Fairbanks-Morse diesels by Marx
Colorful lithographed engines brighten O gauge layouts
The models of FairbanksMorse diesels cataloged by Louis Marx & Co. in the middle 1950s were “classic toy trains.” Their appearance and construction captured the imagination of their target audience – kids who wanted to play with trains. Their price point (a fraction of what Lionel and American Flyer charged for their diesels) pleased parents, especially those with tight budgets shopping at variety stores and mail-order houses.
The Marx diesels were toys and not scale models. Faithfulness to prototype in appearance or operation wasn’t a factor in their design. They were built to be played with – and played with they were. No wonder there are relatively few “like new” or “mint” examples today. Some kids who ran those diesels were so smitten by them they became lifelong model railroaders.
The prototype
Fairbanks, Morse & Co., started as an engine builder for the U.S. Navy with its opposed-piston diesel power plants first developed in the early 1930s. By 1944, the firm had entered the locomotive business.
Officials there believed success in the locomotive field would come if they could produce a successful road cab engine.
Fairbanks-Morse retained the services of renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy to create a visually impressive body for a locomotive. Unfortunately, the firm lacked the shop capacity to produce the locomotives itself, so they were contracted out to General Electric’s plant in Erie, Pa.
Therefore, the first Fairbanks-Morse cab engine was dubbed the “Erie-Built” when it made its debut in 1945. A total of 111 of them were produced. Of the three road names Marx used on their models, only the Kansas City Southern actually had a prototype counterpart.
Powered models
Marx introduced its sheet-metal models of the Fairbanks-Morse diesel in the middle 1950s. The no. 54 Kansas City Southern A unit was available between 1956 and ’60. The no. 81 Monon A unit was available between 1955 and ’59. The no. 4000 Seaboard A unit was available between 1955 and ’62. In addition, Marx intermittently made B units decorated to match each of the A units during the same period.
The A units were the only powered ones. They used one of three Marx motors.
The most common motor was the standard metal side-plate, single-reduction gear motor equipped with thick geared flanges. Marx used that type throughout its lineup of four-wheel locomotives. Those thick flanges limited the units to layouts using Marx or similar switches.
The next most common motor was the metal side-plate double-reduction gear motor equipped with thin flanges. Marx used that second type on many of its fourwheel locomotives.
The final motor was a low-end fiber side-plate, two-wheel motor with small wheels characterized by a geared flange.
The all-metal four-wheel motors enabled their locomotive to pull a train consisting of as many as 10 or even more pieces of Marx rolling stock. Engines on which the third type of motor had been installed lacked the power to pull more than two or three cars, depending on the cars’ weight and rolling friction.
Windup models
Marx also equipped some of the Seaboard models, along with a few Monon models, with windup mechanisms. They tended to be the same mechanism Marx used in nearly all of its clockwork locomotives, both steam and diesel.
Those mechanisms were the “bell ringer” type that sounded continuously while running. Diesels equipped with such a mechanism could be distinguished from their electric-powered counterparts by the start/stop level protruding from the roof, an open porthole for inserting the key, and the absence of a plastic headlight lens.
B units and cabooses
The unpowered B-units for all three railroads came in a four-wheel version with lithographed trucks to match the A units. The Kansas City Southern and Monon B units could also be an eight-wheel version using two standard freight cars trucks. That version had an automatic coupler at one end and a hook coupler at the other. Attractive additions to the Marx roster were the lithographed cabooses decorated to match the A and B units. Kansas City Southern, Monon, and Seaboard cabooses could be 6-inch models; the first two road names were also found as 7-inch models a bit more angular in appearance.
A bit more
Most if not all of the Marx models of Fairbanks-Morse diesels were available when new only as the motive power of train sets. Both electric and windup versions headed several freight trains as well as at least two passenger sets. Some sets included an unpowered A or B unit as well as three or four 6-inch or 7-inch cars.
Finally, anyone looking to add one or all the A and B units and maybe the cabooses to their collection should check out train shows as well as Internet auction sites. Prices will vary, depending the condition of the model and its relative scarcity. But their beauty and nostalgic value make them all worth owning.