The Marklin GOTHARD locomotive was introduced for the first time in 1920 for O Gauge under number S 64 3020.  The locomotive featured hand and remote reversing operation, 2 pantographs, and 3 electric lamps on the front of the locomotive.  This locomotive was 30cm long and was in production until 1926.  With the end of [...]

Plans for the smaller 00 Scale began as early as 1933 (although it originally began in 1912) with the miniature “Liliputbahn” set that was sold for dealer display only.  The rising prices of raw materials and the consumer demand for a smaller layout system greatly slowed the production of O Gauge to make way for  the [...]

O Gauge production was critical to Marklin’s expansion and, as such, the O Gauge product line in conjunction with 00 Scale trains ushered Marklin into a toy-production “Golden Age.”  This series, “A History of Marklin O Gauge,” will take a look at the beginning (1893), middle (Golden Age), and end (1954) of the O Gauge [...]

Marklin track changed greatly over the years due to changing designs, available resources, and functionalities. Here are some of the main track variations over the years 1935 – 1950.  There are many variations of Marklin track especially during WWII when available resources greatly influenced the look of the track.  For instance, towards the end of [...]

Very rarely does an opportunity present itself  to look  ”behind the scenes” of the Marklin factory.  Original instruction sheets, customer catalogs, and dealer items often give added value to Marklin items and set the context of the toy pieces, allowing us to imagine how they were originally sold to Marklin enthusiasts long ago.  Sometimes we [...]