Why are Marklin American prototypes so far off?

Heay Equipment Designer Nov 5, 2015

  1. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    I understand why the f7's look funny, because the wheel base and truck configurations are obviously set up for a European locomotive and not the American F7. Great way to save on tooling but makes for very incorrect looking F7. Minus the steam locos and American passenger cars, why is the rest of American rolling stock in Z scale by Marklin so horribly off in proportions and detail?
     
  2. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have no idea, but to wager a guess...

    I think Marklin produced their North American prototype stuff at a time when there were no other options, so anything marginally better than putting NA-proto paint schemes on European rolling stock was considered awesome. They likely didn't even do prototype research but rather created generic cars with features from a variety of prototypes for what they thought would be cars that look "American". They (probably correctly) assumed that most of their customers really wouldn't care.

    I am not sure if this trend has continued over the years, but I expect if they released NA-proto stuff today there would be much more apt to create a much more prototypical product. The market, and technology, and the preponderance of research materials available has dictated this.
     
  3. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

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    There HO items are correct. It was just the early 80's (pretty much all of the NA ere Z items).
     
  4. Mzbringh

    Mzbringh TrainBoard Member

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    Marklin hasn't released anything new American when it comes to new tooling in H0. When Marklin took over Trix then they got the BigBoy, Mikado, PA-ALCO and GG1, and good looking freight cars. Trix was aiming at DC and the US market a little bit more seriously but lost. I know because I bought a set of Trix boxcars aimed for the US market. And I had to replace the wheels because they couldn't run on oversized Marklin track. And they had Kadee couplers which doesn't either work well with Marklin 3-rail AC track. The Trix boxcars released by Marklin was the reason why I got back into model railroading again. Sweden is a Marklin territory and I wanted to run American and those boxcars looked good. And they have just kept on releasing them with new paintschemes and numbers. What Marklin had was the F7 and streamliners that looks good. And the very odd looking old thinplate freight cars that they have rereleased. You have to watch out that you don't buy them unless you really want them for some reason.

    One reason why Marklin freight cars i Zscale looks so strange is, I guess, that the uggly couplers they use need space. And print PRR on the side and it is good enough they seem to think. I just can't use anything American from Marklin. One exception, I like their GG1. And I don't see any new tooling coming from Marklin when it comes to American prototypes.

    I just hope that the new E8/E9 in cooperation with AZL is the beginning of something new. But they didn't release any streamliners to go with them. Why release an engine when you don't have any cars to go with it, strange, stupid. On the other hand if AZL and Marklin releases the same model, then I will buy the AZL one.
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2015
  5. sumgai

    sumgai TrainBoard Member

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    It's not that Marklin is bad, its just that the Z world got more detailed, and Marklin US prototypes stayed the same.

    If you browse Trainini magazine (free on-line) you can see that German Z enthusiasts rip Marklin a new one if Marklin produces a prototypically incorrect European locomotive or even boxcar.

    Marklin had it's US Champions - Marklin USA, but they kept their internal correspondence and secrets with the mother ship better than the CIA when it came to US product development. Its a shame that some of those ex-Marklin USA execs never participated in on-line forums or gave interviews.

    Towards the end of the original Marklin, it seemed that their designers favored the clean sheet method of making new product. Witness the last two from the original Marklin: the Marklin GG1 and the Commodore Vanderbilt. Take a clean sheet, throw it over a Marklin Chassis, tuck it in here and there, and Viola! you have a smooth bodied GG1 or shrouded Commodore Vanderbilt. Not to mention two locomotives totally unusable to modelers of railroads in the other 48 states. Ach, du lieber! what were those guys thinking (or drinking!)
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2015
  6. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well, in fairness the GG1 (and I suppose the Vanderbilt as well) is an iconic locomotive and, as Kato is proving in N, the iconic stuff sells very well.
     
  7. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

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    Actually It's not only the case with Marklin-USA, but that's true with their "mothership" (I like this word. ;) ). A long time ago there was a subject about that in some french forums I belong to and I came to the same conclusion: if most Z scale manufacturers and craftsmen are present in many forums (Joe d'Amato from MTL, Rob Allbritton and Hans Riddervold from AZL, Harald Freudenreich from FR Models, the guys of Full Throttle - sorry I forgot their name - etc), I've always been amazed not to see anyone from Marklin.

    But as someone noticed, that mustn't be a problem to Marklin as their selling figures look good, even their "freelanced" NA prototype stuff...

    Dom
     
  8. markm

    markm TrainBoard Supporter

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    I agree that in the beginning, Märklin could do anything they wanted. Although I look at Märklin as having priorities oriented more toward the collector and the guy who just wants to run toy trains and doesn't care if the F7 is phase I or II. I guess they are the "Barbie" of Z: they're not anatomically correct, but they sure look good.

    Speaking of " anatomically correct" I was wondering how the E8/E9 have been received by the Märklin community? I think it's the most prototypically correct unit they've offered.

    Mark
     
  9. ztrack

    ztrack TrainBoard Supporter Advertiser

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    Mark I am hearing Marklin has sold out of their E8/E9s. Remember, AZL was the OEM manufacturer of the E8s which helps explain the accuracy. I think this collaboration bodes well for Marklin and their move to get their US Z more accurate. I hope their partnership with AZL continues.

    Rob
     
  10. ViperBugloss

    ViperBugloss TrainBoard Member

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    The Marklin website in Germany is still showing the AZL mamufactured E8 and E9 locomotives as available.
    http://www.maerklinshop.de/maerklin/spur-z/lokomotiven/diesellok/
    I have a couple of the Southern Pacific and a couple of the Union Pacific.
    I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on how prototypical correct they are but they look good to me.
    I like their running characteristics, good low speed performance and realistic top speeds.

    Rob Pearce (aka ViperBugloss)
     

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