T-man that looks just like my Marx engine. Although mine's in pretty rough shape. I'd like to know more on how you fix them.

 

Do you have a number??

Start by cleaning the wheels. The brushplate needs to be cleaned. Take care of the nus they are #4 36 thread and are not readily available. CClean the top of the armature plate. The front tabs must be squared for removal to get the rods out of the way for cleaning. The center pickup being copper has a sping in the center and one wire to the bulb socket. That's about it. If the reverse doesn't work just bypass it. They do not like switches or crossovers but otherwise are fun little engines. I have one from an uncle he got as a child in the forties. It has no number. I just needed a center picup and it works fine.


The final say was an 898 built between 1946 and 1952.

 

No numbers on it that I can find.

 

Yours is a Nickel Plate Road 994. Mine is a NYC 898 or 591.

I did learn ebay doesn't know how to list engines, ,more research is needed.
If the field and armature are not corroded it should run. You can test it with DC power.

You have a detailed front.Mine has tinplate front. I know it is not a 400 or 490 or the 999. The 400's had plastic shells. The rest were all with color and road names.
I did find a parts guy MARX PARTS

The Thor page lists all the Marx trains

 

Thankfully nothing but the center pickup and the gear drive of the wheels were corroded. i cleaned that all up and sanded the loco down for a repaint. If it doesn't run, I'll keep it for a nice show piece.

 

E unit

I got the 999 working and started on the 400. Now the problem is in the reverse unit.
First step was clean wheels and pickup, check wires.
Remove front bar,Clean brushes, brush plate and rods.
Then clean armature.
Then lube and test.

Now to look at the reverse mechanism.
It has no screws and needs to be pryed apart.On further reasearch it is impossible to clean . It needs to be taken apart so the wheels have to come off. Four nuts the frame splits. See later post. It essentially has a coil, a wedge and a copper u shape wire to tilt the wedge .


This unit has a switch but no access through the shell. Weird?? You can see the wire on the left.

The wedge has two finger contacts. This area needs to be cleaned to work. Left and right are two different pieces on two different engines.

Lastly I need to draw the diagram for the wiring. I am not completely sure how it works.

 

The tender

I untabbed the pieces and painted the top and base and weights. Then I cleaned the wheels. I didn't touch the sides.

The final picture was out of focus.hwell:

 

How do you handle the letters and such, T? Are you taping over the ID stuff?

 

That's easy I did not paint the sides or that particular piece at all.

 

Okies. Your post-paintjob pics on other engines made them look brand-new; I didn't know if you made any effort to mask the lettering or just painted over it. That's gonna be a fine-looking piece, when you're done.

 

Marx electrical diagram

Here is the mystery. The current is reversed in the coil to reverse the motor. This is done with a wedge that has three contacts. One side is hot the other ground by tilting the wedge the current is redirected to the coil. So in the first case red 1 goes throught to green 1. Reverse is red 2 through the coil to green 2.

To bypass this unit connect a jumper from a coil wire to the top brush. With a pair of wires from a transformer touch the frame and the other coil wire to start.

The e units coil is not shown.

 

Here is the mystery. The current is reversed in the coil to reverse the motor. This is done with a wedge that has three contacts. One side is hot the other ground by tilting the wedge the current is redirected to the coil. So in the first case red 1 goes throught to green 1. Reverse is red 2 through the coil to green 2.

T-Man ...

I'm just reading this old thread re: your Marx E-Unit surgery. Very interesting ...

So, based upon what you're saying, and from what I've read about Lionel E-units, can we conclude:

1. Marx E-units reverse the motor by reversing the direction of current traveling through the fixed FIELD (and coil).

2. Lionel E-units reverse the motor by reversing the direction of current traveling through the spinning ARMATURE.

Very interesting, indeed ...

Thanks, T-Man!

TJ

 

Take Apart

Pull the wheels. Remove the screws and 4 nuts and the plate removes. These two will be combined for the 2nd 999. I need the top coil unit and the pickup for the second one to work. The 400 will be next, but for now I need to practice. The reverse unit on the 400 will have to be completely taken apart to be cleaned right. For this one the wedge looks ok on the second frame so I won't have to take it apart.

