4 Wheel Customs - Fun With Marx Trains

Keep it simple, stupid. Hello again, this is Mike, and we've all heard that phrase at one time or another. Keep it simple, stupid. I think that that expression applies even more significantly in our fast-paced, technology-heavy, AI-driven world that we have today. Keep it simple, stupid. You can even apply that phrase to our toy and model trains. We can become so focused on scale details and bells and whistles and computer and Bluetooth control that we forget the simple joys of just watching a train run. Remember the simple joys of watching your first train set run around an oval on the floor while you crept your head closer and closer to the track, but not too close. And all the while your imagination took you to far-off places and great adventures. And in the world of O-Gage trains, it doesn't get much simpler than these four-wheel plastic cars made by Marx in the 20th century. They're basic and inexpensive, yet they're still O-Gage trains that can provide hours of entertainment, especially when we modify them for our own tastes, for our own friends and families. So let's take a closer look at these sometimes-overlooked gems of the O-Gage world, and see how even serious hobbyists can use these on their layout. I've found that many younger O-Gagers have never even heard of Marx trains, which is not really surprising since they haven't been made in half a century. So to get everyone up to speed, here's the basic overview of Marx. Prior to the Second World War, Marx toys made a variety of tin toys that were known for their whimsy and colorful lithography. By the 1930s, Marx had added O-Gage trains to their product line, making a line of colorful and rugged tin trains with detailed lithography. Most of these cars were roughly six inches in length and they featured colorful lithography, and they rode on four wheels. Less common were Marx 3-16-inch scale cars that rode on more prototypical eight-wheel trucks. While Lionel and American Flyer quickly made the jump into plastic trains after the war, Marx, wanting to squeeze every possible dollar from their tooling, stuck with tin trains even into the 1970s. But plastic trains finally joined the lineup alongside their tin counterparts beginning in 1950. Marx plastic trains fall mainly into three categories. The most common were the four-wheel plastic cars. Most of these were seven or eight inches in length, and while they rode on four wheels, they had simulated eight-wheel trucks added to the casting. These cars usually came with either non-operating plastic knuckle couplers, or metal tab and slot couplers. They're also hollow on the bottom. Slightly less common are the Marx eight-wheel cars. These use pretty much the same tooling for the bodies as the four-wheel cousins, but they had actual eight-wheel trucks and an underframe instead of being hollow. These almost always came with either the operating fork type coupler, or the non-operating plastic knuckle coupler. And the hardest to find, but still not really rare, are the Marx deluxe plastic cars. Some of these have larger castings than their counterparts, such as the hopper cars, while others have additional details or operating parts, such as opening doors on the box cars, or operating cars like the operating box car. These cars almost always came with operating fork couplers. I have to admit that in the past, I was kind of a snob about these four-wheel Marx cars. I mean, I really liked the deluxe cars and the eight-wheel cars, but the four-wheel cars? Oh, well, these were just too toy-like for me. And it seemed that every time I purchased a mixed lot of Lionel trains on eBay, which is one of my favorite ways of getting bargains, there would always be one or two of these four-wheel Marx cars included in the lot. So over time, I accumulated quite a few of them. So I would clean them off and set them on a shelf, and I appreciated the history of them, but the problem on the layout? Well, I'm happy to say that over the years, I've grown more to appreciate these cars. And in fact, from time to time, I've even gone out of my way to find them. The first time was when my twin boys were toddlers. I wanted a train to circle the Christmas tree. But while some toddlers like to put things in their mouths, my boys like to pick things up and toss them across the room. And I certainly did not want any Lionel pieces to take flight. So I found a cheap battery-powered Marx four-wheel set on eBay, and that became the Christmas train for the next two seasons. And now I'm looking to create a small Halloween display layout for our upstairs living area. And well, why not use some of these cars as the basis for that layout? And even though these cars are cheap and abundant and almost never have collector value, I do appreciate cars that have survived for half a century or more in their original condition. So for customization, I'm going to limit myself to cars that have been damaged in some way and therefore have no collector value at all. This NYC Pacemaker caboose has a broken handrail and a broken wheel. I'll make replacement