There is serious need of a CURRENT Marklin thread for this forum. There may be others but I haven't been able to find them. Sure, there are other Marklin forums on the web, but it's time for one here on The Gauge. Afterall, Marklin are the people who really have given us our hobby. Marklin's been selling model trains since 1891. They invented O, HO in 1935, Z, C-track digital and many of the innovations in model railroading. True, they specialize in European models since that is their base market. However, over the years, they have produced many and varied models of American and Canadian prototypes. Presently, there are PA-1 double units available and Mikes from seveal RR's and others. One of my favorites is the UP Big Boy but that is no longer available. Many of these models appreciate in value over the years and can be obtained on e-Bay and other places.
True, they are pricey, but the quality is unsurpassed and they are unbelievably reliable. For HO that may be due to their unique AC system where a small, almost invisible stud is the hot side and the two rails are the common. Therefore the track has to get really non-conductive before a major stoppage can occur. Also, with Marklin digital, the signal is sent down the track from a computerized control unit, probably a lot like DCC, so that several trains can be run at the same time on any connected track. All trains can run on any track and at the same time. It's hard to beat that and you can't get a ground loop as you can with DC. You can do all sorts of crazy things with your layout and never worry about a thing. I have about 160 ft. of track with 3 main lines and a number of sidings in a finished 8x15 storage unit adjacent to our house. The locos total 9 with 7 having sound. All have digital decoders. I routinely run 3 or 4 trains at one time, but it does get a bit noisy in there. I've constructed a small town called Equity Junction, NV complete with power plant, hardware store and a train station. There is also an oil depot and a logging mill and loading deck and more. These were made mostly from Walthers kits.
I'm also building a small Marklin Z gauge setup with about 7 locos. However, Z gauge does suffer from the same liabilities as any other DC system. In an older Z gauge setup about 9 ft. in length I could run 7 trains at the same time. That really does keep you busy to avoid crashes.
I'll submit some pics from the HO Equity Junction layout at a later time. If anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Good railroading, Bob
True, they are pricey, but the quality is unsurpassed and they are unbelievably reliable. For HO that may be due to their unique AC system where a small, almost invisible stud is the hot side and the two rails are the common. Therefore the track has to get really non-conductive before a major stoppage can occur. Also, with Marklin digital, the signal is sent down the track from a computerized control unit, probably a lot like DCC, so that several trains can be run at the same time on any connected track. All trains can run on any track and at the same time. It's hard to beat that and you can't get a ground loop as you can with DC. You can do all sorts of crazy things with your layout and never worry about a thing. I have about 160 ft. of track with 3 main lines and a number of sidings in a finished 8x15 storage unit adjacent to our house. The locos total 9 with 7 having sound. All have digital decoders. I routinely run 3 or 4 trains at one time, but it does get a bit noisy in there. I've constructed a small town called Equity Junction, NV complete with power plant, hardware store and a train station. There is also an oil depot and a logging mill and loading deck and more. These were made mostly from Walthers kits.
I'm also building a small Marklin Z gauge setup with about 7 locos. However, Z gauge does suffer from the same liabilities as any other DC system. In an older Z gauge setup about 9 ft. in length I could run 7 trains at the same time. That really does keep you busy to avoid crashes.
I'll submit some pics from the HO Equity Junction layout at a later time. If anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Good railroading, Bob