Here comes a very fast review of the Blue Bird as I´m busy this weekend. I don´t have time to post pictures right now, but they will come. I´ve also made a video which I´ll post.

26490 Reisezug “Blue Bird”

Length - 1760 mm.

Locomotive:
Sounds - Diesel operating sounds, horn, bell, sounds of couplers engaging, rail joints, cab radio, squealing brakes off.
Decoder + Motor = MFX with high-efficiency propulsion.
Detailment - No Issue on C-tracks.
Childen? - Age 14 and over.
Couplings – NEM with close couplers. 12 RTS couplers between the coaches and one close coupler on the front on the loco
Headlight? - 1 in front with lighted numbersigns.
Loco body - Metal.
6021 address coding - 60.
60212/3/4/5 Name at factory - THE BLUE BIRD
Traction Tyres? - Four.

Functions
F0 Headlight and signboards front.
F1 Interior lights/red marker light (cars).
F2 Sound effect: Operating sounds.
F3 Sound effect: Horn.
F4 ABV.
F5 Sound effect: Squealing brakes off
F6 Marslight
F7 Sound effect: Bell
F8 Sound effect: Sounds of couplers
F9 Sound effect: Rail joints
F10 Sound effect: Cab radio

Introduction:
Apart from the old F7 Märklin has produced one more type of diesel; the ALCO PA-1. It´s longer and has longer nose than the F7. They have been produced as single A-units and double consists. Now for the first time Märklin releases a ALCO-PA 1 as a complete passenger train (not counting the seperate Santa Fe).

Technical:
The locomotive has an MFX-decoder with sounds. It differs totally from the other PA-1 units. It sounds different from the 37610. Also the interior lighting is controlled through current-conducting RTS close couplers from the loco. The rail joints aren´t very loud and says "click" on higher speed steps (like 90) and seems to be changed with the speed. It´s a very disappointing "sound". I can only hear it when I´m very close to the loco.
There´s only one headlight, the upper light is the mars light.

Appearance:
Very nicely done, but check the signs. There was alot of threads from glue that I had to rip off. This hasn´t been any issue on any other Märklin models. Otherwise it´s what you expect for a top Märklin model.

Accessories:
11 RTS couplers in one bag (for the 6 cars), 1 imitation coupler and one front cover for the loco is included.

Summary:
It´s a very nice train. The only negative I have about it is the mentioned rail joints. Maybe there´s a problem with the decoder or a fix but it shouldn´t be like that, I think. Also I can´t find any numbering. It would have been nice to see which unit you had, just like the ICE-S. Märklin says 1999 units, but this way they could easily do 5000 and still call them limited.
Do i recommend it? If you have the money, or like american models just like me or better, both. Also on my small test layout (R3) I have no problems with the train on smaller grades.

NP Jeremey. You have to tell when you´ll get yours and I hope the signs on your units will be better.

BTW I´ve found one more flaw... on the end coach. There are dots on it where there´s missing some blue paint!! This isn´t supposed to be like that on this hich value collector´s item. I´ve just emailed Märklin.

Thank you for pictures !
....this model looks so nice !
About the wrongly mounted signs, if it happens to me here in my town, I go to the dealer and ask him a exchange of the whole set...and he gives me another one . It is what he prefers too, so he can do the same with Marklin factory.....
But....
....in this particular case of a very limited serie, probably I'll ask (or he 'll propose me )to send back the set UNDER WARRANTY (activating customer's warranty : mentionning what's going wrong, letting Marklin to choose between repair, replace the coach, or replace the set, etc....etc...). This should be faster when the dealer don't have anymore items in stock....

I´ve contacted both Märklin and my dealer. My dealer will in turn contact Märklin to to adress this issue.

At least unacceptable.

Current Märklin policy is to only replace the entire set. I had this recently with my 26557 TEE Set.
I asked for the part to be exchanged, but no, the whole set had to go back, and of course over 3 months wait.

