Tinplate toy train
Märklin’s clockwork trains with track in fixed gauges from 1891 – a system that could be extended.
In 1891 Märklin showed trains with track that could be joined into different layouts, in standardised gauges. The toy train thus became a system the child could extend with new coaches and points.
Tinplate toys from Göppingen and Nuremberg were exported all over the world. The design is protected, so only a drawing is shown.
Materials: Lithographed and enamelled tinplate, clockwork
Manufacture: Pressed, painted and assembled with tabs in Göppingen.
Parts joined by tabs through slots, not by screws.
Clockwork with a key on older trains; electric drive from the early 20th century.
The maker’s mark stamped or printed on locomotive and coaches.