The classic tin-plate coaches produced by Märklin have a long and interesting history, that has been fascinating to research as a part of my collecting hobby in the past years. Having been flaring through official catalogues as well as countless internet-sites and forums, I decided that I want to share my acquired knowledge for other hobbyists as well. This article aims to detail some of the most important phases and turning points in the long history of 24cm tin-plate. Please enjoy reading!
1950's - A Change in Style
Märklin has offered tin-plate coaches since the beginning of its existence, so there's no need to start from the very earliest history. What we can start with, however, are the grounds on where the 24cm coach came to exist in 1958. Märklin had started to increase the level of detail in their locomotives and other items after the Second World War and began to shift from the often more toy-like OO-models to the more detailed HO-style. With that the company produced a series of up-to-date coaches to go along with the new style starting from 1951. This lineup included mostly German "D-Zug" express train coaches, some Swiss coaches and, somewhat surprisingly, two Swedish coaches. These coaches were about 20,5cm long and only barely representative of their real counterparts in length and level of detail.
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| Some of the original D-train coaches |
Two of the Swiss coaches were eventually replaced by newer versions: The 4016 green restaurant car with a pantograph on the roof got replaced by a red version, numbered 4035 in 1959. Also, the 4015 got replaced by 4038 in 1961, the main difference being that the movable doors of the original were now gone. The 4017 luggage van never got an upgrade. These three coaches remained as the most prominent linkage of this era to the one in the main scope of this database: They stuck along during the whole 1960's until finally being replaced by newer 24cm models in 1968-1969, marking the end of the earlier production.
1958 - The Beginning of the 24cm Era
In 1957 Märklin changed their whole product numbering system from the old three-digit style to new four-digit numbers. As such, as the 800-series locomotives became the 3000-series, so did the coach numberings change from 346 and 348 to 4000. The older coaches, like the other old Märklin models too, were given new product numbers for a while before being replaced with new models altogether. What had been the 346/1 to 346/6 range now became 4006 to 4014 and the 348/1 to 348/4 became 4015 to 4017. The Swedish coaches were released just at this time and were numbered 4020 and 4021 and so they newer had an older product number.
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| The three first 24cm coaches |
Along with the new product numbers, it was time for the old 20,5cm D-Train coaches to be replaced by new, more detailed and more realistic models. This new line that saw the daylight in 1958 marked for many hobbyists, such as myself, the true beginning of the classic range of coaches. These coaches were 24cm in length and still made of folded tin-plate. They now had a more modern, beautiful new design and a sense of realism and scale representativeness that the older models didn't quite have. The made-up markings and details were replaced by realistic coach numbers and codes telling f.ex. the weight and length and the specific type of the coach among other details. Gone we're the Märklin-logo's and other notions of the coaches being 'toy train coaches' and emphasis was given to make the coaches look as if they were real, in the standards of that time at least.
The first 24cm classics to emerge were the 4023 green 1st class coach, the 4024 restaurant coach and the 4026 luggage van, followed by the 4027 blue 1st class coach and the 4022 green 2nd class coach one year later. These coaches all had windows made of glazed cellon-sheet (known as "cellonschiebe" in German), a technique highly loved among collector's and nostalgic's even to this day. Other classic details and features were the imitation rubber beadings at the ends, realistic four-axle bogies, detachable silver roofs and the ability to easily install interior lighting and upgrade the coach with other details such as interior fittings and passengers.