parts on my Creality Ender 3 printer. And I also like the orange color for the Halloween theme. I hope that I can strip the lettering while leaving the stripes intact. This blue Pensy gondola needs some more significant repair, but I still think that I can make a reasonable facsimile of the Marx truck side frame with Tinkercad and my Ender 3. I would rather not do a complete repaint, so just stripping off the lettering will do. And then there's this NYC Tender. I do feel a bit guilty about customizing this one, but I have four of them, and this one is in the worst shape of the four with lots of scratches on the body. I'm going to leave the other cars in the train in their original condition. And I'd like to pause the video for just a moment and ask that if you're enjoying the video so far, please like it, share it, subscribe to the channel... Just let YouTube know that you like this type of content. And you may even consider supporting the channel financially through a membership. Members have access to exclusive video content, early access to regular videos when possible, plus shout-outs, special messages, special photos, and other special features. Just click on the membership button at the bottom of the video near the subscribe tab. And whether you are a member, a subscriber, a regular viewer, or just stopping by, thank you for watching the video and thank you for your support. Now, back to our video. My first task was to open Tinkercad and work on the replacement parts. I think that my replacement wheel and handrail are pretty spot on, while the truck side frame matches the spirit of the original, but it's not an exact copy. I made this file public on Tinkercad, so if you feel like you can make the details closer to the original, help yourself. The link is in the video description. While the new parts were printing, I started work on the lettering. There doesn't seem to be one universal solvent for remaining every make and style of lettering. But in the case of these Marks cars, the pad-printed lettering comes off quite easily with 91% IPA that you can find at your local pharmacy. First, I poured a little on the lettering and let it sit for about two minutes, and then I started rubbing the lettering with cotton swabs. After about a minute of scrubbing, you'll see the lettering start to disappear. Don't forget to swap out clean swabs as needed. There will still be a little ghosting of the lettering on the parts of the model that have been hidden under the ink for half a century, as they were not exposed to UV light and the other environmental factors. But this is really only visible with really close inspection. I wanted to save the black stripes on the caboose, so I masked them off before stripping to save them. A little IPA got under the tape, but for the most part, the stripes survived intact. Next, I used a razor knife to remove the broken details and to prepare the models for their replacement parts. Go slow and easy and let the saw do the work. Then it was time to add the replacement parts. They were printed using PLA filament. Now some say that PLA doesn't play well with superglue, but I've had really good luck with this superglue from Harbor Freight. The replacement wheel is glued behind the broken original. Once painted, I don't think anyone will notice. The trick to attaching the side frame is making sure that the wheels are straight when gluing. Then I painted the replacement handrails and all the trucks on the caboose and gondola with Tester's craft paint, which I think may have been discontinued. Any acrylic paint will do. When Quaker Oats purchased Mark's in the early 1970s, one of the changes that they made to Mark's rolling stock was in painting the trucks black. I do think this makes the cars look a bit more realistic. Plus, it hides my replacement parts. And now for the lettering. I chose to use our Cricut machine to make the new lettering out of vinyl. I have made previous videos showing how this process works, so I'm not going to dive into it here. Check out the links in the video description for more videos about how to use the Cricut for model trains. I chose to focus more on the fall harvest theme rather than a spooky Halloween theme, but feel free to decorate your trains as you wish. For the gondola, I added these hay bales that I think I purchased at Hobby Lobby last year. Then I added a few inexpensive seated figures from that generic brand from China, and my Harvest Hayride car was ready for action. What about the locomotive? Well, these four-wheel tenders usually came either with a battery-powered steamer or a number 400 or 490 040. But really, any of the small Mark steamers, even a 666 or 1666, or even a small Lionel steamer will work fine. Whatever you have on hand should do the trick. I think this concept will look great on my Halloween display layout. If you agree, show some respect for these neat and inexpensive cars, and don't be afraid to customize them for your family and friends. So, keep the trains running, even the four-wheeled ones, and we'll catch you next time with more toy train tips and tricks.