Also a couple of weeks ago I bought a new LGB Ge 4/4 II in Bernina 100 livery, two broken parts which I could have fixed, but no, the entire loco had to be returned to Germany, but at Märklin's expense. The dealer said it woould be back in one week, we are nearly two weeks now and I think it will be MUCH longer! Good Luck.

The 26490 looks a very nice set, but the price of 900 Euros is crazy. The streamline coaches were never that expensive or the Alco PA-1. If I had the money I would buy it though, but it must be perfect for the cost.

Best Regards
Ashley

Agree 100%, Ashley

Well, my long time policy is to replace only the affected item(s) - talk about Murphy's Law.
And I don't give a rusty dime on M's (or any other maker's) policy, does no good to me at all.
My old dealer knows this and collects broken items from other sets - as surprise bundles to M

And that funny €900 price tag is insulting our IQs. Does M think we were that old to forget the recent past.
For their information - just a few years back I have paid €200 for the AT&SF PA-1, and €300 for the NYC PA-1 set.
The latter even included 4 freight cars, MS1, transformer and track ...

It´s a very high price. Just like you say, the items aren´t that expensive seperately. The Amtrak coaches were 220 Euros and the ALCO-PA 1 37610 was almost 300 Euros.
But I must admit it´s a very nice train. What should I do if I get offered a new set from Märklin? I don´t want to wait another 3 months.

Ashley, did you get your set back or a new one? Was it better? I´ve sent back a broken Big Boy 37990. It came back in better condition but it wasn´t completely restored. There were still some damaged parts and they hadn´t been careful with the wooden base either... Maybe it´s better to leave it like this. It will propably have a great impact on the value, but I´m not planning on selling it. And it wouldn´t be funny finding some "WABASH" signs on the floor.

John, it sounds perfect logical to collect faulty items for one set. Only problem is that there only was one on order at my dealer...

But if it´s their policy then that´s one way to do it.

David,

If it were my set I think that I would carefully touch in the paint myself. On the edges you will not have to get an exact match, just close enough and you will not see it. Just a tiny amount of enamel or acrylic at a time with a fine brush. I have done similar 'touch ups' on other Märklin locos.

And the signs I would carefully remove and refit the ones with too much glue. Rather than use glue, use double-sided tape on the back of the signs. If you are careful it should be easy.

I have had bad experiences in the past with the Märklin Service Department, they are not careful with the packaging, though I do not think the wooden base in the Big Boy is their fault. The wooden base marks badly in transit as the wheels still move around even when the loco is screwed in place. When I returned my LGB loco I kept all the documentation to avoid damage. With my 26557 TEE Set, I think I got a new one and everything was fine so maybe it is getting better.

Regards
Ashley

Seriously... I haven´t had any issues at all on older models, but since last year I´m starting having some. I had some motor problems with the 37624 and now this. And these are my only new released trains from 2010 and 2011. That´s 100% of the new models with problems! What´s happened with the QC at Märklin?

Marius, have you contacted your dealer about the 37581?

Hi Marcus

I would try a dark blue felt pen to dull the slightly missing blue paint.
Try on a piece of white platicard first and see how it matches when dry with the original.
The advantage of the felt pen is the tip is very small and easy to targent the white and not the original paint.
It should just dull the white to near blue and you will hardly notice it. Else use a humbol darrk blue paint with a match stick sharpened to a point.


Cheers
Bryan

....I agree with Brian, to make small retouches, it is sometimes better to use inks , instead of paints....
Ink is the best way....we can find today some interesting colors....and with particular colors we may find them...on current simple pen felt !

Marius, thanks for the internal pictures. I agree with your observations. It´s very similar to my 37610 as well but many improvements.

I´ve boxed my Blue Bird, waiting to hear an answer from Märklin. They´ve used light bulbs propably to cut costs. Also the California Zephyr consumes alot of power. BTW.... look at the rear coach. Is also your curcuitboard bent down? Mine is and makes it possible to see the light diffuser even when your level with the windows. Maybe it´s like 20 degree angle. So you´ll be blinded looking through the windows on the rear coach.

a "HUMUNGOUS" capacitor is a very large capacitor. A little bit of Slang.

