dirty track and wheels will cause the loco to stall. I use simple rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth to clean the track (in conjunction with a Gaugemaster) on the track. I also use a modified TRIX N scale wheel cleaner for my loco wheels.

The lights are okay on these locos. They are grain of wheat type bulbs and will shine brighter when more power is applied to the loco. If you like slower speed operations, the light will be dim to the point of barely visible. At the higher speeds, the lights will be bright. A company called High Tech Modelbahnen does offer drop in LED plugs for these locos. These are nice and do offer constant bright lighting. They are a great option if you want to go this route. We are the distributor for their products here in the US. We have more information on our HTM web page: http://www.ztrack.com/htm/htm_led_drop.html

Have fun with your new set!
Rob Kluz

You can order a replacement front bogie for the B74. This can be used to change the front bogie from B24, so you have a coupling at both sides. I have done this, because I have no turntable.