Kklm505 Low Side Wagon

1:87 Märklin 4423

Converted Kklm 505 low side wagons, 1:87 Märklin 4423, ready for painting and weathering.
Converted Kklm505 low side wagons, 1:87 Märklin 4423, ready for painting and weathering.

For decades, the red-brown Kklm505 low side wagon has been part of various Märklin 1:87 scale railway modelling starter sets. Märklin occasionally releases the Kklm505 in other colours, it being available in grey, yellow, white, green, and dark blue, as well as with special paintwork of a Christmas and Birthday Wagon, or loaded with boxes, barrels, railway sleepers, tractors, bulldozers, excavators, and other vehicles.

Evaluation

The Kklm505 low side wagon is perfect for model railway play. The wagon may be loaded with a variety of goods, and the selected load remains visible during play.

The flat bed and the inside of the side walls of the Kklm505 are insufficiently detailed for an open goods wagon; while the flat bed shows the appropriate joints, the floor boards themselves are modelled without any wood grain. The boards of the side walls are clearly separated from each other on the outside of the wagon, but the same joints are missing on the inside.

Märklin typically supplies the Kklm505 with unpainted floor boards in the same red-brown, grey, yellow plastic colour of the side walls. Painted in wood colours and weathered accordingly, the flat bed looks much more realistic and attractive.

Historical Employment

  • Epoch III: 1949–1970
  • Epoch IV: 1965–1990

Possible Conversions

Converted Märklin Kklm 505 low side wagons with detailed inner side walls. Both wagons were weathered with Artists‘ Acrylic Paints.
Converted Märklin Kklm505 low side wagons with detailed inner side walls. Both wagons were weathered with Artists‘ Acrylic Paints.

The Kklm505 low side wagon is a classic that is sure to be found on every Märklin model railway layout. Lightly converted and appropriately weathered, the Kklm505 can be turned into a feast for the eyes.

Low Side Wagons