Canadian Pacific Railway- CPR Aluminum Passenger Set - Which one is best?

To my knowledge none of the scale size cars made by Lionel and MTH look realistic compared to the real thing. Lionel and Mth made plastic Pullmans not Budd cars. The most obvious thing are the domes. The real CPR cars which are now run by Via Rail were made by Budd and have the nice rounded glass domes. The Pullman domes sold by Lionel and MTH have domes with angular flat faceted glass. I don’t like the look of them. Having grown up in Canada and seeing these trains every day, I can’t stand the look of the Lionel/MTH cars. But with as many production runs that Lionel and MTH have done, it’s obvious a lot of people are oblivious, buying up these wrong looking cars never having seen the real thing.

The best looking cars are the 18” K-Line aluminum cars. The did them right.  I have both the original Lionel 15” aluminum cars from 1957 and the postwar celebration series set. I’d rather be running them, even with their silhouette windows and non scale size, than looking at those Pullmans that are plain wrong.  

I have the Lionel 18” Aluminum CP set & yes the trucks were subject to the zinc rot. Replaced all 12 trucks. NOT CHEAP! Also had to take cars apart to redo seated figures glued down.

All my K-Line sets are by far more superior.

GGD made the best set in terms of scale fidelity.  I have one of the 12 VIA rail sets made.  The set was also made in CP Rail and the majority of sets in Canadian Pacific.  Those sets came with a certificate of authenticity from Canadian Pacific.   

Here is a video of the Canadian Pacific version I found on YouTube.

GGD Canadian

I have the Golden Gate a 10 car set these are the best full scale. For the $ value the K-Line 18 inch cars are nice.

Here are pics of the 18 and 15 inch ones;

https://ogrforum.com/...rs-k-line-and-weaver

https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...-aluminum-1866432758

@GregR posted:

To my knowledge none of the scale size cars made by Lionel and MTH look realistic compared to the real thing. Lionel and Mth made plastic Pullmans not Budd cars. The most obvious thing are the domes. The real CPR cars which are now run by Via Rail were made by Budd and have the nice rounded glass domes. The Pullman domes sold by Lionel and MTH have domes with angular flat faceted glass. I don’t like the look of them. Having grown up in Canada and seeing these trains every day, I can’t stand the look of the Lionel/MTH cars. But with as many production runs that Lionel and MTH have done, it’s obvious a lot of people are oblivious, buying up these wrong looking cars never having seen the real thing.

The best looking cars are the 18” K-Line aluminum cars. The did them right.  I have both the original Lionel 15” aluminum cars from 1957 and the postwar celebration series set. I’d rather be running them, even with their silhouette windows and non scale size, than looking at those Pullmans that are plain wrong.  

As a fellow Canuck - I'll have to check out the differences you've indicated.   

Great input everyone!  Much Appreciated!

-Richard

@Captain John posted:

I have the Lionel 18” Aluminum CP set & yes the trucks were subject to the zinc rot. Replaced all 12 trucks. NOT CHEAP! Also had to take cars apart to redo seated figures glued down.

John, I'm curious where you got your replacement trucks. I don't think Lionel has had any available.

I have the K-line, MTH and Lionel CP Canadian passenger car sets. The only one I use is the K-line set, which has an accurate Park car design, dome with lounge in a tapered rear end.  The MTH and Lionel cars are in storage, as they do not look realistic compared to the K-line cars.

I have taken the Canadian yearly for about 10 years, and the K-line cars are by far the best. I have the 18" cars. There is also a 15" car set by K-line, however the cars look a little too short for my taste.  I took pictures of the real train interior, and used them to remodel the interior, added people, detailed the sleeper and dining car. I still have to re-do the Park car and dome car.

I do not have the Sunset model, however I heard it is good.

I have included some pictures below of my K-line cars.

Below is the Sleeper interior, with some beds made & stowed away (unseen) with table added, others with the bed still down. Pictures on the walls were all taken from or of the Canadian.

The plates above have pictures of actual meals served on the Canadian, printed to scale and cut out with a hole punch (1/4" hole punch = 12" plate)

The kitchen background are pictures taken in the actual Canadian Kitchen. they are serving Roast Beef tonight.

By the way, Sleeper class on the Canadian is the best train ride I have ever been on. 4 days and 3 nights of pure Train Joy.

I have quite a few new 15"K Line CP aluminum passenger cars. I agree they are the best. Maybe I'll put them on the block.

By the way how much room do you have to run your passenger cars this may determine the length of the passenger car you are looking for?? The curve size will determine how long the cars are, 18" look OK can get by on 72 inch but look better on a wider diameter. Here is a post I did a while back that shows the difference between the 21 inch Golden Gate Canadian Passenger car and some old castings that were done many many years ago. If you look around you might find the cast 21 inch passenger cars on the market. I have the 10 car Canadian set that I re-lettered / striped to VIA been thinking I might consider selling these. If you do go with 21" cars you need a fairly large diameter.

https://ogrforum.com/...90#56897700661899290

@Joe K posted:

I have the K-line, MTH and Lionel CP Canadian passenger car sets. The only one I use is the K-line set, which has an accurate Park car design, dome with lounge in a tapered rear end.  The MTH and Lionel cars are in storage, as they do not look realistic compared to the K-line cars.

I have taken the Canadian yearly for about 10 years, and the K-line cars are by far the best. I have the 18" cars. There is also a 15" car set by K-line, however the cars look a little too short for my taste.  I took pictures of the real train interior, and used them to remodel the interior, added people, detailed the sleeper and dining car. I still have to re-do the Park car and dome car.

I do not have the Sunset model, however I heard it is good.

I have included some pictures below of my K-line cars.

Below is the Sleeper interior, with some beds made & stowed away (unseen) with table added, others with the bed still down. Pictures on the walls were all taken from or of the Canadian.

The plates above have pictures of actual meals served on the Canadian, printed to scale and cut out with a hole punch (1/4" hole punch = 12" plate)

The kitchen background are pictures taken in the actual Canadian Kitchen. they are serving Roast Beef tonight.

By the way, Sleeper class on the Canadian is the best train ride I have ever been on. 4 days and 3 nights of pure Train Joy.

So very nice!  Congratulations on work well done.  I live in Saskatchewan.  Post-Covid I really need to book a train excursion.

I'm running 054 as my largest diameter.  I have this set and I'm ok with the way it looks on 054:  http://www.lionel.com/products...t-loco-5344-6-31705/

By all advice it seems to me the K-line 18" cars are desirable.  If anyone knows of where I might get my hands on a decent set, let me know.   

@Captain John posted:

I have the Lionel 18” Aluminum CP set & yes the trucks were subject to the zinc rot. Replaced all 12 trucks. NOT CHEAP! Also had to take cars apart to redo seated figures glued down.

All my K-Line sets are by far more superior.

Hello Captain John,

May I ask how much each truck cost you?  I have these and the SP Shasta Daylight 18" cars that need new trucks also.

Cost me $30.00 per truck for 6 cars 8 years ago.

Guys, I should clarify my post. The trucks did not have zinc rot. All the frames were cracked.   To replace them you could not just by the frames you had to by the whole truck even though the frames were connected to the trucks by to small screws. Lionel would not sell it as a separate piece.