1960 to 1965 - The Lineup Expands
What had started in the late 50's had quickly become very successful and the 24cm line that now was Märklin's main and sole line of coaches continued to expand during the 1960's. Already in 1960 the series had expanded with a variant of the blue 1st class D-Train coach that had tail lights (4032), a 4029 CIWL sleeping coach, new up-to-date Swedish 24cm coaches 4030 & 4031, one being a 1st/2nd class coach and the other one a luggage van, and two new shorter 22cm coaches. The latter would eventually form up a very nice sub-lineup of classic Märklin and especially Primex, but for many years, only two were made: The 4037 older-style D-train coach and the highly sought-after 4036 Italian 2nd class coach. Starting from 1961 Märklin added more detailing to the coaches in the form of a metal plate on the bottom of the coach representing a profile view of the undergarments when looking from the side. Year 1961 also added a single 4033 Austrian ÖBB coach to the lineup, followed by an absolutely perfect model of a 1st/2nd class local Silverfish (German: Silberlinge) commuter coach, the Märklin 4043 in 1963.
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| The beautiful 4043 silverfish with cellon windows |
In 1964 Märklin added an upgrade to the 4026 luggage van with the new 4044 that included tail lights. Another interesting addition was the French express coach 4050, which was the first coach of the lineup that wasn't made entirely out of metal. To better represent the look of the original coach, Märklin had decided to manufacture the body out of strong plastic while the frame was still the same classic metal one that model railroaders were gotten used to by now. 1965 re-introduced the green 4023 1st class coach, that was missing from the catalogues since its original release as one of the first three 24cm coaches.
These first few years of 24cm tin-plate production gave hobbyists a very solid, classic range of original D-train coaches, now followed up by examples from other types of German traffic, like local 'Silberlinge' commuter coaches, other railways such as the Austrian ÖBB or coach companies like CIWL. These first 24cm tin-plate coaches with cellon windows form the core of the classic lineup and are still among the most highly-valued and loved among collectors.
1966-1970 - The Golden Age of the 24cm Coach
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| The first versions of the TEE coaches, the 405x -series, proudly being introduced in the 1966 catalog. |
What was different in these coaches, however, was that the windows were now made of plastic inserts that replaced the old cellon-sheet. While this proved to look more realistic and could provide interesting details such as partly-open windows, in retrospective it just can't beat the looks of the cellon-sheet in collector's and nostalgic Märklinist's eyes. What was evident was that this new technique started to take over after the mid-1960's and soon even the earlier coaches were being offered with plastic windows. After this, no new cellon-windowed coaches were made with the exception of the whole 22cm-range that never got the plastic window-upgrade.
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| Left: Classic cellon windows Right: New plastic windows |
New international coach releases of 1968 included a 4066 Swiss express coach, finally replacing the older coaches. This coach was interesting in that it had a metal body but a detailed plastic frame with moulded undergarments. In addition, a Belgian express coach, 4069 was released. The French lineup grew with the beautiful 4075 red 1st class coach from the famous 'Le Capitole' train, a coach still very highly-valued and with a very large prize tag nowadays. The older 4030 & 4031 Swedish coaches were replaced with new 4072 & 4073 coaches, that were made fully out of plastic this time. These two remain to this day the only fully plastic coaches that belong to the classic lineup. The reason for this choice of material was suspectively again due to the nature of the original full-scale model. Continuing on to the end of the 60's, year 1969 added the distinctive 4090 observation coach to the TEE-lineup. Also, the new Swiss express coach got a restaurant car 4068 besides it, this one too with a plastic frame. Finally, 1970 replaced the Silverfish-lineup with new coaches that were fitted with interior details (4081, 4082 & 4083).
1970's - Displaced by Plastic
The later years of 1960's were a time of very rapid growth of the 24cm tin-plate coach range and the lineup quickly expanded to cover many different nationalities, companies and coach types. The beginning of the 1970's mark a sort of peak in the classic lineup, as the 1970-1971 catalogues have the highest number of different coaches available. However, the expansion also marked the end of some of the original production techniques, most notably the use of cellon-sheet to make windows and had started to introduce some plastic to the lineup. Finally, the introduction of the 27cm plastic coaches in 1972 as a new standard production line led to a rapid decline of the 24cm tin-plate series and they were thus destined to become a smaller series of 'hobby' grade coaches along the new main series. Still, some new 24cm coaches were produced, albeit in much fewer varieties than in the 60's.
