It is not scale, it is an entry level item.
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Bob Keller
Cant really answer you question, but.........
to the forums!!!!
Grayson
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
Rogruth is right on target
Don
OK, now for the inside story.
K-Line through their original history was always trying to produce something a little different or hadn't been done exactly before.... not that they always did that. K-Line had plenty of existing tooling for plenty of starter types of products. But as the push towards full or near full-scale went ahead, many of the previous K-Line products were dropped or curtailed greatly.
A few years before their demise, K-Line started marketing some low-cost battery powered sets (that did operate on 3-rail tubular track) from procured Chinese tooling. These sets were expanded with more borrowed Chinese market tooling to include the "Husky" line cars and GP-9. All these items are somewhat oversized when compared to traditionally sized 0 guage trains. K-Line's engineer Bob Grubba confirmed these items were being made from borrowed tooling made for other companies, and that K-Line wouldn't have spent the tooling money to produce these items themselves. Which also helps to explain the die-cast vehicle line and the ceramic buildings... all made for other firms, but packaged and marketed by K-Line with no tooling/development cost.
Other than the inclusion of the Train-19 die-cast truck on the separate sale cars, these cars (and the GEEP) were decidedly cheaper in appearance and production. The GEEP had one single motorized truck borrowed from the prior K-Line MP-15. It had somewhat oversized plastic handrails and a high riding plastic frame. Still for it's flaws, for $50 it was a great loco for a kid or a kitbashers project. Many of the separate sale Lionel conventional diesels come with single motors and for a lot more money. Though granted, they are better looking locos... well maybe excluding the all-plastic one motored RS-3.
Recall too, it shortly after the announcement of the K-Line Husky loco, that RMT started with the production of the BEEP at the $50 introductory list price.
The rolling stock was also unpainted and with simplified details. With their imitation wood plank sides, the cars were more of an approximation of train cars, and certainly not close to anything running today, other than the tank car.
For steam era running, the gondola has some potential for revamping to look a like a decent gondola common during that time. I don't have the Husky tank car, but think theat one has some potential for being kitbashed as a modern looking tank car that will run on 027 track and look good with other traditional 0/027 types of cars.
Personally I think K-Line wasted their time and effort with this line and could have released items from tooling they already had. But at the blowout prices many of these items can be found at, they certainly have some value for a child's layout or for kitbashing.
It's rather ironic that for so long, K-Line forgot about the customers that got them started. When K-Line starting remembering these loyal early buyers (like with the redesigned 027 switch, the Porter and Plymouth, the motorized vehicles, SuperStreets, the reintroduction of some of the MARX 027 cars as both 3 rail and S-gauge cars, the operating 027 dump cars) it was already too late and time had run out for MDK K-LIne.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
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