Pre-war Märklin exhibition prolonged

The pre-war Märklin toy train exhibition in the OVM Doetinchem is a much larger success than predicted. At first the closing date was set at the end of February, then it was prolonged to the end of April and now they do not even want to call a closing date anymore. The museum attracts much more visitors than what was usual, and a large part of the visitors comes from other regions. Classic toy trains are popular indeed, much more than the railroad history of branch lines. I would be surprised to see some more toy trains in railroad musea. There is nothing better than the feel, rattle and smell of an old toy train running on its tracks.

Märklin Rheinuferbahn in gauge 1, remake by Thull.

Märklin passenger car with open doors

It was an honour

Living in this corner of the world and playing with American toy trains that run on 3 tracks, means that other 'conventional' toy train enthusiasts think of you as the one expert in all Lionellish things that are around. This can be funny when some folks think that Marx trains are extremely rare, and sometimes annoying when folks try to push you a Lionel car in poor condition for far too much cash. But this last month, I had one encounter, that I will remember and cherish.
I was kindly asked to help a 89 year old to run his toy train. I went to his house equipped with some modern rails and transformer and I was amazed to find what he got. The original Lionel catalog of 1938, a Lionel junior train set with 1690, 1690 and 1691 passenger cars and the concomitant freight set: 1680 Sunoco tank car, 1679 Baby Ruth box car and the 1682 caboose. He showed me the original receipt of purchase back in 1938, from a toy shop in 'de Kalverstraat' that does no longer exist. To be frank it was half a month of house rent back in those days. So it was a great gift. And this gift lasted for ever. Can you even imagine that current toys will last this long?
We set up the rails on a large oval table and I noticed that he had trouble with his fine hand co-ordinations, so I could understand better, why he needed some help. When the tracks were laid, we took his engine, cleaned it, lubricated it and it just run. I noticed that the commutator plates were dirty and the brushes got a bit hot, but is worked just fine. I listened to his long life story. Impressive. He was very happy to run his own train again. So much joy in the eyes of an elderly person, who is hindered by his own body to play with his own toys from his childhood again and what a joy to see such an old Lionel train running again indeed.

Here is the prove that Lionel did make transformers for the European market before WOII.