They swirl, whirl, twirl and curl

Electric trains were the most coveted toys among boys before the turn of the 20th century, but they tended to be expensive for families of average means. Around this time reliable and durable clockwork motors became widely accepted as a power source driving toy trains. Use of clockwork motors would continue throughout the 20th century in various forms, sizes and strengths to power toy trains of every sort. One of the most novel forms is the zig-zag train.

Zig-zag trains, also called wigwag trains, are generally clockwork-powered floor trains in which the engine has two wheels with one being larger than the other. The coaches, attached with talgo pins, usually have functioning wheels on every other car. As the train runs – in a circle due to the odd-size wheels on the engine – the end coach is flung toward the outside. As the end coach reaches the limit of its swing it causes the engine to jerk to the opposite direction, sending the entire train on another path.

This action is repeated continuously throughout the duration of the of the clockwork cycle, giving the sense of a train zig-zagging along a course. It is a simple, inexpensive technique employed to generate an entertaining action. Zig-zag trains were marketed to children deemed too young for an electric train set and are still a hit with young children, especially boys.

One of the earliest zig-zag trains is an English-made tin lithographed toy called Crazy Express. It is a four-piece set featuring circus animals, clowns, toy soldiers and a duck that looks suspiciously like Donald Duck. Both the toy and box art have a 1930s feel, although the exact vintage has not been established. This set has two large wheels on the engine with two-piece metal wheels on the center coach. One of the engine’s wheels has a rubber tire for added traction, but because both engine wheels are the same size the toy does not zig-zag very well.

Marx Toys of New York was probably the most prolific manufacturer of zig-zag trains. The Casey Jr. is one of the few Marx toys manufactured under a licensing agreement. Louis Marx was notorious for making generic knock-offs of popular toys that would otherwise have required paying royalties. The Casey Jr., commonly known as the Disneyland Express and sold in the 1950s, features many Disney cartoon characters in the lithography including Dumbo, Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Jiminy Cricket, Bambi and Peter Pan. The plastic engine, no. 66, can be found in black, blue, red and green and probably some other colors.

Crazy Express was also a popular Marx release of the 1950s. It is crazy, indeed, with artwork relating a weird story. The first coach, numbered 2 and 5 on various sides, shows a pistol-toting teenage boy hopping a ride on one end with one side showing a standing elephant watching a postal clerk sorting mail. The opposite end has a caged black cat while the opposite side shows a zebra and a uniformed man running opposite directions. It’s quite a bit of action for one car! The middle car, numbered 8N, has a conductor on one end, a clerk loading a sack of mail in a wheelbarrow on one side, two gun-toting bandits and a $5,000-reward sign adorn the other side and end. No doubt, a train robbery is about to take place in this car. The end coach is the picture of serenity compared to the rest of the train. Numbered 9 on the ends, 92 on one side and 7 on the other, this car shows a man and woman looking out the windows, while two teenage boys look out the other side. Two of the cars are marked Erie RR. Crazy might be an understatement for this train.

Other zig-zag trains produced by Marx include the Davy Crockett wagon train, which has a plastic horse-drawn wagon rather than a train engine, and a Dodge City Express, which features a variety of generic passengers riding in coaches. This set utilizes a lithographed tin engine rather than the usual plastic locomotive. Typically Marx imported Japanese production under the name Linemar Toys, however, the Dodge City Express is a Japanese import sold under the Marx moniker.

Marx produced several other zig-zag trains under the Linemar name including one marked Disneyland, Choo Choo Train, Cocoa Puffs Train and Overland Stage. The Cocoa Puffs Train was a premium offered by General Mills, which shows in its lithography plump little kids with boxes of Cocoa Puffs cereal, and a politically incorrect image of an engineer smoking a pipe.

The artwork of the Choo Choo Train has a circus theme with animals in the front car, musicians in the center car and clown in the last car. It uses the same engine, numbered 8400, as the Cocoa Puffs trains.

Overland Stage consists of a tin lithographed horse-drawn stage pulling three coaches. Artwork depicts wealthier passengers in the stagecoach, a miner and teacher in the first coach, a guitarist, pigtailed blonde and a mustachioed man with an arrow in his bowler hat in the middle, and a man in sombrero watching a tomahawk-wielding Indian preparing to attack a soldier. Seated atop the stagecoach is a bearded tin lithographed driver.

Marx also took liberties with the zig-zag concept to make battery-operated tracked versions. Two smaller examples are called the Luxury Line and Marliner, while another larger version is called the Marville Local. It runs on O gauge track and is headed up by a nicely detailed American-style locomotive with gold trim.

Zig-zag trains are still being made. Both Korean and Chinese versions of the Western Comic Express are readily found on eBay for little money and another battery-operated train called Big Comic Circus Express is made in Taiwan and marketed as Winky Train. The Winky Train, which is larger than the typical zig-zags, has four coaches, a ringing bell, a headlamp and excellent action.

Zig-zag trains are unusual toys generally ignored by collectors. Train collectors tend to shy away because they don’t run on track. Many toy collectors ignore them because they’re trains. As such they are an excellent entry-level collectible. Most can be found for less than $100, while many can be found for much less. While they’re not likely to markedly increase in value they do represent a charming toy that can maintain the interest of a collector for a many years with little investment. They are also a great toy to collect simply to amuse young children. If you want to spend more money you could chase the pricey Flintstones or Jetsons sets, which cost several hundred dollars each, or you could hunt down the elusive Super Heroes set of the early 1970s, which was commanding $5,000 loose and $10,000 boxed in the late 1990s.

References: Marx Toys by Maxine Pinsky; Collecting Toys, Various Editions, Richard O’Brien