# Marklin 1950/60s layout



## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Hi all,

This summer (August 2014) I started with building a Marklin layout in the style Marklin constructed their layouts in the 1950's and 60s for toy shops and special customers and such. 
These layouts are known as 'factory layouts' (or in German 'Werks- und Schaufensteranlagen'). 

Of course I only use original Marklin and Faller accessories from the 1950s and 60s.

So the era before Marklin started to cooperate with NOCH (in 1966) and before Marklin used the NOCH grass rolls on their factory layouts. 
This means I'm going to use the oldschool plaster-glue-fiber mixture for landscaping the surface of the layout. The looks of the plaster mixture was typicall for the factory layouts of that era.

Here are the first pics of the framework. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I have this simple and classic original Marklin trackplan and I use 1950 Marklin solid center rail metal track (aka type 3600 track). 

For those who don't know; Marklin is a 3-rail AC system made in Germany.

The layout is small but you can have a lot of fun with a small layout just as with a large one.

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I like to collect 1950 and 1960 Faller building kits, Faller slotcars and Faller model railroad accessories.

For my Marklin layout I restored some Faller houses from the mid fifties, these houses have a wooden base. 
I gave them some fresh paint and new vegatation and flowers, like this Faller model 202. The first pic was taken before the restoration. The last photo is page 16 - Faller catalog '1953'. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

And I did the same with Faller model 203 from the late 1950s ...


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I found some instructions in a Faller magazine from 1957 how to make these oldschool vegetation ans flowers for model houses, which was very helpfull. 
(Luckily I can read German).

Summarized translation: "*You must mix a teaspoon Faller 'Plasticol' with a teaspoon 'Nitrolöser' and mix it firmly (don't smoke!) and then add the green Faller litter (colored sawdust). With this paste you can now sculpt bushes, plants, window flower boxes...etc. 
It is advised to put some Plasticol on the spot were you want to apply the paste. 
The paste is dry within 15 minutes and if necessary one can add flowers simply by painting them with a tiny brush*". 

The Faller Plasticol tubes aren't available any more for some 15 years so I used a tube 'Contacta' from Revell and instead of the 'Nitrolöser' I used Humbrol paint thinner, which is a similar product too. 
Yikes, I now understand why you should not smoke during this job, the mix smells super inflammable ! 

I followed the 1957 instruction and I was pleased with the result ! 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

And again some more Faller houses for the layout...

Faller #201 from 1953 and Faller #252. 
Model #252 (villa with balcony) was released in 1957 and in 1963 it disappeared from the Faller program way too early. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Running model trains on the old metal 1950's solid center rail track can be very noisy.
So I mounted original vintage Marklin sound deadning strips type 7171. 
Actually these are meant for the later Marklin M-track, but they fit perfectly under the 3600 series track as well, as you can see on the pictures. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Some more 1950s Marklin goodies for the new layout ... 
The points & signal marker set '7034' from the 1950's was hard to find and far from cheap, but you can't build a 1950/60 factory style layout without them. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

In Marklin Magazin 1984-No 3 I found a great article about the Marklin workers who constructed the factory layouts. 

I love their lab coats ! 
Must be a great job building layouts all days. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

But no huge factory hall for me...

Because my train room was already full with train and slot car layouts, I start building this layout in our garden and covered it off at night.
Here are a few pics of my son helping me lay tracks.

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

And after laying track I strated with te wiring. 
I used 130 original 1950s Marklin type 7000 wire mounting stables.
Yes... I like sticking to the originality, right down to the staples...

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

What's wrong with the forum ?
I posted 10 messages in this thread, but not a single reply ....

I guess the many mrr facebook groups are in competition with the forum ? 
Or is my layout just not interesting enough for HT ?

I'm a tropical fish farmer and I've seen large popular aquarium forums that run successfully for many years, died a slow death over the last 12 to 18 months because people stoped posting and were shifting to FB groups.

Same story here at HT ??? 

Maybe people are nowadays just more apt to use facebook ? 
And there is often a high activity in groups and lots of pictures too... Is this is the new 'recipe' ??
I think FB can't replace forums but maybe the only people who know that are the one that are already forum minded and know how valuable forums are. 

Marco


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

I'm not a train guy but I think what you are doing is incredibly cool! Your fidelity and craftsmanship is quite impressive. I'm guessing people just haven't seen this yet. I hope you continue to post.


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Hi Zorro, 160+ views and only 1 reply...














... that's weird, isn't it ?










Well, here are a few pics of my beloved transformer from 1949, of course still in good working order after 65 years.
This also explains my screenname...

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

This year October we still had good weather here in Holland, so I took the layout back to the garden and started applying the plaster-glue-fiber mixture, that hopefully give my layout the typical looks of the Marklin factory layouts from 1955-1965 era. 

