Märklin

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Märklin
Overview
Industry	Toys, model railway products
Founder	Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Märklin
Headquarters	Göppingen, Germany
Year opened	Sometime in 1859

Märklin is a German model train manufacturer. Components from its Gauge 1 models were used to construct the engines in the television series, and an HO scale 4-wheel passenger coach was used as the base for The Quarryman's Coach on the Rev W. Awdry's Ffarquhar layout.

They also released a limited range of Thomas & Friends merchandise in HO scale which were the Hornby models with Märklin compatible couplings and pickup shoes to work on Märklin's C track using third rails. Due to licensing reasons, they were only available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, although they did leak out to other countries (non-German speaking nations). The range was only released in 2006 and discontinued shortly afterwards.

Engines

• Thomas
• Percy

Rolling Stock

• Annie and Clarabel
• Troublesome Trucks
• Sodor Milk Tanker
• Sodor Tar Tanker
• Sodor Fuel Tanker
• Car Assortment

Sets

• "Thomas and his Friends" Starter Set (Thomas with Annie, Clarabel and Sodor Fuel Tanker, oval track and controller)

Trivia

• Many of the engines that appeared in the first to third series of the television series were built using wheels, chassis and various parts of the BR 55, BR 78,BR 38, BR 80, and DHG 500.
• In the fifth series episode, Busy Going Backwards, Mavis chassis (originally BR 80) was seen pushing Toad and his train of trucks past the buffers that were set away by the points.
• The fourth series model of Crovan's Gate station has a box image of a Märklin #5440 "Maxi" Starter Set as a poster cut from the Märklin catalogue.

Gallery

Merchandise

Thomas

Annie and Clarabel

Percy

Troublesome Trucks

Fuel Tanker

Fuel Tanker Front

Milk Tanker

Milk Tanker Front

Tar Tanker

Tar Tanker Front

Basis

Märklin's HO Thomas & Friends series is based on the following Hornby models:

Hornby Thomas

Hornby Percy

Hornby Annie and Clarabel

Hornby Troublesome Trucks

Hornby Tidmouth Milk Tanker

Hornby Tar Tanker

Hornby Sodor Fuel Tanker

Behind the Scenes

The following Märklin's Gauge 1 models and parts were used in the production of the television series:

The BR 80

The BR 80 was mainly used during the first series for scenes where rolling stock passed by. The BR 80 would usually pull trucks whenever moving goods trains were supposed to be seen on-screen. As production of the series moved on and more characters were introduced, they would be used for the goods train movements, which meant the BR 80 was retired from these duties, and was repurposed for scrap set dressing instead. This engine also provided various components for a few engines (chassis, bufferbeams, buffers, smokebox door and bell)

The BR 80 was used as source of parts for Percy, Toby, Bill, Ben, City of Truro, Diesel, Daisy, BoCo and Mavis

The BR 55

Much like the BR 80, the BR 55 would also provide various components for many engines during production. The entire chassis was modified where needed to be suitable for each size of engine that used it. It was the least changed for James, moderately altered for Edward and heavily modified for Thomas as his chassis was made to fit the existing body made for the pilot. The bufferbeams were also used for many of the engines with most only using one set from either the front or back.

The front beam was used for Henry's tender and both the front and back of Toby, making him the only engine to have matching Märklin bufferbeams on each end. The tender bufferbeam was used on Edward's tender and James' tender as well as Percy's original front beam.

The BR 55 was used as a source of parts for Thomas, Edward, James, Percy, Toby, Duck, Donald and Douglas

The BR 78

The BR 78 played a crucial role in terms of providing components. It had a bigger chassis than the BR 80 and BR 55, meaning it could be used for bigger engines such as Henry and Gordon along with Oliver, whose drive wheels were too large for the smaller donors to provide. Incidentally, the BR 78 also boasted the Walschaerts valve gear, a feature not present on the BR 80 or BR 55, which was even more convenient for creating the chassis for Henry and Gordon, who also have this type of valve gear.

It was also the other main source for the bufferbeams on the engines, the front beam was used for Henry's front and Edward's front while the rear beam was used for James' front and Percy's back beam.

The BR 78 was used as a source of parts for Edward, Henry, Gordon, Percy and Oliver

The BR 38

Only parts from the tender of the BR 38 have been identified as being used on the engines. The tender wheels and frames were used for Gordon, and the toolboxes were used for Percy. Percy also used the tender buffer beam when he was first made, but this was later replaced with a BR 55 tender buffer beam.

The BR 38 was used as a source of parts for Gordon and Percy

The DHG 500

The DHG 500 was necessary to provide the bufferbeam and stepladders for Diesel.

The DHG 500 was used as a source of parts for Diesel

The 25 Diesel Shunter

The 25 Diesel Shunter was used to provided the bogie for BoCo

The 25 Diesel Shunter was used as a source of parts for BoCo.

Miscellaneous

The Quarryman's Coach, which has an HO scale 4-wheel passenger coach with as a base with added balconies

A track in the first series

The end railing of a Märklin DHG 500 diesel

ÖBB Boxcars

Märklin #5440 poster on the entrance of Crovan's Gate station in the fourth series

2018 condition of prop owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch

Mavis's exposed chassis (originally BR 80) in Busy Going Backwards

Comparison of both Edward's chassis next to the BR 55 Chassis.

External links

• Official Website
  • Thomas, Percy, Troublesome Truck 1, 2, Milk, Tar, Starter Set and Feature Page
• Model Railway Constructor, December 1984 Issue (The Real Lives of Thomas)
• Articles (Sodor Island Fansite)

See also

• Märklin BR 80 is also known as the Märklin Engine.
• Tenmille
• Slater's Plastikard