My search is for which company is currently the best of all the model railroad manufacturers and I keep coming back to Maerklin. My evaluation is nothing quantitative or cerebral but purely a visceral reaction (how I feel).

Sure, HAG offers great stuff but its line-up of products is rather limited and there are none of the extras (periodicals, a complete line of locomotives from Germany and other countries, a line of passenger, railcars and freight, different scales and track, signals, electronics, etc.)offered by Maerklin plus the prices of HAG are sky-high especially in USDs. Brawa is wonderful and I have some of their models, but somehow their line-up and its presentation to me is not as rewarding or as attractive as Maerklin's. I am interested but do not wait to read about their line-up of models as I do with Maerklin.

I really like Bemo at HOm scale but it is again a niche player. For me, Lionel is a wonderful company in "O" gauge and offers great products but its production schedule is nonething close to as reliable as that of Maerklin's. MTH offers great and reasonably priced line of models but being brought up on Lionel, I favor Lionel.

When I look locally for service there is Maerklin, Inc. company in the USA which has a proven record for providing outstanding service of what they can do locally for customers for decades, even given their association with Walther's.

So, in summary, I can think of no other line from any model railroad manufacturer who gives me a great choice of models that I like, range of supporting products and a whole system of products that lives up to my expectations.

Well, I guess that is why this web site exists but each of you may have your own opinion.

Thanks, Thom. Great point about KATO. I could not agree with you about KATO more. Before getting into Maerklin I tried KATO HO but they didn't cover European trains from the US and seemed much more limited than Maerklin HO but high quality stuff. I have pursued KATO N gauge and recently acquired a Great Northern F7 diesel and cars (orange and dark green)from a train show. It is wonderful and I have a few high speed KATO Japanese sets that are lighted. Also, they did a fantastic job with the Santa Fe streamliner set. And, they keep coming out with new sets. I couldn't agree with your assessment more (dependable, quite, good low speed and great detail).

Hi,

I guess that summarizes the way I see the whole picture. I admire Marklin in standing behind their products for such a long time; I know how hard it can be -almost a miracle- to lead an industry, to keep up with the competition, AND comply with your "backward compatibility" promise all at the same time ...

I should know because my job is to write programs and I have to make sure all new versions are backward compatible, leading edge, and competitive.

Well, thanks for bringing this up, so that we can thank the people who have been making us happy for such a long time.

Regards,

Cem.

As a relatively new-to-the-hobby guy,and from seeing Koert run some other makes,let me just tell you,that on his layout....you will walk with that loco around there....unless its a Marklin.

I like inclines and levels.And nothing out there can pull any incline like a Marklin.Oh i giggled when Koerta bought this monster American mallet 2-8-8-2 with all the bells and whistles and a boiler the size of a coffeepot,just to get its ass handed to it by little BR86.

Just for fun i hooked 39160 the FrancoCrosti 42.9 to the front of this monster mallet and pulled that and its consist right over the incline.

No sirree,the Marklins might not have all the funky little details like a Brawa,but as Koert says,wherever his Brawa class 18 goes,he walks behind it to vacuum up the pieces that fall off hehehehe.

And we all know the older Marklins are noisy bastards.I mean the old 5-pole isnt the first in the queue when it comes to refinement,but it pulls hard and it needs very little maintenance.And it stops for bugger-all.

Id rather grind my way around a layout for millions of laps,than have to walk with a dead quiet loco that stops dead if the kettle switches on.

Ok,i have me brand spanking new asbestos flaming suit on....let rip.

N-scale: Tomix for smooth running and complete system (except digital, but digital isn't done much in Japan), MicroAce for their steamers and special models.

H0-scale: Marklin for their Bavarian items, Tomix for incredible detail.


If I'd have to pick an overall best across all the scales, it'd be Tomix hands down.

Agreed.
Even the likes of ESU & Viessmann - I have only purchased from them because I have Marklin in the first place.
Scoring on a 1 - 10 for overall satisfaction I easily rate Marklin in the 8 - 9 category.

It's actually hard to say who's best, considering it really depends on which prototype you're modeling, and in which scale. For European H0, Marklin is hard to beat, but they have nothing on the various brands in the American H0 market for example.

Yesssss! Strongest argument there is. One hint of the smell is enough to take me to my childhood. Superb.

Regards,

Cem.

I have to admit that the smell of ozone always reminds me of my childhood and playing with my Marklin trains.

What is it that liberates that much ozone, anyway, and why doesn't it happen so much with DC motors? Does anyone have a scientific explanation?

Ray

Ray,

Electrical arcs do produce ozone. Arcing can happen with both DC and AC motors especially when the commutation is poor. Arc flashes between the brush arms around the surface of the commutator and results in a high current surge from the supply which causes oxygen molecules (O2) to recombine into O3 (ozone).

Hope this helps explain it.

So for earth day tomorrow, go out and buy a marklin with a c-sinus motor to help reduce Ozone.

My favourite is Märklin.

Is it ozone that I smell sometimes when I run a Loc that has been idle for some time? I thought it was dirt burning off the carbon brushes.

Interesting, thanks for your comments.

Like many of you I tried other HO brands and concluded that the value of Maerklin far exceeded the others, even with the higher cost. I am still blown away by the annual selection of models and in different gauges. The menu from each year is simply incredibly and is unlike the scope offerred by any other company in any gauge (or so it seems to me). I don't know how Maerklin does it year after year. The programs are so ambitious and 2008, all things considered, is also in that category.

Yes, Maurice, Ray, Cem and others, yes, nothing like the ozone coming from a old Lionel trolley, switcher or gang car! Is that healthy? Whatever, it zaps me right back to childhood and the wonder of trains. I am sure the ozone smell could be manufactured and used in smoke stacks of Maerklin locomotives!

On the contrary; On earthday run your old 3000's and help to replace the ozone layer!

Marklin for me. I have never owned another brand as yet, although I'm eyeing up one or two Roco models.

Of course, I was a little tyke, but I remeber Tyco. I think they got into multinational conglomerate investing?
The Logo looks identical!

Hi PG,
In order to get something off Marklins website, you have to use the "Online-Shop".
http://www.maerklinshop.de/inde...f64944eaacee7a9dec3&
This part of the site is also the Marklin catalog, and you can hit the English button to get it all in English. You don't have to buy anything, but you can search by product type, or catalog number.

About Tyco. I agree somewhat. That little log loader was one of the best little playthings around, and looked quite good when weathered. However, the mechanism was easily dislodged or broken (wire levers etc) I would encourage Marklin to do something similar, because I think they would do it so much better, and more robustly.

Now about the "best" model train manufacturer.
Last night I hooked up my first Marklin signals on my small layout, they are not the digital type, just the Hobby series. It all went together so well, and worked perfectly, it confirms with me that Marklin are the best. I used a Home signal, and a Distant signal, and they are superb models in their own right, and quite cheap (about $25 each).

Now I will be inclined to try a digital signal or two to hook up to my Central Station.

regards
Kimball

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Should be no surprise at this site should it?

Many, many thanks BTW.....

Marklin is my first choice even if i hate its wide fringe and less detailed than Fleishmann or Roco.
i asked myself why i choose Marklin instead of other brands since 7 years ago? Metal bodies is the mainly considered reason.