Just got a MARX Big Rail Work Train. Problems......

Dodge, what Bob and James are gettting at is to see if there is a short in any of the individual pieces of track. As you are doing what they advised, you can visually look at the track to see if there is any tinsel (especially if the trains were part of a Christmas layout) stuck on the track: if it hits the center and outside rails this can cause a short. Also look at the center rail: there is a black insulator wrapped around the bottom of the rail between the metal track tie and the rail. If this has moved (which can happen if track is repeatedly pulled apart and put together) or has worn thin, the current from the center rail will thus make contact with the current from the outer rails causing a short.

Since you are NEW to this, it sounds like a lot of work, which it can be. For some of us guys who have done this before, it's almost just second nature for us to figure out a set like what you have. There are undoubtedly some other things you'll need to do, like cleaning the track, lubricating and cleaning the locomotive motor and gears, etc. I guess when you do this enough, you just know what to do and so you can actually enjoy the process. For me, it's fun to take old trains and bring them back to life.

MARX Trains were simple and on the surface, might seem cheap when compared to Lionel stuff, yet the MARX Trains were well designed and are amazingly dependable when cared for.

Here's a link that I think will help you greatly. It's a site called thortrains.net. This will take you right to the setting up MARX page:

And this page has lots of answers to your questions:

If you look on the bottom of these pages you will see a link that will take you to their home page, and there you will find links to a wide variety of info and photos that will help you along should you decide you want to do more with your trains, like set up a small layout with your kids - which would be a wonderful way to keep the memory of your friend's dad alive - and start some of your OWN memories.