Favorite K-line train product

[brianel027]

Man, tough question for me. My early train purchases definitely sided with K-Line over Lionel nearly 4 to 1. Price was a big factor and the reasonable quality for that price. Needless to day for those who know me, the MARX 027 based products rank high on my list. I have a fleet of K-Line S-2 switchers, MP-15's and Alco FA's. For an 027 guy like me, the K-Line S-2 is my favorite loco and am very happy to see it finally back in production under the K-Lionel banner. The K-Line Alco FA is leagues nicer looking than the similar budget Lionel version. And it's hard to beat the bang-for-your-buck MP-15. These locos all have great pulling power and by far better than any similarily priced Lionel single truck mounted DC can motored diesel.

I'd personally love to see those MARX based 027 cars back in production under the K-Lionel banner, only with the better quality paint schemes and graphics like K-Line started doing on them when they marketed those cars as their "S" gauge cars. And it'd be great to see the Symington type plastic truck K-Line used replaced with the current one used by Lionel - which is a superior operating and looking plastic truck to the K-Line version.

Their plastic building kits (though all over the place in scale) are better made than the current Bachmann production Plasticville buildings (of which I've had several terribly warped right out of the box). And they add to variety of the Plasticville buildings. And even the smaller K-Line buildings can be made to seem bigger... like the Police Station - which is now a small factory on my layout by adding a basswood foundation (for height), a new door on the back with a loading dock, and a small Model Power HO water tank on top.

Of course, there are minor quirks about some of the K-Line products, but all of them are fixable. Like the plastic coupler arm on the early Classic box cars has a tendency to come loose from the die-cast assembly when used over a uncoupling track. The plastic on these is a little thicker than the similar Lionel version. I place a finger on the end of the plastic armature where it attaches into the die cast coupler, and I gently flex and bend the entire armature. After I do this, they work just fine. So I have a whole list of things I do to my K-Line cars which makes them work just fine.

To get specific, on some other K-Line items:

-I really like the 765-series scale modern stainless steel box car. With it's shortened side and end ladders and no roofwalk, it mimics a larger hi-cube box car on a smaller 027 layout. This is one scale car that looks great with the other 6464-type box cars. How about it Lionel... a good choice Lionel to give the 027 guys a modern looking box car!!!

-The 6464 sized series of woodside reefers. Another nice car for variety.

-The new low profile K-Line 027 switches.

-The K-Line operating searchlight car, especially the newer ones with die cast trucks which work better without any dinkling as I've had to do with some of the early issued older ones.

-The die-cast truck on the Train-19 cars, which in my opinion from running everyone elses, is the very best die cast truck with fast angle wheels made by absolutely anyone - at least for the price. Even better than the UMD Industrial Rail ones.

To add the lengthy list of dumb moves the original K-Line made, the employee-only Conrail sets rank as a big one.

 

For a company that wasn't concerned with collectibles (ie: K-Line's lack of cooperation anmd threatened legal action to stop a K-Line only price guide), their consistant re-issue of previously made products, and for a company that was at one time focused on attracting new customers with their bargin priced, quality starter sets - the lack of these Conrail sets NOT being made for the public at large was a huge mistake. I almost hit the roof when I saw the first set in the K-Line Chapel Hill engineering department and was told they weren't for public sale.

Mark my words, these uncataloged traditionally sized 027-friendly non-scale K-Line Conrail exclusive sets are going to be the MOST collectible K-Line products ever made.... not the scale items. Not only are these in a very desired road name, but K-Line ignored this road (and related roads) on regularily cataloged products. The articles in OGR now publically highlight how neat, unique and now collectible these sets are. I'd own every single one of them had they made them available to the public.

How ironic, that a company that so turned to scale models and ignored modern roads on tradtionally sized products will end up with their most valued, collectible products being the very one roadname they so ignored on the 027/traditionally sized products they also ignored during the last years.

PS: I've reformatted this post about 10 times and cannot for the life of me, get the last paragraphs to break successfully, which is why it looks like one big blob of text. I've dropped in breaks, tried formatting it in Word and cutting/pasting.... nothing works.

[Anonymous]

My favorite thing is the Starlite dinner, plays "The TWIST" and smokes up a storm.  You gotta have adinner with girls car hopping in roller skates.

laz57

That... and any of their aluminum freight cars. Tank cars and especially the black bonnet aluminum hopper cars.

Tim

[jefelectric]

My favorite is the F3 ABA set in Lackawanna passenger colors.

 

[CSXect]

GEE is it the GG1, the kcc mp-15 or maybe the SD70M all where KCC locomotives

One thing I want but do not have is the animated fisherman on bridge peir...Lionel please re run these.

[willpick]

Hands down, the O27 switches that were produced in the 2 years before the end. Totally reliable, VERY low profile mechanism. It's the only K-Line product I want Lionel to produce---

[Signals]

I like the dump cars that come with their own remote -- for 2 reasons:

1) The cars can be dumped anywhere without the need for specialized track sections.

2) The dumping action is slow enough so the loads don't scatter all over the place.

 

Also, the Voltmeter cars are a great idea -- they make finding voltage drops on a layout a breeze. 

[Garfield]

The MP-15 is pretty cool.

[laz 57]

My favorite thing is the Starlite dinner, plays "The TWIST" and smokes up a storm.  You gotta have adinner with girls car hopping in roller skates.

laz57

[alexweiihman]

Does anyone have a favorite k-line train item they want to share?