Versioning the Marklin 314 tank wagon freight cars

The vintage Maerklin "314" tank wagon (kesselwagen) series manufactured between 1947 and 1955 continues to charm me and I have started to collect the different versions of each model. It has taken me some time to commit to memory the differences between the variants and I thought that I'd share my learning with others in the group.

Marklin produced 5 different models of tank wagons during this period as described below - take note of their model numbers, production years and general characteristics:

1. 314 - (1947-1948) - Light or dark grey tank with no markings - 2 variants
   
   
2. 314 BP - (1950-1955) - Green tank - "BP" - (British Petroleum) - 3 variants
   
   
3. 314 E - (1947-1955) - Grey or silver tank - "Esso" - 6 variants
   
   
4. 314 G - (1950-1955) - White tank - "GASOLIN / MOTANOL" - 3 variants
   
   
5. 314 S - (1949-1955) - Yellow tank - "SHELL" - 4* variants

I have just finished the first of what I hope to be several blog posts on the Model Railroad Collector Wiki website that will help you determine the correct (Kolls) version of your diecast tank wagons. The first post refers to my favorite - the 314S Shell tank wagon. The blog post on the Wiki contains a short series of interactive images and photographs will help you visualize the tank wagon versions. Click on the link provided below to take you to the blog posting with the viewer. Please provide any comments in this thread and, in the event I have incorrect information, please advise and I will update the data.

Versioning for the 314S "Shell" tank wagon - MRC Wiki Blog

Enjoy,

Kurt

Edited by user 17 June 2019 17:31:50(UTC)  | Reason: correct typos

Roger - I'm trying to put all of my findings about versioning into the MRC Wiki web project where anyone can access it whenever and wherever they are. Books are useful as a learning resource, but for sharing information across international boundaries nothing beats the web. If you are a Wiki user you can also get versioning help from the item detail pages under the field "Version Notes". The descriptions for the versioning features are sometimes a bit cryptic due to the German->English translations, but most are understandable. Also if you are registered on the Wiki you can download parts of or the entire public database at any time into an Excel spreadsheet for your own consumption (in any not-for-profit use) so if you're more comfortable working offline you have that option too. These Excel exports contain the "Version Notes" field.

Thanks for your comments.

Kurt

https://www.ModelRailroadCollector.wiki