NN

Hi David,

Were you able to repair (i.e. to glue back in place) the signs that were coming off? If so, what kind of product did you use? I received my Blue Bird last week, and sure enough the edges of the signs were coming off (warping out) on one of the coaches. I suppose that, eventually, all signs will come off.

Bad quality control at Marklin, why should I be surprised?

Armando. No, I haven´t done anything at all. I´m still waiting for a reply from my dealer. Meanwhile it´s in the box. It´s sad to hear your set also had the same problems. Otherwise I have to do as Jeehring suggests... But I´ll wait for the reply from my dealer...

Did you contact your dealer? It´s really bad quality check. There are no problems of this kind on any of my other Streamliner cars (I have all but one).

This is terrible! I´ve never had any issues with any trains before. Only one instance with a bad motor, but considering how many trains I´ve bought. Well, hope you´ll get an reply soon. I´m still waiting...

I just recieved my Blue Bird yesterday and my initial impression was WOW!.
However I did notice a couple of the signs lifting off as mentioned in other posts. That is easily fixable.
However 2 coachs have one of their wheel sets pushed in too far to widen the frames so that the cone bearing on the wheel set will slide past.
These cars will not run on the track. This has happened to me before on a hobby set where the packaging was too tight.
For an expensive exclusive set, I am not impressed. I had more fun and satisfaction from a basic start set.
Will discuss this with my dealer and Märklin.

Have attached images but not in the order that makes sense. First time for everyting.
201 Truck End and 201 Truck Top show one of the 2 bent trucks Bad Truck 201 shows the other truck.
An example of the Glue Fuss is also included but it was easy to wipe all off with a clean microfiber cloth.
The Bullet Lighting and the Scenic Lighting images are a good example of the only lighting variance I have with this set.
The bullet car seems to have weaker lighting on the opposite end of the bullet. The rest of the train has great lighting but I would perhaps tone down the dining car lighting.

Harald, that is not impressive by Märklin. As this is a very limited train the quality check should be much much better.
I haven´t got any reply from my dealer and I´ve owned my set for half a year now.

I recommend everyone to inspect their new models very carefully. i´ve been having some kind of problems on all new trains since last year beginning with 37624 (bad motor part in one of the engines), 37629 (someone forgot to paint a few details) and the 26490.

Märklin and Walthers came through!
After about a month, they agreed to to help me out and replace some of the cars. I now have a completely functional, beautiful train!
I will fix my box so that the trucks do not get crushed next time I store the train.

As for the lighting issues I noticed the following.
The dining car appears the brightest due to the red seats and white table clothes that reflect the most light.

The Bullet car(Park car for Canadians) is slightly dimmer, probably due to the LEDs drawing a little Voltage.
I did add a piece of black construction paper to block out as much as the LED lights that spilled out to the passenger car. The LED is used for the marker lights.
I also moved the dining car a car length away from the Bullet car so that the dimness is not as noticiable.
Now I need people inside!

Now a happy customer!

David, I am reviving an old thread and wondering if this was ever resolved for you by Märklin or not.

I have a California Zephyr set 26600 and for some irrational reason I am feeling the need to add another US streamliner to the mix.

I can currently find new versions of the 26490, 26495 and 26496, none of which are inexpensive at this point in time. I was wondering if forum members with multiple US train sets would care to share their views of which they would buy, assuming that I am going to add only one new US passenger train to my CZ.

I love the 26496 but it is very similar to my 26600 and if I were deciding today I would most likely pick the 26495. I don't have any Alco locos yet and I particularly like the looks of the Budd coaches painted in the D&H livery. Reading this thread though has reminded me that these sets came from Märklin during what were troubled times for them and I am wondering what the quality level was like on the 26495 and 26496. I know that there are some hard core collectors of Märklin's US trains here on the forum and it would be great to be able to benefit from your experience.

Thanks in advance -- I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts on this.