In the new 2010 MTH catalog they have a Crocodile.

excerpt from the catalog, in the last paragraph they credit
marklin for the popularity of the croc.

http://www.railking1gaug...alogweb/index_2010V1.htm

"Features
- Intricately Detailed Die-Cast
Body
- Directionally Controlled
Headlights
- Metal Wheels, Axles and Gears
- (2) Remotely Controlled
Proto-Couplers™ ; Scale
European-Style Couplers and
Ace Trains-Compatible
Couplers Are Also Supplied
- Colorful Paint Scheme
- Metal Chassis
- Metal Handrails and Horn
- Locomotive Speed Control In
Scale MPH Increments
- Lighted Cab Interiors
- Metal Body Side Grilles
- Proto-Scale 3-2 3-Rail/2-Rail
Conversion Capable
- (2) Precision Flywheel-
Equipped Motors
- (2) Engineer Cab Figures
- Proto-Sound 2.0 With The
Digital Command System
Featuring Passenger Station
Proto-Effects™
- Unit Measures:
16 1/2” x 2 1/2” x 3 3/4”
- Hi-Rail Wheels Operate on
O-72 Curves
- Scale Wheels Operate on
54" Radius Curves
Did You Know?
The Gotthard Base Tunnel, currently
under construction, will
bore through the Alps at nearly
ground level, almost 2000 feet
below the existing Gotthard
Tunnel. The new high-speed
route will feature the world's
longest tunnel (35.4 miles) when
it opens around 2018.
In a country famous for mountain railroading, the
Gotthard route is the greatest challenge, the one by
which the Swiss Federal Railways measures its locomotives.
Constructed at a cost of more than 200 lives, the
Gotthard line snakes its way around spiral tunnels, across
more than a thousand bridges and open passages, and
through narrow mountain valleys, culminating in a 2.6%
climb to the 9-mile-long Goddard Tunnel — the longest in
the world when it was opened in 1882. The Gotthard was
the stomping ground for the 2-10-0 "Elephants," the
largest steam engines ever used in Switzerland. But when
the decision was made to electrify the route, the
Elephants were replaced by Crocodiles.
To conquer the Gotthard's tight turns and steep grades,
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) designed a
freight locomotive in three articulated sections: a doubleended
center section housing two engineer's stations,
twin pantographs, and the huge high voltage transformer;
and two end sections, each with two electric
motors powering a single jackshaft that transmitted
power to the 53" drivers, using steam-locomotive-type
drive rods. The jackshaft drive was dictated by the motors
available at the time, which were too large to be truckmounted
as in later designs. The nickname "crocodile"
(krokodil in German) arose from the engine's long articulated
"snouts."
In the 33 first-generation engines built in 1919-21, the
powered jackshaft drove a main rod that was connected
to both the first set of drivers and a second idler jackshaft.
The 18 second-generation crocodiles, built in 1925-
26, used a simpler arrangement with the powered jackshaft
driving a main rod connected to the third set of
drivers. In Swiss parlance, the two generations of engines
were designated Ce 6/8” and Ce 6/8’” (C for their speed
range, maximum 40 mph ("A" being the fastest); e for
electric; 6 indicating 6 driven axles; 8 signifying 8 axles
total). Many were upgraded in the 1940s and '50s, raising
their top speed to 47 mph and changing their class
designation to Be 6/8. All crocodiles were delivered in
brown paint, but many were later repainted green. Initial
practice was to run with both pantographs raised, but
some engines were later refitted with improved pans that
allowed single-pantograph operation. The hugely successful
Crocodiles ruled the Gotthard route into the 1950s,
when they were displaced by newer power. Many worked
into the 1970s on less strenuous routes and switching,
and several have been preserved.
For American modelers, the Crocodile is perhaps the single
most recognizable European locomotive, having been
imported as a Märklin model in several scales since the
1930s. Like the Lionel Santa Fe F3, the Märklin HO
Crocodile was a top of the line model that many boys of
the 1950s and '60s dreamed of, but few actually owned. If
you were one of those boys (or even if you weren't), this
new Premier model offers the chance to own the most
detailed, smoothest running O gauge model of this iconic
mountain goat ever made, available"

they are also making a KBayStsB - Bavarian S 3/6 Express Steam

Go for it John!

My wife has started collecting O gauge stuff not much but for around the Christmas tree, so now it looks Like I'll have to get one also. Not just $900 for the Loco but another $300 for a DCS system to play all the functions.

With MTH you Order now then wait and wait and wait. some times for years

You can operate a MTH protosound II loco with a Lionel controller but most of the the functions can not be accessed. Some of the functions can be accessed through combinations of the whistle, bell and direction buttons along with throttle positions. If MTH did as good with the sounds as they did with the French engine they made last year, you would want to go and sink some money into a DCS system.

John, you can get one for $820 with free S&H if pre-order. If you don't know which shop I am talking about, PM me.

Martin... You can run the MTH PSII locs with a Lionel Cab I and Powermaster powered through a Lionel Powerhouse 180 transformer. By running in conventional mode, you'll get the locomotive sounds (steam or diesel), bell, and whistle/horn. As far as accessing the more elaborate sounds, you'd need MTH's DSS system. I'm a seasonal O gauger, i.e., only at Christmas and have a few MTH locomotives and quite a few pre-war Lionel pieces. I run everything conventionally with no problems. Granted, I can't access all the MTH PSII functions, but then again, I can't access all of the Trainmaster functions on my Postwar Celebration Series WP F-3s. Conventional running seems to work for me. If I ever get the room to build my dream O gauge layout... well, I think you get the picture. (I'm still trying to finish my dream Maerklin HO layout. )

Steve

I need to make a correction to one of my earlier post. I said I want a Be 6/8 but not a Ce 6/8 and said Märklin's 1-gauge croc is a Be 6/8. What I am really after is the triangular driving rods. After digging around on the web a bit, I now realized what I should have said was I want a Be 6/8 II or Ce 6/8 II but not a Be 6/8 III or Ce 6/8 III that has the straight driving rods.

Just so I don't confuse other forumist trying to learn about the SBB's locomotives.

Thanks again, Steve, for the very detailed reply. I will check what's my Powermaster when I get home couple weeks from now. Hopefully it will be the "older" type, which I think it would be. I bought all that one year before the Legacy BigBoy was announced. As a matter of fact, I placed a pre-order for that BigBoy and my dealer had forgotten about it, and so I have no JLC BigBoy and no Legacy system. Oh well, if it's not meant to be ...