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PRR heavyweight passenger cars; Lionel, MTH or K-Line?

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  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Kansas City
  • 413 posts
PRR heavyweight passenger cars; Lionel, MTH or K-Line?
Posted by mickey4479 on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 4:17 AM
I run Atlas freight almost exclusively because of the detail of the cars. I wish Atlas would get into the passenger car market because they appear to do their homework on their locos and rolling stock and from my novice point of view are very protypical.

I also run a set of MTH Premier passenger cars and I like them. The Coaches are somewhat prototypical and I found most of the numbers to be included on PRR historical sites. I am considering the purchase of 2 additional Premier MTH passenger cars (2 pack). The price is about $55 per car. They have diaphrams and needle point wheels etc. I researched the car numbers and one is right on and the other is not on a roster I found, but that roster, although thorough, is not complete.

I have also looked at K-line and they have a 6 pack for about $70 per car with what appears to be comparable features. The Lionel 4 pack is $100 per car with comparable features.

Has anyone compared paint quality, wheels, trucks and so forth or encountered problems with those products? As I said, I already have several MTH models and they run great and look good as well, so I am leaning toward the MTH because I just want to add 2 or 3 cars and I want some continuity .

I do not expect that with respect to passenger cars that Lionel, MTH or K-Line are exactly like the protypes, especially in PRR, because the variations are so numerous. If I really needed to have a particular car I would almost consider making a car myself just to try it. Sorry to ramble, but I just can't sleep tonight. [|)][|)]
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Posted by winrose46 on Thursday, January 12, 2006 7:22 PM
I have both Kline and MTH passenger 18 inch cars and if I had a choice for the same road name I would take Kline.
  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Kansas City
  • 413 posts
Posted by mickey4479 on Thursday, January 12, 2006 10:25 PM
Any particular reason you prefer K-Line?
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Lake Worth FL
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Posted by phillyreading on Friday, January 13, 2006 2:51 PM
From what I know about the hobby, I would go with MTH heavyweight passenger cars.
K-Line makes good quality but not sure if they will be around to service it in coming years, Lionel has the name but I feel their quality is low!
Have you considered Williams Electric trains? Williams is a rising competitor in the O gauge field.
Lee in south Florida.
Interested in southest Pennsylvania railroads; Reading & Northern, Reading Company, Reading Lines, Philadelphia & Reading.
  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Kansas City
  • 413 posts
Posted by mickey4479 on Saturday, January 14, 2006 1:34 AM
I have looked on line at Williams cars from time to time. A few years ago at a train show I bought a Williams 0-27 PRR 5 car passenger set that was pretty nice. It looked just a tad off behind my Lionel scale K4s. Later I bought a five car MTH passenger set and there after a 2 car expansion. I like the set I have but I may want to add another car or two. I ordered an MTH RPO car.

I sold the Williams set at a train show in November. Thanks for the input.

and I sold the set at a train show in November but a alr

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