Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

I was on German eBay and spotted a magazine that had an engine very similar to mine, so I had to have it. A little spendy for a magazine with $14 shipping, but I thought it would be neat to display and keep with the engine...

Fast forward a couple weeks and the magazine finally arrived. I was excited to open it up and see if there were any more pictures of the engine inside since I have not seen too many of these Märklins. I could not read any of it, other than the familiar name at the top of the article from 2005... Eberhard Lüthke. Why is that name important you ask? I'm sure Gil knows... He was the previous owner of the engine, and the magazine article was about the exact same engine on my shelf, making it all the more special 

Now for the story of the engine... In March of 2017, Pook & Pook sold a very nice collection belonging to Eberhard Lüthke. Unfortunately, when these auctions happen, I can only afford to bid on one or two engines (I'm sure many know that feeling  )

This engine was Lot #7 and I was holding off for some other special pieces. I was very attracted to this little engine and it looked like it was going to sell with zero bids. Just as I clicked the "bid" button at home, the screen said "lot sold"... bummer... I went on to only win one piece, a nice large Märklin convertible, but I was more bummed out about missing out on this little engine. I posted the story on the forum and guess who had won it... Our very own Gil    He promised to put my name on the bottom and I would have first chance at it in the future. Well, that time finally came at this years NAMES show    THANK YOU again Gil, was very nice of you to keep me in mind. This may be a simple little vertical, but it has to be one of my favorite engines.

The other catalog on the right is from the Pook & Pook sale.

Now you'll have to learn some German.

It certainly looks to be an interesting magazine if only I knew what the heck it said 

That is an attractive engine for sure, Nick. I can see why you'd be smitten with it.

A great story Nick. Glad you got the magazine.

I saw it in person at NAMES this year. It really is a beauty. I told Gil that if Nick changed his mind that I definitely wanted it. I don’t think it has ever been fired.

Gil was very generous on the price.

That's a classy little engine; glad you got it. Eberhard and his wife were good friends of ours--also a very classy guy who is greatly missed.

That's a classy little engine; glad you got it. Eberhard and his wife were good friends of ours--also a very classy guy who is greatly missed.

You are very lucky to have known him Brent, do you have any of his engines in your collection?

Nick,
I could have bought anything from the collection before the sale but put his widow in touch with Noel Barrett (now with Pook & Pook) and so didn't feel right about trying to buy anything. I did get a nice Ernst Plank hot air engine from the sale to remember him by. She passed away shortly thereafter so lost two good friends, both immigrants from Germany after the second world war. Eberhard started collecting in the 1950s so had a bit of a head start on us.

He and his wife visited 'back home' fairly often and did occasionally get engines from Germany. He collected the good old fashioned way--toy shows, auctions, networking among collectors, dealers, etc. He wrote several articles for that magazine, usually about an engine in his collection. He was a very talented photographer and artist as well.