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| The 1970's catalog showing the many countries with a representation in tin-plate form |
Beginnings of Primex in the 1970's
One can't really discuss the history of tin-plate coaches from the 1970's onwards without mentioning Märklin's lesser-known sister brand. Primex (also known as Primex 2000), born already in 1969, was Märklin's second brand and was targeted more towards the casual consumer. Primex-models had a more cheap and casual look aimed to suit toy stores, large general markets and shopping malls. The brand was suspectively established to gain some distance to the Märklin brand, which was seen as a more serious, valuable and professional line of models, and thus more suitable to be sold in specialised hobby stores.
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| Some of the first Primex-coaches |
1980-1995 - Export Models and the Hobby-line
The 1980's, being a plastic era in many ways, naturally saw a continued decline of the tin-plate coaches. Still, some new models were added to the lineup every now and then. Following a hiatus in releases, a new coach for the Dutch NS was released in 1985. This was a beautiful 4117 1st class coach that included a waterslide decal set so that hobbyists could add advertisements to the coach. Next came a new Austrian 2nd class coach (4034) in orange 'Jaffa' colouring followed by a 1st class coach (4128), released as an export-model in 1987. Also in 1987, the Danish DSB got its own Silverfish commuter coach in the form of the 4025 to go along with the earlier 4045, that had shifted from the old maroon colours to the new bright red livery from 1976 onwards. New additions were also released for the D-Train: A DSG restaurant car, now in dark red colours (4118) and a Trans Euro Nacht sleeping car (4130).
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| The IC and IR variant introduced in the 1992 catalog |
In early 1990's Märklin released two of the former TEE coaches in the new red-white Inter-City livery as a part of the 'Hobby' line that was beginning to replace Primex as the new introductory line of products. These were released in 1991 and were numbered 4055 for the 1st class coach and 4057 for the restaurant car. However, both of them included interior fittings, so a 408x numbering would've probably made more sense in retrospect. Next came the re-release of two D-train coaches in blue-white Inter-Regio livery in 1992. These were a 1st class passenger coach (4027) and a second class coach (4032). In 1993 the oceanblue-beige series finally got a luggage van to complete the train (4044).
Primex as a Channel for New Tin-Plate
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| Already riding on the nostalgic quality of tin-plate |
The Primex-line got a lot of boost during the 1980's and 1990's after the somewhat slow start in the 1970's and soon expanded to become an interesting series on its own, with the level of detail now equal to the Märklin-line and sometimes even surpassing it. What made it especially interesting was that the line no longer offered just less-detailed versions of Märklin models but started to introduce new colour schemes and even some original models that were never present in the Märklin-lineup. This was of course true to coaches too.
The first ones to emerge were simple versions of the oceanblue-beige D-train 1st and 2nd class coaches (4197 and 4198) and a DSG sleeping car in 1980, followed by an older green luggage van (4196) in 1981 and finally an oceanblue-beige version (4009) along with a TEN sleeping car (4010) in 1985. The following year, Primex released two Inter-City coaches in red-cream TEE-livery, numbered 4288 for the open-seating coach and 4289 for the restaurant coach. In 1990 simple, non-interior fitted versions of the Inter-Regio 2nd class coach (4012) and the Inter-City 1st class coach (4013) were released.
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| The 2701 Orient Express -set |
The series then really began to flourish with the release of the 2701 Orient Express -set in 1988 and three add-on cars between 1989 and 1991. The set itself included three different coaches: The first one was an ISG sleeping car (2701/1), the second one a CIWL Pullman Saloon Car (2701/2) and the third one a CIWL dining car (2701/3). All three coaches are also sometimes numbered simply as 4192, which can cause some confusion. The add-ons included a red Mitropa dining car (4196) released in 1989, followed by a CIWL luggage van (4186) and a CIWL sleeping car (4191) both released in 1991. These coaches are all very varied and colourful and are a good example of the more interesting things Primex has to offer. It's a surprise these never made it into the Märklin lineup. Finally, as a loner, a single Bavarian K.Bay.Sts.B 3rd class coach (4199) was released in 1990.
