Just received my mth railking imperial 0-8-0 today,was happy with it til it rolled past my mth railking imperial 4-8-2 the 0-8-0 was about a fourth inch taller & seemed to be bigger overall in scale & it was bigger than my mikado railking imperial. Does anybody know how far off scale these engines are? Being use to ho it bothers me a little but so does the third rail,swinging pilots on my diesels & those humongus couplers ,Ive learned to live with those shortcomings but now you order an o scale engine and you dont know if its scale size til you get it. anybody else have these frustrations? I cant afford 2 rail or premier engines.
Unless you are buying truly scale models, you have to accept compromise(s), which is what The RailKing Imperial line is. They are not built to any particular scale and are selectively compressed models engineered to negotiate O-31 layouts.
Rob
Lionel does (and did) the same thing, nothing new about it. It's not worth losing any sleep over.
Ever see any O gauge scale steamers "in the flesh," so to speak? The size of the things will take your breath away! You need a helluva lot more space to run 'em than I've got!
In most cases the RK Imperial line use to be their top of the line scale model, downgraded as they made newer engines with 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
Now you've discovered why so many of us in the O gauge crowd are labeled as "ecclectics". You have to be. Cars, engines, doesn't matter. Certain cars go with certain engines because they look ridiculous with others. It's just a fact of life we live with, that's true.
BUT...It also allows us to collect in quite fascinating ways. You can concentrate on certain roadnames and eras of history (RR history not toy manufacturing history) but you often can't put all of the equipment in the same train. The various O gauge manufacturers each have their own standards and they don't always match well with each other. But each manufacturer can have multiple sizes of equipment over the years (and even in the same catalog year). I have an Atlas O Industrial Rail 4-4-2 that has couplers WAY too low for everything else I own.
It's maddening if you let it be. So don't let it.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Becky where's your Christmas Pictures?
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Thanks for your comments.
Rather than think of myself as a scale model railroader, I think of myself as an O gauge toy train enthusiast. It allows me to have fun watching Thomas the Tank Engine move his eyes side-to-side pulling the TV car as the cameraman pans 360 degrees, the USMC boxcar shoots a missile, the fish swim around the aquarium car, and the gate man busts through the shed door in time to swing his lantern at the unusual sights!
I understand why you enjoy your trains but I am a scale modeler & my goal is to try to make the trains as realistic as I can make them to the real train. Like I said before I can overlook swinging pilots,oversize couplers etc. but engines that are called o scale that are way off in size bothers me a little.
Well maybe I should have gone the tradtional route or some other route but I have invested in 5 engines with sound and command controll,dcs and its to late to turn back now.
..........Wayne..........
Worst comes to worst, you can sell the engines and use the funds to build a new collection, or I guess I could say an accumulation.
rtraincollector Becky where's your Christmas Pictures?
To tell you the truth I don't know what my problem is. I don't intend to be a thread hijacker or anything but lately I can't seem to get any kind of uploads or downloads to work successfully. There were several pdf files I tried to download for 3 months unsuccessfullty. As soon as I can get the pictures to Photobucket or Flikr, I'll post them here.
"but I am a scale modeler & my goal is to try to make the trains as realistic as I can make them to the real train."
Then you are working the hobby in the wrong place. Here they are TOY TRAINS, don't look at the guys in a K-Line speeder because you might have the big one. Scale is flux in TOYS. Need look no more than the Thomas set and the figures provided. Our grand-kids don't seem to care at all. And it is fine with me. I just try to size the engines, cars and load to look good but know it is a crap shoot.
You can do scale in three rail but do the math first before you buy to be sure what your getting into.
For us it is just fun value we are looking for. True scale = cost.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
KRM ,I guess you are right. I had assumed that this site catered to toy trains and scale o trains, my mistake , Ill seek help elsewhere thanks for the heads up.
Old Train man. No need to run off. They cater to all scales here. There are a lot of good ideas here for any scale. Just saying that scale is not always the same with toy trains. So you have to look close at what your getting. I have some of it all and just mix it up. But some is over the top. The figures that come with the Polar Express set are over 12 foot tall in scale, The Gantry crane is way under scale. So you never know from the pictures.
