Marklin 3443 HO gauge DR BR 243 electric locomotive in red livery

This nice HO gauge locomotive by Marklin is 3443 a DR BR 243 electric locomotive in DR Red livery, it has the running number 243 897-6. The DR Class 243 is a universal electric locomotive of the Deutsche Reichsbahn which is used for general rail service.

Deutsche Bahn lists the locomotive as Class 143. The locomotives of class 143/243 still belong to the most successful class of German electric locomotives. In the 1980s, few lines on the East German railway network were prepared for speeds exceeding 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph), which had been the principal reason for Deutsche Reichsbahn having specified 120 km/h to be the top speed for their Class 243 locomotives.

In 1984, the first batch of 20 locomotives was delivered, followed by 80 in 1985, 100 in 1986, 110 in 1987 and 114 in 1988. By the end of 1989, five hundred locomotives had been completed. The following year more locomotives were moved to the west where they were used on the Schwarzwaldbahn, the Höllentalbahn, the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn and goods trains from Dortmund.

After the DB and DR were combined in 1994 to form Deutschen Bahn AG the Class 143 locomotives were used on many more lines in the former West Germany. It comes complete with its box, the interior plastic shell has become brittle and partially lost, but otherwise the box is in good if slightly shelf worn condition. Overall this is a really nice scale locomotive and would look fantastic on a layout.

Do please have a look at my other listings, I typically have various HO and OO locos on offer as well as an extensive range of imported N gauge locos and other items. Note: I do recommend all locos are cleaned & serviced, as they have some age to them even if the quality looks at the highest level fairly standard advice for all locos!

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