Thor is a nifty little sheet-metal throwback to prewar-style military trains that enabled countless kids to develop junior league tactical skills that proved we were wiser than the Kaiser.
Marx built Thor in the tin lithograped style. The printed sheet-metal shell is suitably military, and you’d probably have to visit the U.S.S. New Jersey to see more gun barrels staring at you. Four barrels poke out of Thor’s ever stationary turret on top, and its nose houses a headlight.
The can-style motor’s noise made me smile. Its growl sounds like one-part can motor and one-part vintage friction-toy motor. Didn’t everyone have a Marx toy car or tank with a friction motor? Thor has a tab-and-slot coupler on the rear to haul other Marx military cars.
Besides the olive drab paint scheme shown here, Thor is available in a a snazzy red-and-white Atomic Energy Commission motif.
On the test track Thor proved to be speedy enough to dodge missiles and rubber bands! Our low-end speed average was 27.7 scale mph, and the high end average was 112.8 scale mph. Drawbar pull for the 2-pound, 14-ounce locomotive was a light 2.7 ounces, enough to pull about four modern Marx freight cars. We didn’t try to hook Thor up to our standard 25-car test freight train, but we did run it ahead of the test rig, looking for HO figures trying to lay land mines along the O gauge right-of-way.
Thor is a cool little train that’s right for the seasonal railroader or even the ultra hi-railer who wants a little novelty when the grandkids come around.