Well that ended that conversation. I suspect he won't be back here again. He went elsewhere:
"I was on another forum & I asked questions about scale 3 rail trains & they told me their forum was for toy trains not scale trains. I hope I can get answers on this forum about o scale. I have been a model railroader for 50 years in ho and n scale. Due to my eyes getting worse I sold my n scale and started to buy o scale. So far I have 5 engines,4 MTH railking steamers, 1 of those a premier diesel & 1 lionel legacy diesel engine, It was hard to switch over to o scale because of the third rail,swinging pilots,oversized couplers etc. I have learned to overlook those, but the other day I received an 0-8-0 railking switcher that was bigger than my mikado . I know that I am being picky but the size difference bothers me a little. I cant afford 2 rail scale. I use command control & I love the sound it affords. Has anyone else run into this dilemma?"
Bob Keller
What can we say? We told the gent the facts of life as we know and understand them, but if he can't accept it, what can we do?
I hope for his sake he doesn't get into G gauge, the sizes of those trains are all over the place as well.
Sad.
Then again, maybe the folks on the other forum will tell him "Hey man, you're getting bent out of shape over nothing. Sit down. Put your feet up. Have a beer. Relax. Model railroading's supposed to be fun, remember?"
Firelock76 I hope for his sake he doesn't get into G gauge,
I hope for his sake he doesn't get into G gauge,
"G" is just one of at least three popular scales that run on Gauge 1 track.
Firelock76 What can we say? We told the gent the facts of life as we know and understand them, but if he can't accept it, what can we do? I hope for his sake he doesn't get into G gauge, the sizes of those trains are all over the place as well. Sad. Then again, maybe the folks on the other forum will tell him "Hey man, you're getting bent out of shape over nothing. Sit down. Put your feet up. Have a beer. Relax. Model railroading's supposed to be fun, remember?"
Amen to that. No offence was meant to be taken it is just what it is. The reference to “here” is the world of three rail trains. I am not a spokesperson for CTT nor would I want to be. I will leave that to Bob and his supervisors. Let us not forget what CTT stands for.
As far as him going elsewhere, I am sure he will find that welcome mat as it is.
Have a great holiday season.
Well, maybe we should invent a "P" or "Q" gauge like they now have "F scale".
Bob Keller Well that ended that conversation. I suspect he won't be back here again. He went elsewhere: "I was on another forum & I asked questions about scale 3 rail trains & they told me their forum was for toy trains not scale trains. I hope I can get answers on this forum about o scale. I have been a model railroader for 50 years in ho and n scale. Due to my eyes getting worse I sold my n scale and started to buy o scale. So far I have 5 engines,4 MTH railking steamers, 1 of those a premier diesel & 1 lionel legacy diesel engine, It was hard to switch over to o scale because of the third rail,swinging pilots,oversized couplers etc. I have learned to overlook those, but the other day I received an 0-8-0 railking switcher that was bigger than my mikado . I know that I am being picky but the size difference bothers me a little. I cant afford 2 rail scale. I use command control & I love the sound it affords. Has anyone else run into this dilemma?"
Since you brought it up and now having looked at all of the replies to that thread on that other forum, Not just what you put here, the answers there don’t look much different from those given here. So I don’t get your point Bob. You may want to post the link so the rest can decide.
"Elswhere" gave The Old Train Man (TOTM) same answers we did.
TOTM's reaction to the various sizes found in 3-Rail trains is the same as mine was when I changed from N-scale to Lionel 3-Rail--I was shocked. The guy at my LHS explained it to me (Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet.)
And to complicate it more, there are scale sized engines mixed into the "traditional" engine pool. Lionel postwar F3's and NW2 switcher, the Albert Hall class engine that first appeared in the Harry Potter sets, the tender is a bit off, but the engine is scale. I believe the starter set 0-8-0 from Lionel is close to scale as well. I myself prefer the traditional size engines on my small layouts. Some of the bigger engines will go around my 031 curves, but look odd doing it. I am actualy swapping my F3's for a super nice 681 traditional size PRR Turbine. And I am trying to clear out my remaining 2 rail O scale so I can get a couple other Lionel PRR style traditional engines. Scale engines are impressive, but I will never have the room to run such beasts. Mikes
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Talk about scale, or lack of, I've got five MTH 4-4-0 "General" types, and the size of them in proportion to the 20th Century steamers I've got is way, WAY off. If the 19th Century 4-4-0's were THAT big there'd have been no need to develop anything bigger! SMR Trains does make scale sized 4-4-0's (jaw-droppingly gorgeous, by the way) but quite honestly I can't afford them. More power to those who can.
Do those "Generals" on steroids bother me? Nah. I bought 'em 'cause I like 'em, which I believe is the guiding principle for all of us here.
And does anyone know just what other forum Old Train Man went to? I looked in on the MR site but didn't see anything. I'm curious.
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