1995-2003 - The Final Years of the 24cm Coach
Long after the golden age of tin-plate coaches, some new models still continued to be released in the turn of the century, albeit releases were few and far in between. First, some new models made it into the Hobby-range that finally had replaced Primex altogether. In 1995, Märklin released two Era I coaches in 22cm length. They were a Württemberg K.W.St.E 3rd class passenger coach (4191) and a matching luggage van (4186), borrowing the numberings from the somewhat matching Primex-releases.
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| The 4191 and 4186 |
In 1996, the Hobby-range got a new addition in the form of a very nice 28503 "TEE Rheingold 1963" -train set. This set included a 3033 locomotive along with three TEE coaches in a new blue-cream Rheingold-colouring. The coaches were fitted with interior details and were otherwise the same as the earlier red-cream TEE coaches. The set included a compartment coach (28503/1 - equivalent to 4085), an open-seating coach (28503/2 - equivalent to 4086) and an observation car (28503/3 - equivalent to 4090) with a beautiful 'Rheingold' text. During the following year, this set was expanded by the 40891 add-on coach that was the equivalent of a 4089 with tail lights, albeit now made with a newer technology.
1998 saw a release of a new tin-plate set in the Hobby-range, named the 40541 "Wagen-Set: Popwagen". This set included four D-Train coaches in colourful Pop-colours. They were the 40541/1 & 40541/2 blue-white 2nd class coaches (equivalent to 4052), both with different running numbers, the 40541/3 orange-white 1st class coach (equivalent to 4051) and a 40541/4 green-white luggage van (equivalent to 4044). All the coaches had interior fittings installed. Also, in 1998 a Pop-coloured DSG sleeping car was released as an add-on, numbered 40542.
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| The popwagen-set being introduced in the 1998 catalog |
2003-2009 - The Silent Years
The production of tin-plate coaches discontinued finally in 2003. For six years now new releases were made, but it didn't take longer than that until new coaches started to be released again. This time, however, the style and purpose of the releases had become distinctively different and thus it is appropriate to separate them somewhat from the original coaches. Having nostalgia for past products has become a trend in other fields too and model railroading is no exception. The classic Märklin tin-plate is now old enough to evoke strong memories and emotions from days of childhood and past years. Achieving scale realism has always been a strong driving force in the evolution model railroading and it's no wonder that the plastic production techniques led to the eventual discontinuation of the tin-plate coaches. However, today with the absolute scale-like realism of modern production being the norm, some people such as myself have actually started to have a preference for the sympathetic simplicity of the older style.
Märklin has caught up on these feelings. As such, these new releases of tin-plate coaches are clearly nostalgia-oriented with retro-style packaging, usually replicating the style of the 1960's and often meant to be coupled together with a matching retro-locomotive. Unlike most of the original ones, the replica coaches are offered in sets or display boxes and always with individual road numbers. These differences are why the releases after 2003 are often called 'Replica coaches' as a distinction from the past style of production. It comes naturally that these coaches don't have the same appeal or value to collectors but I still think they are an important part of the history and present of tin-plate Märklin. What's best in the new production is that not every coach is an exact copy of a past model, but some new models or alternative versions have also been released in the replica-range.
2009-2019 - A Decade of Replica Coaches
The first release including replica-coaches was the 28590 "Le Capitole Express Train" released in 2009. This set included four Le Capitole coaches, reminiscent of the original 4075, but with different details and individual coach numbers. The set also included a matching replica-locomotive. A year later in 2010 Märklin released a 00796 "Display with 12 Tin-Plate Passenger Cars" to commemorate 75 years of Märklin H0. This set included two DB 1st class coaches, two 2nd class coaches and two luggage vans (00796-01. -02, and -03). It also included an Austrian ÖBB 2nd class coach (00796-04). What's most interesting about the set is that it also included many new coach variants: Two grey 2nd class coaches for FS were released for the first time (00796-05). SNCB also got two Belgian 1st class coaches (00796-06) and finally an SNCF coach was included as a 1st class version for the first time (00796-07).
