Interesting articles on Marklin collecting, operating, and the general history of Marklin.
Occasionally readers of the MarklinStop blog send me emails about trains which they would like to learn more information about. Many are modern digital trains, some are vintage trains from the 50s and 60s, and rarely I am treated with something very special. Upon opening the pictures (shown below), I gazed at my screen in disbelief. Before me was a
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INTRODUCTION When Wilhelm Märklin established the firm Märklin in 1859, the main products included doll kitchens and other general metal toys. It was not until 1891 that the first trains appeared in the assortment of their products. Engine power was still in its infancy with floor-runners. Soon however, Märklin started to produce powered locomotives for their trains. Clock-work, steam, and
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What do Marklin players see first? Young enthusiasts might first see Marklin at a friend’s house running around the tracks. Displays in store windows present a colorful moving orchestra of windup and electric toys working in harmony. The bright lights and realistic sounds would draw in those walking by. If you were lucky, your dealer might give you a catalog to bring home and look
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Shortly after the war, two brothers, Edwin and Hermann Faller, started making plans for the future; they wanted to make wooden toys. In 1946 in Stuttgart the brothers founded the ‘Hermann Faller company’. Soon after, the brothers relocated their company to their hometown, Gütenbach, in the Black Forest (‘Schwarzwald’). They renamed their company to ‘Faller Brothers’ (‘Gebrüder Faller’) and began making
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Frank Hornby of Liverpool, England began tinkering with tin toys in his home workshop and made toys for his sons starting in the 1899. Already by September of 1907, Hornby registered the brand “Meccano” and produced small construction sets with tin parts that could be use to construct various metal sculptures. The initial success of Meccano and the large demand
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