If you are keeping your locomotives in a showcase and run them ever so often on a temporary layout, there is no reason that you could not do the same with 2 rail DC models.
The only difference is that you would not be able to combine them, because the Maerklin models still have non insulated wheel sets and would cause a short when running on a 2 rail network.

I guess that you could use Trix C track instead of Maerklin's to set up a temporary DC setup. If all of your locomotives are DCC, you should be able to control them with a Maerklin MS-2, as the output is DC and you can set it to DCC as primary digital output.

I have a few Roco and a Lemaco DC models, one of them has a DCC decoder. The rest have sockets for DC decoders. The Lemaco SBB RBe 540 does not.

When I run my DC(C) models, I usually use a K Track setup without switches, crossings or contact tracks, which allows for 2 rail operation. For safe operation, for example, my RBe 540 has a specially marked AB, B and BDt pilot coach (2 rail).

If using C Track, you may have issues if any of your models have RP25 wheelsets, due to the the smaller flanges.

American models can be rather expensive in Europe. There are some shops in North America that can ship goods to you. I would recommend that you do some price comparisons.

Regards

Mike C

Mike C, Kimball,

Thank you both for your answers.

You both gave me valuable information. Those U.S. locomotives look so beautiful and ... different!!! I just love their diversity, their colors and their sheer power!!!
Yes, high price is a factor, but my latest Marklin acquisitions ranged in the range of 600 to 800 euros. So, the leap to a reasonably priced U.S. brass loco, hopefully will not be a huge one (just hope my wife does not read this).

I will start looking for suppliers from the U.S.

Once again ... thank you!!!

Regards

Paris

I’ve never owned brass engines. I started off in the ‘70s with Marklin, sold everything to buy my first Pentax camera in the ‘80s and started again with Fleischmann in the ‘90s. I returned to Marklin in 2002 but as it did not produce any properly made Italian locos I used to convert the ones I liked to 3 rail. At first trying to put the contact shoe in a non invasive way. Too difficult and time consuming until I found out that with a ghost car, 2 current conducting couplers and a simple rewiring I could have them running on Marklin C track. On some it was a question of changing the inner wheel distance to make them run properly on C track and apart from these issues I didn’t have other problems. Some switches caused problems but I had them with Marklin locos as well. In the end I decided to revert all the 2 rail engines back to their original status and sold them to stop having pain and aches when running on my volatile layouts. It is doable but it comes down to how much you want to see them running compared to the fiddling/tweaking time you want to spend on them. I’m bored about Marklin and trains in general so I am thinking what I want to do with them in general.

Hi- it will indeed be interesting to see how this unfolds. MTHs immense product line would make the tooling a tough sell in my opinion. Some hypothesis just for fun:

- The toolings may need split up by scale to look appealing to anyone.
- HO scale would make immense sense to a broadway limited, Atlas, or similar. The MTH offerings were nice, and in many case items not offered by these brands.
- O scale I would presume to be wise of Atlas to acquire, but Atlas tends to operate in fine scale modelling (or Hi-Rail in O scale), and most of the MTH tooling is not this. This leaves Lionel, but their own vault is so large I'd have to question if they really need it all. Plus years of rivalry and squabbling and lawsuits between them...
- G scale I don't know enough about to comment on

The ongoing problem here is one I've recently learned a lot about: lack of demand to justify more than a one time production run. While we often criticize Marklin on this forum for delivery times or availability, they are actually very good about keeping a stock available. In the American modeling world there is very simple retail concept: preorder or you won't get one.

A well-connected retailer told me the standard HO (DC, USA prototype) production run is 3000-5000 units, and that volume is a very hard sell unless a tooling can be used across several railroads and liveries. This made for the "blow out sales" of the last 1000-2000 pieces, which one often finds advertised in model railroader. The dealer said the model is now switching a little bit where the (3rd party, usually in Asia) manufacturer will allow a brand to do a "fully subscribed" run of 2000-3000 pieces at a slightly higher cost per unit. This means no excess, and everything is preordered/presold. (it also explains why pricing has jumped up in recent years) The brand can then order a "second run" of more if demand is there for it.

So my point in the rant above: the market is shrinking, and most of the addressable market bought these trains when MTH offered them the first time around. So there isn't a lot of "opportunity" left in the MTH toolings, and the price would have to be cheap to appeal to another company...

Edited by user 07 July 2020 23:15:53(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified