Prototypical
Model Trains
55 Market Street -
Suite 209,
Ipswich, MA 01938
USA
Toll-Free:(866)916-0833
Local:
(978)356-0400
Fax:
(866)479-9316
e-mail us
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HO Scale locomotives
Marklin/Trix painting - Automatic and by Hand in order to ensure that
the paint holds securely, the individual zinc die cast units are
electro-phosphated. Hundreds of parts are dipped simultaneously in the various
chemical baths, secured on special mountings. In the paint shop, linked
spraying machines apply the basic colors of locos and cars where these are not
already of dyed plastic. Against this, the spray gun operators need a
practiced hand and the right kind of practice for painting individual sections
of the loco bodies. And because not all color can be applied by spraying or
printing, skilled women's hands in the manual paint shop give the final touch
to body and chassis. The print shop, finally, adds the lines and serial
numbers and all the remaining insignia, etched with the same precision as all
the other processes. When the components of our loco have got this far, it's
time for final assembly - a procedure with so many different demands from
model to model that normally it does not lend itself to automation. Here,
again, it's a question of tireless work by hand, applying realistic detail to
the loco body or sub frame. Here you only have to think of the minute
attention to detail, or the connecting rods of the Crocodile. The same applies to
the mounted tubes on the HO steam locos or the way couplers are reproduced on
the 1 Gauge locos. In assembling the sub frames, the raw wheel frames are
turned into high precision trucks. Motor parts are put together here, too.
Again And Again: Quality Control At last comes final assembly. The completed
components are brought together into the Märklin model. Once it "stands", it
is put through a long-distance run, first on test beds for motor and
switching. Every model that arrives at the dealer's has already undergone many
switching and running tests. On top of these come trips over test routes
featuring all the "tricks" that can be built using the K and M track programs.
Models that fail to come up to scratch under the controller's critical eye are
ruthlessly sorted out. External details are also given a final check here, and
only then is the loco allowed out for packing and storing in the multi-fixture
warehouse, from which it starts its journey to anywhere in the world. One hundred
forty years of model trains experience.
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