summer tours. A second unusual design was a dou-
BING VERANDA COACH MARKLIN HEATING VAN
ble deck coach for suburban commuter runs on 1870’s French and Spanish lines. Marklin made a two-axle, three compartment French model in Gauges I and O, circa 1900, with straight end stairs to the open covered second level. Rock & Graner Nachfolger (R&GN) produced a similar two-axle model for the Spanish Madrid-Saragossa line with curved stairs to the upper deck. An oddity, circa 1900, was a Marklin Heating Van based on a prototype cre- ated to solve a real problem. We are used to head-end power today, but back then a steam line from a locomotive to heat cars in winter lost much through many couplings between them. Coach- es to the rear received little heat, so the Prussian State Railway solved this by placing a special heating van mid- train with a boiler to supply adequate warmth to the rear. This resulted in lo- comotives consuming less coal per trip than had it heated the entire train. Marklin modeled this innovative car which actually contained a spirit burn- er and smaller boiler with a steam out- let tube to supply heat to cars in a toy train! Produced only in Gauge I in grey and green, it is prime example of the detail to which Marklin built its mod- els. It’s a rare example of an answer to a real need which may not necessarily be perceivable to a modern collector. Just as we collect motive power of
R&GN MADRID-SARAGOSSA DOUBLE DECK COACH, CA. 1900 While veranda cars quickly became
passé, they were retained by the Swiss Gotthardbahn Alpine rack line. Bing and Marklin modeled them in the early 20th century. Marklin’s four-wheel ver- sions in several gauges differed in color and detail. Some came with open metal curtains, there to protect passengers from inclement weather. Bing’s Gauge
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
I model shows decorative balcony rail- ings, hinged doors and seated passen- gers. It was a slightly smaller version than Marklin’s. End platforms were enclosed with gateless end railings to keep passengers from moving between cars. They are charming examples of coaches which no longer seem relevant, but were once appreciated on Alpine
earlier steam or diesel prototypes, or want models of the newest diesels issu- ing from erecting shops, so buyers in the first decade of the last century had op- portunity to purchase the “latest,” one of which was a British 0-10-0T Decapod. It was a one-of-a-kind unusual design when we consider lighter British 0-4-0T and 0-6-0T tank engines in local service. Built by the Great Eastern Railway 1903 for maximum adhesion, it offered speed on a suburban line with in- creased acceleration. A train of 315 tons and 1,200 passengers reached 30 m.p.h. in 30 seconds. A few models were made in Gauges 0, I and II, but none were true Decapods. The truest was a Bassett-Lowke 2″ gauge live steam 0-6-4T requiring a diameter of six feet to comfortably run. Rear driv- ers matched forward coupled ones even to counterweights, keeping the visual image of the prototype.
Bassett-
Lowke’s version, made by Tessted, is quite scarce, from which we can con- clude it was a low volume model or if was ever made. Today these models represent proto-
types, some obscure, dimly remem- bered along with the technologies which made them. They are now cu- riosities of our history.
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