WOWSERS

Minuteman wrote: The Marklin incarnation is simply... destined to be put in a display case, I guess. Which is where Marklin locos run best, of course

Hmmm... I own a lot of everything... AZL, MTL, FR, Märklin. Except for the junk Märklin made in China... the Märklin European prototypes run better than most of my AZL and MTL. I've never had a Märklin loco fall apart after removing it from the box... nor have I had to spend hours twearking it.

Jack, I am saying MTL or AZL are the best, but I have more problems with Marklin's then any manufacture. The technology used in locos is one of the most advance..... thirty years ago.

Hi Moo, I could not agree. After storing my old Märklin collection I reactive them. All Locos runs very well. Like the quality Märklin offers. Also if 2 out of 20 don't run for gumming reasons was no problem. The metal base and all gear boxes were build very solid. Cleaning them with lighter fluid or alcohol was very easy. Put fresh oil and all run great again. Never have a burned motor. I also agree that brushless motor would be great. The change of the brushes is really a little tricky. But on the other hand I still get spares for the locos even after 30 Years, what's great. Also I have to say that I don't have any experiance ith AZL or MTL. THe only thing I like to place here is that I could support Alex. I have ordered on Japanese Loco from Honk KOng. After getting it out of the box I have loose one of the power colletors. Was very tricky to replace them. That never happens to any Märklin model. So even Märklin mid be a bit more expensive I guess it's value to pay a little more for really good quality.

Peter, I am glad you like Marklin's, but I don't really like their running characteristics. The only Marklin I really like is the five pole V100, but with the others, I have not been impressed with them. I am not saying they are bad, but I do wish they update their technology. This days, all locos should have can motors, flywheels, and drop in decoders.

Hi Moo, that's ok. I agree on you statement and also see that Märklin has do do more inovation. But it is an very old traditional German company. Changes are not so easy for them. But anyay the five pole motors really running great. But also my old modeles really makes no problem at all.

I tend to lean towards Marklin as well. Perhaps a little bias as my first set many years ago was a Marklin. They seem to have taken a path similar to many tech companies that are ahead of their time. They developed something so innovative that the market took a long time to catch up. However now that they have, Marklin was caught sitting on their prior innovations (money issue didn't help either). Hard to ramp back up but with the upcoming 2014 releases you are starting to see more of that from Marklin. (Thinking of the upgrades to the turntable as one example.) Takes a bit to get a big ship moving again. The great thing is that other companies have now shown what is possible in Z with some of the newer technologies available and will continue to push everyone.

www.maerklinshop.de/index.ph...M088627&pgNr=2

at 220 each that is 300.00 USD at today's exchange rate going to be an expensive buy for some of us, probably give this one a pass. Maerklin is okay but I do not think it matches up to MTL Geeps over all of course most of my Maerklin were steamers, those that I rebuilt with coreless motors into Nn3 engines run great and are still alive and well. to each his own reality. long live Z

I had issues with having DCC put into a Märklin engine. Worked all of 30 seconds.

I usually replace my Marklin 3-pole motors with a new 5-pole. Combined with a Jorger throttle... I can make these crawl at proto yard speeds. Even a Rokuhan controller works well with Marklin 5-pole locos.

I wanted to comment on the posts regarding the quality of Marklin locomotives. I agree with Alex's comment about his satisfaction with Marklin engines. I have an extensive collection. And while I do collect a lot of Z and display them. I also run a lot of Z. My Marklin engines have been fantastic runners over the years. In fact, one one my engines (Chessie F7 from the old 8106 set ) has been running daily for over two years with no noticeable decline in performance (and I have not even needed to clean it. It will crawl and work nicely at all speeds. I have had it on one my layouts that has a plexiglass cover (to keep out dust). I run it in the mornings before I go to work. This is one of many Marklin engines I have that have performed perfectly. My intention is not to compare Marklin to the other fine Z engines from other companies. I am an avid fan of the other Z manufactures too. And I could not be happier when I run one of Harald's FR masterpieces! But I often see posts where Marklin quality is slammed or questioned. And I think that is unfair. If the track work is done well, kept clean and if the engines are maintained and/or kept lint free they are fantastic runners. I just wanted to express the other side of the coin and not have Marklin viewed as only nice on a shelf. Thanks.

The Marklin quality was good and is good (again), but there were some years in between can't sign up to this. Before the insolvency and in the first years during that process the quality was dreadful. 5-pole motors winded up as 4-poles, gears and shafts with high friction, noisy and overheating motors, wrong assembled engines, shells mounted in an angle, etc. Check out some German forums and you will find some hundred pages with complaints. So it's not all that rosy. There was a good reason I went to US-Z 6 years ago, before I was a German Railroad steam guy...

Gerd, so we have to thank Marklin for converting you to NA railroad. In that case, I am glad it happened. I cant buy one of your creation every month like Alex, but I do treasure the ones I have.

We will release the E8/E9 at the same time as Marklin. The AZL version will come with AutoLatch couplers. Speed will be similar to other AZL locomotives. It will be compatible with the Digitrax DZ123Z0 drop in decoder. It will also have traction tires. No price yet, but our most expensive injection loco was USD$225 - I think you can draw your own conclusions.

Note: AZL is the OEM for the E8/E9. It is an AZL design in cooperation with Marklin. We are honored and humbled to be working with a firm of Marklin's history and reputation.

Cheers,
-Robert(A)
AZL

Now for the 64$ question. Will there be a B unit in the future???

AZL has been showing a B unit for some time. Perhaps the $64 question is: will it be powered?

Mark

Only one I seen on their page is their early early brass one, unless I missed something.

Kelley,
Checkout their NTS announcement. Shows the A & B unit mold samples, plus GP7 & 9 and SD70s.

Mark

I thought those were F3/F7s? I am looking forward to them too.

They are F3/F7, the E8 was a secret until last week