 

Put together

I named my little engine Franky after Frankenstein. It even has the bolts in front like the neck decor. Anyway I took the brush plate, the e unit coil, and the center pickup, and added them to the second frame. I had to make cups for the press the rear wheels still had the the rod rivets intact. So a 3/8 th washer was handy.

The road test wasn't good the eunit heats up and sticks. By tapping it it will work.While working it will just stop.The pickup shoe is a good design and worked better than the older copper one piece. I am not looking forward to taking it apart again.

My little press was usefull.

 

T-Man, I'm curious....when do you find the time to do all this stuff? Every morning, I get on this site and you've done about another 12 hours of repair/restoration work, complete with photos and descriptive text. Do you ever sleep????

 

T-Man..........

Bob, is this the same engine for the 999? Another of my "Toy Box", finds!

What should I be looking for in way of a shell for this? Front & Rear trucks? What tender?

Is there any engine safe from your intrusive surgery?:laugh::laugh::thumbsup:

Thanks,
Jim

 

Jim,

Might be helpful info here

http://marxtinplatetrains.com/marx_guide_motors.htm

and here

http://marxtinplatetrains.com/marx_guide_locos.htm

Cheers,

TJ

 

Jim,

My quick look makes me think your motor is for a #597 Commodore Vanderbilt loco. There are pre-war and post-war versions ... not sure which.

I see shells for the 597 offered on ebay pretty cheaply.

TJ

 

I guess you like the thread.

The e unit bugged me so I went after it. I got three engines from that antique dealer two are 999. So to answer a question yes it is a 999 I can't remember which one. Probably the one that doesn't work.
The theory is true about the coil reversal since the armature is just set up for a ground. I think, way back that Lionel may have one engine of the same configuration back in the 40's one of the smaller engines maybe a Scout or even a prewar.

For time I just putter, as for pictures that is fast and easy. I try to keep my explanations simple.

The 999 is a 0-4-0 The NY tender should fit but I found another slope back that is the similiar to the 1615. I am not sure what goes with that one.

Jim, it matches the 999 what I can't tell you is that there may be more. The 999 has a drawbar attached to the frame. On second thought it matches my older no number engine. It does have a number I just don'r know what it is. I can tell from the rodes and the front crossbar where the rod tips rest.

I am guessing the engine is a 591 from the 40's that's the time period for the engine. I got it from a relative who had it as a child. That was the only piece to survive.
It may be time to get a Marx reference.

 

UPdate

I looked at ebay and found an 898 shell that matches the no number. The no number appears to have a lot in common with the spring powered engine. The shells look the same.

The 999 is a 2-4-2. I forgot my other engine has the front wheels but I do have he rear set. SO much for Marx. Oh yeah the time period for the work was over Feb vacation I had some time off at home.That's how I did it. Because of the time invovled I gave up on the e units for now.

Some clown is selling a lot of motors for Marx but without wheels. I feel that is useless. Especially the $20 shipping charge.

 

I was beginning to think you were working and slaving over a hot stove, baking train shells 24/7!

 

Thanks T-Man! That looks exactly like my motor

TJ, I was on those sites months ago when I was trying to restore the 1st Marx engine. I had a feeling this was prewar because of some of the other stuff it was packed with(my older brothers stuff)

I might just let this one sit for now. I'm getting slap-happy from paint fumes

 

T-Man,

You're engine is very similar to mine, almost exactly.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to pull that little reverse unit apart, but it looks like it will have to happen

 

pulled the e unit apart, bent one of the side frames in the process. Cleaned what I could, then managed to get it all back together and its still doing the forward/reverse thing

T-Man, have you had any luck with your e-units?

 

One out of three. I have a 999 and a 400 not working. I have one working, a 999 2 -4-2 configuration. I stopped there. I have a Lionel 1060 that is kicking me down .Looks like another wheel puller before I do anything more.

 

Bummer.

I'm hoping to attack my e units tonight.

Does anyone make a wiring diagram for the motors on Marx engines?

My 400 has a bunch of extra wires hanging out, and I don't really think they're needed, but I don't know for sure

Any suggestions?

Cheers, Ian