Marklin 38323 - Steam Locomotive, Road Number 18 323

The Most Beautiful One among the Beauties, A Queen for Model Railroading
It was a real icon on DB track well into the late Sixties: The mighty express steam locomotive, road number 18 323, has what it takes to become a star as the perfectly designed model in the Märklin program. It was in use until 1969 as an extremely powerful and fast unit all over West Germany under the management of the German Federal Railroad Central Bureau. The new Märklin model is thereby a real highlight in any collection and on any layout set in the significant DB Era III. Its appearance in the midst of the ultramodern diesel and electric locomotives and the widely spread standard design steam locomotives at that time will attract a great deal of attention as in the real life prototype. With unusual stories linked with this German locomotive icon.

Prototype: Express steam locomotive, road number 18 323, with a type 2´2 T29,6 coal tender, German Federal Railroad (DB). Former Baden class IVh. Experimental locomotive at the German Federal Railroad Experimental Office in Minden. Black/red basic paint scheme. Witte smoke deflectors and an inductive magnet on the engineer's side. Smokestack with a Caledonian rim. The locomotive looks as it did around 1966.

Highlights

• Completely new tooling.
• Especially intricate metal construction.
• A variety of separately applied details.
• Buffer height on the locomotive and tender adheres to the NEM.
• Factory-installed smoke unit and dynamic smoke exhaust that varies with the locomotive speed can be controlled digitally, included.
• Cab lighting, running gear lights, and firebox flickering can be controlled separately in digital operation.
• World of Operation mfx+ decoder and extensive operation and sound functions included.
• Folding walkover plate between the cab and the front of the tender.

Product description

Model: The locomotive has an mfx+ digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It also has controlled high-efficiency propulsion with a flywheel in the boiler. 3 axles powered. Traction tires. The locomotive and tender are constructed mostly of metal. There is a factory-installed smoke generator in the locomotive. It has dynamic smoke exhaust that varies with the locomotive speed and is digitally controlled. The triple headlights change over with the direction of travel, will work in conventional operation, and can be controlled digitally. The cab lighting, running gear lights, and firebox flickering can be controlled separately in digital operation. Maintenance-free warm white and red LEDs are used for the lighting. There is an adjustable close coupling with a guide mechanism between the locomotive and tender. There is a close coupler with an NEM pocket on the tender. The buffer height on the locomotive and tender adheres to the NEM. The minimum radius for operation is 360 mm / 14-3/16". More tightly mounted entry steps below the cab are included for installation for large radius curves or display cases. Piston rod protection sleeves and heating and brake hoses are also included. Length over the buffers 27.2 cm / 10-11/16".

Charlie's Tips

Passenger cars correct for the era and to go with the steam locomotive, road number 18 323, will be presented as part of the summer new items for 2024

This model can be found in a DC version in the Trix H0 assortment at Ajckids.com under item number Trix 25323.

Publications

- Special Imprint and Special Products - Summer New Items 2024 - Posterprospekt Schnellzuglokomotive 18 323

Prototype information

They were elegant, well-designed, powerful, and real locomotive legends: The Bavarian class S 3/6 provincial railroad express locomotives and the Württemberg class C both wrote railroad history as well as the very modern four-cylinder Pacific, the Baden IVh, of which 20 units were built by 1920 by J. A. Maffei in Munich. The class 18.3 units as these high wheel and around 2,000 horsepower locomotives were designated on the German State Railroad reliably pulled for years such famous trains as the "Rheingold" or the "Riviera-Naples-Express" among other trains on the Mannheim – Basle race track. After 1945 their fate as a splinter class appeared sealed however, and the scrap yard threatened. Then Theodor Düring, manager of the German Federal Railroad Central Bureau and a big fan of these powerful provincial railroad beauties, entered the scene and had road numbers 18 323, 18 316, and 18 319 overhauled and updated for challenging service on experimental runs. They turned in excellent results and were used in tests of new types of locomotives all over West Germany. Düring's closet of rarities also included a Bavarian S 3/6, and this locomotive attracted a great deal of attention among more than just railroaders. In 1956, road number 18 316 reached a record run of 162 km/h / 101 mph. Road number 18 323 ran the longest and from the mid-Sixties to its retirement at the end of 1969 it was a star on many sold out special runs. Masses of people often admired this steam locomotive giant especially in the Baden region, where it had started its career 50 years before. Many railroaders had never forgotten these racers. An Offenburg locomotive engineer is said to have made the following remark wistfully: "There will never be another good locomotive like the Maffei unit". Still two of these good Maffei units have been preserved: Road numbers 18 323 and 18 316 harken back in Offenburg and Mannheim to this Baden-Bavarian tour de force in German locomotive construction.