In 2011 Märklin released another "Display of 12 Tin-Plate Passenger Cars", now numbered 00766, to go along with a replica Class 01 steam locomotive. This time, the set included two 2nd class D-Train coaches (00766-02), three DSG sleeping cars (00766-04), one Austrian ÖBB 2nd class coach (00766-06), one Danish DSB maroon 2nd class coach (00766-07) and one Italian FS 1st class coach (00766-03), all replicas of older production. The most interesting ones from the set are of course the new coaches included that were not produced before: These were two Austrian ÖBB 1st class coaches (00766-05) and two DSG Büffet Half Dining cars (00766-01).
2012 saw a release of an interesting set of six Belgian SNCB/NMBS tin-plate coaches numbered 40690. These coaches were offered in a safire blue colour scheme and are basically six of the same coach with some variants on the door colouring. A year after, Märklin released the 40301 Swedish coach set. This set included four SJ 1st/2nd class passenger coaches with a design similar to the classic 4030 but no luggage van reminiscent of the 4031 was surprisingly offered. Then, in 2015 was Switzerland's turn with the 40661 set, consisting of four SBB/CFF coaches. This set included some variation, with 40661-01 being a 1st/2nd class coach, never been produced before in tin-plate, the 40661-023 and 40661-04 being 2nd class coaches and finally 40661-02 being a restaurant coach.
Next came the 40850 "Rheingold Tin-Plate Car Set", released in 2017. The set consists of a compartment car (40850-01), an observation car (40850-02), an open-seating car (40850-04) and a compartment car with tail lights (40850-05). Finally, the set includes an important missing coach to complete the Rheingold-range: A DSG restaurant car in Rheingold-colours (40850-03). The final tin-plate release is currently the Primex 41920 "Tin-Plate Express Train Passenger Car Set" released in 2019 to commemorate a respectable 50 years of Primex-production (1969-2019). This set includes one 1st class 22cm DB-coach, similar to Primex 4192 and two 2nd class coaches, similar to the 4193, respectively.
For now this marks the end of the long history of Märklin's beloved tin-plate coaches. Even though I highly value the original production and don't think anything can ever surpass it, I hope that the future will bring more replicas for tin-plate enthusiasts like me to add to the collection. I especially hope that Märklin will continue to release some new variants, that are still missing from the original range. We can only wait to see what the future brings to us...
...to be continued, hopefully :)
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A Short History of Short Coaches
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| The classic 4000 and the 4040 |
The other short coaches were the 4002, 4003, 4041 & 4802 -series. and the 4004 & 4005 -series. The former series had a 2nd class coach (4002) and a luggage van (4003) both produced between 1958 and 1971. The 4041 was essentially a 4003 with tail lights and was produced between 1960 and 1972, while the 4802 was a building kit -version of the 4002. The latter series of coaches were three-axle plastic-bodied Prussian-types with a 2nd class coach (4004) and a similar coach but including a brakeman's cab (4005), both produced from 1957 to 1985. All of these coaches, including also the 4000, already had similar versions already starting from 1951 but with the difference that they were all designated as being 3rd class instead of 2nd. Among these early types a red version of the 4000-style coach (but designated as 3rd class) was also made, numbered 327/2, and was only sold in a rare clockwork train set and is thus very rare and comparatively expensive.
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| The short tin-plate coaches were used often in starter sets |
As with the longer tin-plate coaches, the short tin-plate coaches were eventually all replaced with newer plastic ones starting from the 1970's.