Trains.com

MTH RailKing vs Premier Offset Steel Caboose?

1457 views
4 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Anaheim, CA Bayfield, CO
  • 1,829 posts
MTH RailKing vs Premier Offset Steel Caboose?
Posted by Southwest Chief on Sunday, August 18, 2013 4:30 PM

Is there a difference in size between the MTH RailKing and Premier line offset steel caboose?

I'm looking for an ATSF style caboose that will look OK with O-27 sized freight cars.  O-27 meaning Lionel 6464 sized boxcars. 

I saw a RailKing offset caboose in person and it looked like it would fit in pretty well with.  Maybe a little large, but not as bad as some others I've seen. 

But I also see online that there are several similar looking MTH cabeese in the Premier line.

So is there any size difference between the two models?  Or is this merely a packaging/re-branding difference?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, CO
Click Here for my model train photo website

  • Member since
    August 2010
  • From: Henrico, VA
  • 8,955 posts
Posted by Firelock76 on Sunday, August 18, 2013 6:15 PM

RailKing articles tend to be a bit smaller than the Premiere line, so a RailKing caboose would work better with 027 rolling stock.

The Premiere line is "O" gauge scale, that is 1/48 size, a bit oversize for 027 consists.

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Anaheim, CA Bayfield, CO
  • 1,829 posts
Posted by Southwest Chief on Monday, August 19, 2013 10:49 AM

Did a little online research and apparently the Premier Line offset caboose was re-branded to the RailKing Line.  So the same caboose.

But it might be a little large for 6464 boxcars since it was originally a Premier Line caboose.

I found the dimensions:

10 1/4" long (not sure if this includes couplers)

2 1/2" wide

4 1/4" high (not sure if this includes trucks)

Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, CO
Click Here for my model train photo website

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Austin, TX
  • 10,096 posts
Posted by lionelsoni on Monday, August 19, 2013 11:51 AM

In my experience, Rail King pieces tend to have scale height and width, but are shortened in length if at all.  A caboose would be short enough even for tight turns.  This is in contrast to most Lionel O27 pieces, which are smaller in all three dimensions.  I doubt that a Rail King caboose would look right behind a 6464.

Bob Nelson

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: MICH
  • 8,153 posts
Posted by sir james I on Monday, August 19, 2013 3:50 PM

Many of their caboose's are the same size, with the premier one having more detail.

"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks 

  Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC)   - Detroit3railers-  Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month