It's necessary to add white glue to the gypsum to prevent the plaster hardens too fast. As soon as you add water to the gypsum powder the crystallization reaction starts and then you only have around 3 to 5 minutes to decorate the layout and in another 10 to 15 minutes the plaster has fully hardened. And 3 to 5 minutes is of course not enough to decorate the layout. But when you add 5% white glue to the gypsum plaster, the processing time is extended with an hour because it slows down the crystallization.

White glue was most likely also added back in de day by the Marklin workers to make the plaster harder. The Marklin workers also added sawdust so to plaster gets a more rugged structure. I used sawdust too. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I recently purchased Faller station 'Schönblick' (#103) from 1953.

The model is made out of wood, except for the plastic windows, doors and newspaper kiosk. 
The wooden walls are coated with 'Griesputz' aka semolina plaster. 
I was looking for an unrestored model like this, because the griesputz is often restored in the wrong manner.

The Faller stamp on the underside reveals that the model was built in 1953. 
The item number '103' is in red ink. In later years, this was done in brown ink. 

I have the same station in a 1960's plastic version.
Still not sure which to use on my latout.

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Now I like to show my heavy metal diecast Marklin T790 tank loco from 1950, of course in perfect working order.
After 64 years she is still a great runner ! 

The last screenshot is page 15 from the 1950 Marklin catalog, the T790 was $ 12,50 then but now you're lucky if you can find a reasonable T790 for $ 600,=

The Marklin tinplate passenger coaches are 65+ years too, the green "341" coach is from 1946. 

In case you like vintage Marklin catalogs and manuals and such, they are all online and 100% free and downloadable as PDF file's on the Spanish LCTM website here: 

LINK 1 (catalogs) and LINK 2 (manuals)

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Today I want to introduce my Marklin 3021 V200 Diesel loco from 1957.

She has all the super sweet 1st version feathers, such as the triple-ribbed silver decoration lines and of course the open ventilation grills aka “durchbrochenen Lüfters''. Only the V200 models that were produced in 1957 had the open grills.

At the underside of the loco is a small switch for changing direction, but that can also be done remotely with the transformer.

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Another great runner is my Marklin TM800 tank loco from 1953.
Like all vintage Marklin locos her metal diecast body weighs a ton.
I gave her a servicejob and new tractiontires, so now she is ready for the next 60 years.

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Most of my mrr stuff is from the 1950s, but here's my Marklin 3051 NS1200 loco from 1965, she is most of the time in the box and has never run. Like all vintage Marklin loco's she has a heavy diecast metal body. 

Actually I have two, one that I daily run on the layout and one that I like to keep in mint condition. 

Marco


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Some pics of me and my kids and one of my other layouts ...


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I have now flipped our other layout (see my previous post) against the wall, to make some room for my new smaller layout. 

Marco


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Very cool set-up. I like the vintage aspect of it all. Good luck finding parts for the older engines though. I had thought about doing European steam as they did have some spectacular engine designs, but the Marklin HO scale jobs were very expensive. I've seen the European Steam fan trips etc on YouTube and they still interest me. The 2-10-0's and such are really cool to watch.


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

Thanks Y3a ! 
You can still buy all the old Marklin parts, mostly original and when not available then high quality replica parts. The Ritter Company in Germany is specialized in vintage Marklin restorations and parts, see here: LINK TO RITTER 

I actually have no idea if Marklin is a well-known mrr brand in the US.
Here in Europe Marklin is the #1 brand, 80% of the mrr hobbyists are running Marklin trains (and the other 20% Roco, Fleischmann, HAG ...)

Now 2/3 of new layout is plastered and painted the old school way.


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

I installed the transformer board and connected all the wiring and my oldest son did the first test run and YES ! the points and blocks worked exactly as planned.

The transformer from 1949 sure looks great and is working fine. 

Marco


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## mr_aurora (Oct 18, 2005)

This is a really great informative description of your progress on this project. I am interested in your end results as I have a Noch/Tyco store display made in the early 70's for their train catalog. I collect Aurora slot cars and also have some Fallers as well. Of course I am partial to the '64 Cadillac that they did so well. The Faller AFX's are nice too. Bob


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## Malcolm3 (12 mo ago)

280A said:


> What's wrong with the forum ?
> I posted 10 messages in this thread, but not a single reply ....
> 
> I guess the many mrr facebook groups are in competition with the forum ?
> ...


I just came across this and find it very interesting. I recently pulled out all my old Marklin train sets from the mid 1950s. I have many of the items that you have shown. I have a lot of cleaning and tinkering to do,but I do have some things running.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Welcome to boards @malcom3

I wish we had more mrrs to share in the posts made here. marco did some great work on his restorations and maintaining his engines and rolling stock.

I am looking forward to see what you have pulled out and your own progress on getting them back in operations again!

🤙


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