242 - Märklin DL 800 double locomotive H0 brown with silver-coloured roof, zinc die-cast, 1955–1957

Märklin DL 800 double locomotive H0 brown with silver-coloured roof, zinc die-cast, 1955–1957 Two-part double locomotive, gauge H0, by Märklin, model DL 800, in zinc die-cast. Brown livery with a silver-coloured roof, an encircling light decorative line and streamlined driver's cabs, four pantographs. Played-with condition, the locomotive's function has been tested and is present. With an old Märklin box with diamond pattern, the box label designating the model 'DL 800', the box with storage marks. The absence of smaller, delicate add-on parts cannot be entirely ruled out. The track section shown serves only for presentation. The DL 800 goes back to the power unit of the high-speed railcar ST 800, to which Märklin added an identical, engineless body; all axles are driven via a cardan shaft. The styling is modelled on American railcar trains. Märklin supplied the double locomotive with the wheel arrangement Bo'Bo'Bo' from 1949 in olive green, from 1951 with type 5 pantographs and trim strips below the cab windows, and from 1955 to 1957 in brown with type 6 pantographs; after that the model disappeared from the catalogue. The present piece is this last version of 1955 to 1957 (Koll's Kompaktkatalog Märklin 00/H0, 1983, no. 3010, variant 3). Today the DL 800 is among the sought-after pieces of the Märklin 800 series. Recorded in the consignor's collection index since 1982.